Miriarcha is the name given in the ''

Chronicon breve normannicum The ''Breve chronicon Northmannicum'' or ''Little Norman Chronicle'' is a short, anonymous Latin chronicle of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, probably written in Apulia in the early twelfth-century. It covers the years from the first Norma ...

'' to the

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 ...

general who led the defence of the Catapanate of Italy in 1060–1062. The anonymous chronicler has, however, misinterpreted the Greek title ''

merarches The ''merarchēs'' (), sometimes Anglicization, Anglicized as merarch, was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine military rank roughly equivalent to a divisional general. History The title derives from the Greek language, Greek words ''meros'' (Greek: μ ...

'' (commander of a division, merarch) as a name.

Ferdinand Chalandon Ferdinand Chalandon (February 10, 1875 in Lyon – October 31, 1921 in Lausanne) was a French medievalist and Byzantinist.Bibliothèque nationale de France .Ferdinand Chalandon (1875-1921). Having begun his education in his hometown of Lyon, Cha ...

''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile: Tome premier''
(Paris : Alphonse Picard, 1907), pp. 174–176. The actual name of the general is unknown, and since the rank of ''merarches'' is not otherwise clearly attested in southern Italy his exact function is not known either.

Vera von Falkenhausen Vera von Falkenhausen (born 1938) is a German Byzantinist who lives and works in Italy. Life Vera von Falkenhausen pursued Byzantine studies at the University of Munich, where she made her thesis in 1966 under Hans-Georg Beck. She then spent t ...

, ''Untersuchungen über die byzantinische Herrschaft in Süditalien vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert'' (O. Harrassowitz, 1967), p. 112. Probably the office was immediately below that of the catapan. In the spring and summer of 1060, the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

under Duke

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

with his brothers Mauger and

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") ...

conquered several cities in Byzantine

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

and expelled the last Byzantine garrisons from

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

. In response, the new Byzantine emperor

Constantine X Constantine X Doukas or Ducas (; – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder of the Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy, while in the ...

dispatched reinforcements under the command of a merarch. They arrived in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

in October 1060. Although his title implies that he had command of only a small army, the merarch managed to retake the cities of

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

, Oria and

Otranto Otranto (, , ; ; ; ; ) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). ...

. These were the first Byzantine victories over the Normans since the latter's arrival in southern Italy.Jules Gay
''L'Italie méridionale et l'empire Byzantin''
(New York: Burt Franklin, 1904), p. 526. In 1061, the merarch advanced north into Norman territory, laying siege to the walled town of

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On a ...

in the heart of the Norman county. He was aided in this by the revolt of the city of Troia, which Guiscard had to besiege before he could turn his attention to the Byzantines. In January 1061, reinforced by troops that had been fighting with Roger in

Muslim Sicily The island of SicilyIn Arabic, the island was known as (). was under Islamic rule from the late ninth to the late eleventh centuries. It became a prosperous and influential commercial power in the Mediterranean, with its capital of Palermo ser ...

, Guiscard took the Byzantine city of

Acerenza Acerenza ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). History With its strategic position ab ...

and Roger took

Manduria Manduria is a city and ''comune'' of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 32,000 inhabitants (2013), it is located east of Taranto. Etymology The name ''Manduria'' is thought to derive from a Proto-Indo-European stem ''*mond- ...

. Joining forces, they forced the merarch to raise the siege of Melfi. By February, the situation had been stabilized and Roger returned to Sicily. The merarch did not undertake any further offensive operations in 1061. That year, Constantine sent a new catapan,

Maruli MarulesVera von Falkenhausen, ''Untersuchungen über die byzantinische Herrschaft in Süditalien vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert'' (O. Harrassowitz, 1967), p. 94, notes that the rare name Marules is attested from the 10th century.André Guillou, "Pro ...

, the first to set foot in Italy since 1058. Overall command thus passed to the catapan and the position of the merarch was downgraded.Churchill, ''op. cit.'', p. 312. In 1062, the Normans took the offensive, capturing Brindisi and Oria. The merarch was captured in the fighting at Brindisi. The annalist

Lupus Protospatharius Lupus Protospatharius Barensis was the reputed author of the ''Chronicon rerum in regno Neapolitano gestarum'' (also called ''Annales Lupi Protospatharii''), a concise history of the Mezzogiorno from 805 to 1102. He has only been named as the aut ...

mentions this in his account of 1062. The merarch has sometimes been identified with

Abulchares Abulchares (, ; died 1068) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine general of Arabs, Arab origin who served as the Catepanate of Italy, catepan of Italy from 1064 until his death. The chief sources for his catapanate are ''Skylitzes Continuatus'' and ''A ...

,Delarc, ''op. cit.'', p. 411n. who was appointed catapan in 1064 according to the '' Anonymus Barensis''. This identification is based on

John Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes (, ; , ; early 1040s – after 1101), was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century. Life Very little is known about his life. The title of his work records him as a '' kouropalat ...

, who makes Abulchares the Byzantine commander in 1061. In fact, the latter's dating is off and he is clearly referring to the same man as the ''Anonymus'' under 1064 and not to the merarch who arrived in 1060.

References

{{Reflist 11th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Norman wars 11th-century Byzantine military personnel