Nikoulitzas Delphinas () was an 11th-century

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 ...

magnate and local lord of

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

, in

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

. He took part in a revolt initiated by the

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

of Thessaly in 1066.

Biography

It is uncertain whether Nikoulitzas may have been an ethnic

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

or an ethnic Vlach, as Vlachs could have been considered by Byzantine chroniclers at the time as Greeks. He was the grandson of Nikulitsa, the governor of Servia and ''

archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

'' of the Vlachs of Hellas.. The younger Nikoulitzas bore the rank of ''

protospatharios ''Prōtospatharios'' () was one of the highest Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court dignities of the middle Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to forei ...

'', but is not known to have had any official position. Nikoulitzas had his own fortress with a garrison of men, and was one of the most powerful lords of Thessaly.. The ''Vlachs'' and Slavs of the region started planning a revolt in 1065, prompted by the taxation increases and corruption in the same area. When Nikoulitzas heard this from his spies he went to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to warn the Emperor

Constantine X Doukas 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 ...

, but the Emperor dismissed him and no measures were taken. Upon returning to Larissa, Nikoulitzas saw the growing movement and tried to talk the rebels out of it. They insisted on Nikoulitzas becoming their leader, as he had a fort and a private army. Nikoulitzas declined, as his two sons were in Constantinople, fearing they would come in harm's way. The rebels, however, forced Nikoulitzas to take a leadership position and the revolt began. The revolt ended by negotiation, but the Emperor captured Nikoulitzas and imprisoned him in Amaseia, on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. His son-in-law was the writer

Kekaumenos Kekaumenos () is the family name of the otherwise unidentified Byzantine author of the '' Strategikon'', a manual on military and household affairs composed c. 1078. He was apparently of Georgian-Armenian origin and the grandson of the '' doux'' o ...

, whose '' Strategikon'' is the only source on him and the revolt..

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delphinas, Nikoulitzas Byzantine prisoners and detainees 11th-century Byzantine people 11th-century rebels People from Larissa Byzantine rebels Medieval Thessaly Protospatharioi Greek people of Aromanian descent