John Roger or Rogerios (), also known as John Dalassenos (Greek: Ιωάννης Δαλασσηνός), was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

aristocrat of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

descent, son-in-law of

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus (; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexio ...

(r. 1118–1143) and ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

''. In 1143, he unsuccessfully conspired to seize the throne...

Biography

John Rogerios was the son of a certain

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

, a

who defected to Byzantium during the

Byzantine–Norman wars The Byzantine–Norman wars were a series of military conflicts between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire fought from 1040 to 1186 involving the Hauteville family, Norman-led Kingdom of Sicily in the west, and the Principality of Antioch in t ...

and entered imperial service, and of an unnamed lady of the

Dalassenos Dalassenos (), feminine form Dalassene or Dalassena (Greek: Δαλασσηνή), was a Byzantine aristocratic family prominent in the 11th century. Origins and rise to prominence The family's name derives from their ancestral home, the city of Dala ...

clan. John himself evidently preferred to use the more prestigious surname of his mother's family, which is found on his seal, but historians, from

John Kinnamos John Kinnamos or ''Joannes Kinnamos'' or ''John Cinnamus'' ( or Κίναμος; born shortly after 1143, died after 1185), was a Byzantine historian. He was imperial secretary (Greek "grammatikos", most likely a post connected with the military ad ...

to modern scholars, most often use his Norman patronymic. Through his Dalassenoi blood, Roger was already a relative of the ruling

Komnenos The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. ...

dynasty, and this link was reinforced when he married John II's eldest daughter Maria and was raised to the rank of ''

caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

''. His life is otherwise obscure until 1143, when, on the death of John II, he plotted to usurp the throne from

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

(r. 1143–1180). He enjoyed some support within the nobility, above all among the various Normans in the imperial capital, most prominent of whom was the exiled

prince of Capua This is a list of the rulers of the Principality of Capua. Lombard rulers of Capua Gastalds and counts The gastalds (or counts) of Capua were vassals of the princes of Benevento until the early 840s, when Gastald Landulf began to clamour for the i ...

, Robert II. His wife, however, loyal to her brother, reported the conspiracy, whereupon John was tricked into leaving the capital and taken prisoner. John was soon forgiven and restored to his position, at about the time Maria died in circa 1146, as he is recorded as participating in a synod at the

Blachernae Palace The Palace of Blachernae (). was an imperial Roman residence in the suburb of Blachernae, located in the northwestern section of Constantinople (today located in the quarter of Ayvansaray in Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey). The area of the palace is now ...

in February 1147. In 1152, he is recorded as a governor at

Strumica Strumica (, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedonian (PDF) in so ...

in the upper

Vardar river The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

valley. In the same year, he was sent to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

as an imperial candidate for the hand of the widowed Princess

Constance of Antioch Constance of Hauteville (c. 1128–1163) was the ruling Prince of Antioch, princess of Antioch from 1130 to 1163. She was the only child of Bohemond II of Antioch and Alice of Antioch, Alice of Jerusalem. Constance succeeded her father at the age ...

. Despite his lofty title and Norman ancestry, Constance found him too old and unattractive, and rejected him in favour of

Reynald of Châtillon Reynald is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Reynald de Châtillon (1125–1187), French Knight who served in the Second Crusade * Francis Reynald Wewengkang (born 1971), current Persija Jakarta Football player *Reynald Lemaîtr ...

.. John returned to the Empire and retired to a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, where he died at an unknown date (possibly after 1166).

Family

By his marriage with Maria, John had four children: *Andronikos Komnenos (died 1191). *Alexios Komnenos. *Anna Komnene, who married the general Alexios Petraliphas. *Theodora Komnene (unascertained), who married John Kontostephanos, brother of the '' megas doux''

Andronikos Kontostephanos Andronikos Komnenos Kontostephanos (; 1132/33 – after 1183), Latinized Andronicus Contostephanus, was a major figure in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of his uncle Manuel I Komnenos as a general, admiral, politician and a leading arist ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogerios Dalassenos, John 11th-century births 12th-century deaths 12th-century Byzantine people Caesars (Byzantine nobles)

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Eastern Orthodox monks

Komnenos dynasty Byzantine people of Scandinavian descent