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George Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos | |
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sebastos megas hetaireiarches | |
Native name | Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος Δούκας Κομνηνός |
Born | c. 1125 |
Died | 1167 or 1168 |
Noble family | Palaiologos |
Issue | Alexios Palaiologos |
Father | Alexios Palaiologos |
Mother | (Anna?) Komnene |
Occupation | Diplomat |
George Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos (Greek : Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος Δούκας Κομνηνός; c. 1125–1167/68) was a high-ranking Byzantine aristocrat and diplomat of the 12th century. A kinsman of the ruling Komnenos dynasty, George Palaiologos held the rank of sebastos and the office of megas hetaireiarches . His son Alexios was briefly heir-apparent to Emperor Alexios III Angelos, and his great-grandson Michael VIII Palaiologos founded the Palaiologan dynasty of Byzantine emperors.
He led a number of diplomatic missions for Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, both within the Empire and abroad. Only his missions to Jerusalem and Hungary, as part of the emperor's marriage alliances with foreign rulers, are well attested. Apart from his diplomatic activities, George Palaiologos also founded a church and a monastery, which were lavishly decorated.
George Palaiologos was of distinguished descent. His father was Alexios Palaiologos, the third son of George Palaiologos, a general of Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and Anna Doukaina, sister of Alexios I's empress Irene Doukaina. His mother, likely also named Anna, was the granddaughter of Adrianos Komnenos, a younger brother of Alexios I, and the "purple-born" princess Zoe Doukaina, the third daughter of Emperor Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067). [3] [4] [5] [lower-alpha 1] As a result, he often used the imperial surnames of Doukas and Komnenos, including in his own seal, and is often referred to as "Komnenodoukas" in poetry composed in his honour. [1] [4]
The exact date of his birth is unknown. The scholar Odysseas Lampsidis estimates his age at the time of his death at 40–45 years. [10] This would put his birth in the years around 1125/6. [4] [11]
He was named sebastos , a honorific title reserved for senior members of the imperial court, and held the office of megas hetaireiarches . [1] [12] It is unknown when he assumed these titles, but was likely appointed to them during the early years of Manuel I Komnenos' reign (1143–1180). [4]
Although the office of megas hetaireiarches was of military origin, George Palaiologos is only known for his diplomatic career. [13] In 1162 he led a diplomatic mission to Hungary to negotiate the marriage of Manuel I's daughter and heiress, Maria, to the Hungarian prince Béla, and to escort him back to Byzantium. [13] He led a similar mission to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1167, escorting Manuel I's niece Maria Komnene to marry King Amalric of Jerusalem. [13] [14]
His secretary, Leo Megistos, wrote at least three monodies in his honour, emphasizing his qualities and his travels in a diplomatic role; according to Leo, these included not only Hungary and Jerusalem, but also Serbia, Italy, the "lands of the Danube", and Germany, as well as the "lands of the Turks". [13] [15] He may also have been sent on missions within the Byzantine Empire, to Greece and, specifically, to the Peloponnese. [13] [16]
George Palaiologos is attested to have been one of the attendants to the Council of Blachernae of March 1166. [17] [18] He was also a patron of the arts. He dedicated a painting of the Archangel Michael in a church in Triaditza, showing himself and his son Alexios with the saint. [13] He also founded a monastery dedicated to the Theotokos, known for its lavish decorations: it included portraits of the emperors whose kinship he claimed, as well as a series of paintings celebrating Manuel I's military victories over the Hungarians. [19] Two of his seals of office survive. [2]
He died sometime between 1167 and 1170, when his successor, John Doukas, is attested as megas hetaireiarches. [20] A letter by the archbishop and scholar Eustathius of Thessalonica to John Doukas, which mentions the latter as megas hetaireiarches, may be datable as early as 1168. This would place George Palaiologos's death in late 1167 or 1168. [2] According to Leo Megistos, he fell ill at Adrianople while returning from an embassy to Hungary. The mission is not mentioned in other sources, [21] but probably occurred after the Byzantine capture of Sirmium during Emperor Manuel's invasion of Hungary in 1167. [13]
George Palaiologos was survived by his wife and several children, [2] [22] as well as by some of his siblings, of whom only the name of a brother, the sebastos Constantine (fl. 1157–1166), is known. [23] [24] The identity of George Palaiologos' wife is not known, but they probably married around 1145. [25] The couple had at least three children, as two sons and a daughter are mentioned. [26] Only one of his sons, Alexios, is known by name; [23] [22] he eventually became despot and heir-apparent to Emperor Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203) before his death in early 1203. [27] Alexios' daughter Theodora married the megas domestikos (commander-in-chief) Andronikos Palaiologos. [28] They had numerous children, the most prominent of whom was Michael VIII Palaiologos, [29] who became emperor of Nicaea in 1259 and restored the Byzantine Empire in 1261, founding the Palaiologan dynasty. [30] The Greek scholar Konstantinos Varzos suggests that George's second son may have been the protosebastohypertatos Andronikos Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos, a relative of Isaac II Angelos. [31] [32]
The House of Komnenos, Latinized as Comnenus, 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. The family returned to power under Alexios I Komnenos in 1081 who established their rule for the following 104 years until it ended with Andronikos I Komnenos in 1185. In the 13th century, they founded the Empire of Trebizond, a Byzantine rump state which they ruled from 1204 to 1461. At that time, they were commonly referred to as Grand Komnenoi, a style that was officially adopted and used by George Komnenos and his successors. Through intermarriages with other noble families, notably the Doukas, Angelos, and Palaiologos, the Komnenos name appears among most of the major noble houses of the late Byzantine world.
