Theophylact Botaneiates (, ''Theophylaktos Botaneiates'') 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 ...

general and governor of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...

of the Botaneiates family.

Life

Theophylact Botaneiates is only mentioned in the history of

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 ...

for the year 1014, during Emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

's wars against Bulgaria. In that year, or shortly before, he was appointed governor ('' doux'') of

as successor to

David Arianites David Areianites or Arianites () was a high-ranking Byzantine commander of the early 11th century. Origin The origin of the surname is uncertain and different theories have been proposed ranging from various anthroponomastic and toponymic derivat ...

. In that year, Emperor Basil II was assaulting the Bulgarian positions in the pass of

Klyuch Klyuch (, "key"; also transliterated ''Кључ, Ključ, Kliuch, Kljuch'', etc., Medieval Greek: Κλειδίον, ''Kleidion,'' Latin: Clidium) is a village in south-westernmost Bulgaria, part of Petrich Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province. It li ...

(Kleidion in Greek). To distract his attention, the Bulgarian tsar

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

sent a large army under Nestoritsa towards Thessalonica. Botaneiates and his son Michael met the Bulgarians and defeated them in the vicinity of the city, after which he joined the main imperial army. After the Byzantine victory in the subsequent

Battle of Kleidion The Battle of Kleidion (; or Clidium, after the medieval name of the village of Klyuch, ; also known as the Battle of Belasitsa) took place on 29 July 1014, between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. It was the culmination of the ...

, Botaneiates was sent with an army to clear the area around Strumitza. He carried out his mission with success, but on his way back to the Emperor's camp his army was ambushed by the Bulgarians and Botaneiates himself was killed, either by arrows and stones, according to Skylitzes' account, or run through by the spear of Samuel's son

Gavril Radomir Gavril Radomir (; ; anglicized as Gabriel Radomir; died 1015) was the Emperor (Tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar Samuel (). Biography During his father's reign, his cousin ...

, as reported in a side note to the original manuscript of Skylitzes. Theophylact's son Michael is not attested thereafter, so he may have perished as well in the ambush. According to Skylitzes, the death of Botaneiates alongside most of his men greatly disheartened Basil, so that the emperor, despite his victory at Kleidion, halted his campaign and turned back to his base,

Mosynopolis Mosynopolis (), of which only ruins now remain in Greek Thrace, was a city in the Roman province of Rhodope, which was known until the 9th century as Maximianopolis (Μαξιμιανούπολις) or, to distinguish it from other cities of the ...

. It was only after reaching Mosynopolis and learning of Samuel's death that he turned back and continued his campaign.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botaneiates, Theophylact 11th-century Byzantine military personnel 10th-century births 1014 deaths Byzantine governors of Thessalonica Byzantines killed in battle Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Generals of Basil II