Taronites (; ), feminine form Taronitissa (Ταρωνίτισσα), was the name of a noble
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 ...
family, descended from the ruling family of the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
principality of
Taron. In Georgian it is rendered 'Tornikes
' or ‘Tornikios’.
It was founded by the brothers
Gregory and Bagrat (Pankratios in Greek), who ceded the principality to the Byzantines in 968 in exchange for estates and high dignities.
The family is prominent among the military aristocracy in the late 10th/early 11th centuries, and later became related to the
Komnenian dynasty
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. Th ...
through the marriage of
Michael Taronites to Maria, the sister of
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...
. In the 12th century, the Taronitai became mainly civilian bureaucrats, many occupying high posts in the central government in
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 ...
. The family lost its status and influence after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
in 1204.
References
Sources
*
*
{{Byzantine-stub