John Doukas, Latinized as Ducas, was the eldest son of Constantine Angelos by Theodora Komnene, the seventh child of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. John Doukas took the family name of his grandmother Irene. He served as a military commander under Manuel I Komnenos and Isaac II Angelos. Isaac II, who was Doukas's nephew, raised him to the high rank of sebastokrator. Despite his advanced age, he continued to be an active general in the 1180s and 1190s, and until shortly before his death aspired to the imperial throne. He was the progenitor of the Komnenos Doukas line, which founded the Despotate of Epirus after the Fourth Crusade.
Andronikos Doukas, Latinized as Andronicus Ducas, was a protovestiarios and protoproedros of the Byzantine Empire.
Maria of Bulgaria, known as Maria Doukaina in the Byzantine sources, was the wife of protovestiarios and domestikos ton scholon Andronikos Doukas and mother of Empress Irene Doukaina.
The House of Angelos, Latinised as Angelus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that produced several Emperors and other prominent nobles during the middle and late Byzantine Empire. The family rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As imperial relatives, the Angeloi held various high titles and military commands under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In 1185, following a revolt against Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac II Angelos rose to the throne establishing the Angeloi as the new imperial family that ruled until 1204. The period was marked by the decline and fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire, culminating in its dissolution by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 under Alexios IV Angelos.
Manuel Komnenos was the eldest son of Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, and the progenitor of the Grand Komnenos dynasty of the Empire of Trebizond. He served his uncle, Manuel I Komnenos, as a diplomatic envoy to the Russian principalities and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also helped his father escape imprisonment in Constantinople. His opposition to the regency of Empress-dowager Maria of Antioch and the protosebastos Alexios Komnenos landed him in prison, but he was released in April 1182, when his father stood poised to take power in the Byzantine capital.
Maria Doukaina Komnene Petraliphaina was the wife of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus and in 1224–1230 self-proclaimed Emperor of Thessalonica. She is the earliest consort of the Epirote state known by name: the two wives of Michael I Komnenos Doukas, predecessor of her husband, were members of the Melissenos family but their first names are unknown.
Andronikos Doukas Kamateros was a Byzantine aristocrat, senior official under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and theologian, best known for his theological treatise Sacred Arsenal.
Adrianos Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and general, and a younger brother of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
The House of Philanthropenos, feminine form Philanthropene (Φιλανθρωπηνή), was the name of a noble Byzantine Greek family which appeared in the mid-13th century and produced a number of high-ranking generals and officials until the end of the Byzantine Empire. Their name derives from the monastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople. Some members of the family use the composite surname Doukas Philanthropenos, and may, according to Demetrios I. Polemis, constitute a distinct branch of the family.
Alexios Palaiologos was a Byzantine nobleman, the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos and his heir apparent from 1199 until his death. Throughout this time, he was actively involved in the suppression of several revolts and riots against the emperor. Through his daughter, he became one of the progenitors of the Palaiologan dynasty (1261–1453).
Andronikos Komnenos Palaiologos, was a governor-general of Thessalonica and Grand domestic of the Empire of Nicaea. He was the father of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, the founder of the Palaeologue dynasty.
Andronikos Doukas Palaiologos was a Byzantine aristocrat and governor of Thessalonica early in the 12th century.
John Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in 1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461.
Andronikos Angelos Doukas was a Byzantine aristocrat related to the ruling Komnenos dynasty. During the reign of his cousin, Manuel I Komnenos, he served without success as a military commander against the Seljuk Turks, and as envoy to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Following Manuel's death, in 1182, he was sent to stop the rebellion of Andronikos I Komnenos but was defeated and eventually defected to him. Shortly after, he led a failed conspiracy of leading aristocrats against Andronikos I. When it was discovered, Andronikos and his sons fled the Empire, ending up in Acre, where he died. He was the father of emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos.
Constantine Komnenos Maliasenos Doukas Bryennios was a Byzantine Greek nobleman and magnate active in Thessaly in the first half of the 13th century.
John Kamateros was a Byzantine aristocrat and official.
Kontostephanos, feminine form Kontostephanina (Κοντοστεφανίνα), was the name of an aristocratic Byzantine Greek family active in the 10th–15th centuries, which enjoyed great prominence in the 12th century through its intermarriage with the Komnenian dynasty.
Manuel Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader, the oldest son of John Komnenos and brother of the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos. A relative by marriage of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, he was placed in charge of expeditions against Turkish raids from 1070, until his sudden death by illness in April 1071.
John Doukas was a senior Byzantine military commander and diplomat under Manuel I Komnenos, serving in Italy, Hungary, Asia Minor, and the Holy Land. He rose to the rank of sebastos and the office of megas hetaireiarches. Several of his seals bearing these titles are extant.