1.
Byzantine Emperor
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This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. All Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be the rightful Roman emperor in direct succession from Augustus, the title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially Augustus, although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus, following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus, which had formerly meant sovereign but was then used in place of Augustus. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, in later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the Emperor of the Greeks. Towards the end of the Empire, the standard formula of the Byzantine ruler was in Christ, Emperor. For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors, family tree of the Byzantine emperors List of Roman emperors List of Roman usurpers List of Byzantine usurpers List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
2.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
3.
Baldwin II, Latin Emperor
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Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay, was the last monarch of the Latin Empire ruling from Constantinople. Baldwin II was born in Constantinople, a son of Yolanda of Flanders. The barons chose John of Brienne as emperor-regent for life, Baldwin was also to marry Marie of Brienne, daughter of John and his third wife Berenguela of Leon, and on Johns death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was carried out in 1234, the realm Baldwin governed was little more than the city of Constantinople. He adopted the Byzantine title of porphyrogenetos and his financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome, France and Flanders, trying to raise money, in 1237, with the support of the King of France and the Countess of Flanders, he chased his sister Margaret from power to become the next Count of Namur. But Baldwin was practically never present, and after the invasion and conquest of Namur by Henry V, Count of Luxembourg in 1256, he sold the rights on the County to his cousin Guy, Count of Flanders. In 1237, Baldwin II pawned the Crown of Thorns to a Venetian merchant for 13,134 gold pieces and his efforts met with success, and in 1240 he returned to Constantinople at the head of a considerable army. Circumstances hindered him from accomplishing anything with this help, and in 1245 he traveled again to the West, first to Italy and then to France, the empress Marie and Philip of Toucy governed during his absence. He was happy to be able to get money from King Louis IX in exchange for relics, in 1249 he was with King Louis at Damietta. The extremity of his financial straits reduced him soon afterwards to handing over his son, Philip. Philip was later redeemed by Alfonso X of Castile, the rest of his reign was spent by Baldwin in mendicant tours in western Europe. On the night of 24 July 1261, a group of soldiers under Alexios Strategopoulos managed to enter Constantinople through a secret passageway, Baldwin made his way to the harbor where he boarded a Venetian galley to Negropont. From there he proceeded to Athens, thence to Apulia, finally to France, as titular emperor, his role was still the same, to beg help from the western powers. In 1267 he went to Italy, his hopes were centred on Charles of Anjou, to this intent, he signed the Treaty of Viterbo with Baldwin. During the next year Baldwin and his son Philip lived on pensions from Charles, in October 1273 Philip married Beatrice, daughter of Charles, at Foggia. A few days later Baldwin died in Naples, under Baldwin II, Constantinoples population had fallen to a mere 35,000 people. Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed.2014, mortgage and Redemption of an Emperors Son, Castile and the Latin Empire of Constantinople
4.
Latin Empire
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It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261. Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders, was crowned the first Latin emperor as Baldwin I on 16 May 1204, the last Latin emperor, Baldwin II, went into exile, but the imperial title survived, with several pretenders to it, until the 14th century. The original name of state in the Latin language was Imperium Romaniae. This name was used based on the fact that the name for the Eastern Roman Empire in this period had been Romania. The names Byzantine and Latin were not contemporaneous terms, the term Latin has been used because the crusaders were Roman Catholic and used Latin as their liturgical and scholarly language. It is used in contrast to the Eastern Orthodox locals who used Greek in both liturgy and common speech, after the fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, the crusaders agreed to divide up Byzantine territory. In the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae, signed on 1 October 1204, none of these polities actually controlled the city of Rome, which remained under the temporal authority of the Pope. The initial campaigns of the crusaders in Asia Minor resulted in the capture of most of Bithynia by 1205, with the defeat of the forces of Theodore I Laskaris at Poemanenum and Prusa. Latin successes continued, and in 1207 a truce was signed with Theodore, the Latins inflicted a further defeat on Nicaean forces at the Rhyndakos river in October 1211, and three years later the Treaty of Nymphaeum recognized their control of most of Bithynia and Mysia. The peace was maintained until 1222, when the resurgent power of Nicaea felt sufficiently strong to challenge the Latin Empire, Nicaea turned also to the Aegean, capturing the islands awarded to the empire. In 1235, finally, the last Latin possessions fell to Nicaea, unlike in Asia, where the Latin Empire faced only an initially weak Nicaea, in Europe it was immediately confronted with a powerful enemy, the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan. When Baldwin campaigned against the Byzantine lords of Thrace, they called upon Kaloyan for help, at the Battle of Adrianople on 14 April 1205, the Latin heavy cavalry and knights were crushed by Kaloyans troops and Cuman allies, and Emperor Baldwin was captured. He was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo until his later in 1205. At the same time, another Greek successor state, the Despotate of Epirus, under Michael I Komnenos Doukas, posed a threat to the vassals in Thessalonica. Henry demanded his submission, which Michael provided, giving off his daughter to Henrys brother Eustace in the summer of 1209 and this alliance allowed Henry to launch a campaign in Macedonia, Thessaly and Central Greece against the rebellious Lombard lords of Thessalonica. However, Michaels attack on the Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1210 forced him to north to relieve the city. In 1214 however, Michael died, and was succeeded by Theodore Komnenos Doukas, on 11 June 1216, while supervising repairs to the walls of Thessalonica, Henry died, and was succeeded by Peter of Courtenay, who himself was captured and executed by Theodore the following year. A regency was set up in Constantinople, headed by Peters widow, Yolanda of Flanders, epirote armies then conquered Thrace in 1225–26, appearing before Constantinople itself
5.
Andronikos II Palaiologos
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Andronikos II Palaiologos, usually Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 11 December 1282 to 23 or 24 May 1328. Andronikos II was born Andronikos Doukas Angelos Komnenos Palaiologos at Nicaea and he was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Palaiologina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Andronikos was acclaimed co-emperor in 1261, after his father Michael VIII recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire, Andronikos II was also plagued by economic difficulties. During his reign the value of the Byzantine hyperpyron depreciated precipitously, in 1291, he hired 50–60 Genoese ships, but the Byzantine weakness resulting from the lack of a navy became painfully apparent in the two wars with Venice in 1296–1302 and 1306–10. Later, in 1320, he tried to resurrect the navy by constructing 20 galleys, Andronikos II Palaiologos sought to resolve some of the problems facing the Byzantine Empire through diplomacy. After the death of his first wife Anne of Hungary, he married Yolanda of Montferrat, another marriage alliance attempted to resolve the potential conflict with Serbia in Macedonia, as Andronikos II married off his five-year-old daughter Simonis to King Stefan Milutin in 1298. Andronikos II had resettled those Cretans in the region of Meander river, in spite of some successes, the Catalans were unable to secure lasting gains. There they conquered the Duchy of Athens and Thebes, the Turks continued to penetrate the Byzantine possessions, and Prusa fell in 1326. By the end of Andronikos IIs reign, much of Bithynia was in the hands of the Ottoman Turks of Osman I and his son and heir Orhan. Also, Karasids conquered Mysia-region with Paleokastron after 1296, Germiyan conquered Simav in 1328, Saruhan captured Magnesia in 1313, the Empires problems were exploited by Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria, who defeated Michael IX and conquered much of northeastern Thrace in c. The conflict ended with yet another marriage, between Michael IXs daughter Theodora and the Bulgarian emperor. The conflict precipitated Bulgarian involvement, and Michael Asen III of Bulgaria attempted to capture Andronikos II under the guise of sending him military support, in 1328 Andronikos III entered Constantinople in triumph and Andronikos II was forced to abdicate. Andronikos II died as a monk at Constantinople in 1332, on 8 November 1273 Andronikos II married as his first wife Anna of Hungary, daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and Elizabeth the Cuman, with whom he had two sons, Michael IX Palaiologos. Constantine was forced to become a monk by his nephew Andronikos III Palaiologos, Anna died in 1281, and in 1284 Andronikos married Yolanda, a daughter of William VII of Montferrat, with whom he had, John Palaiologos, despotes. Simonis Palaiologina, who married King Stefan Milutin of Serbia, the Late Byzantine Army, Arms and Society 1204–1453. The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, laiou, Angeliki E. Constantinople and the Latins, The Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282–1328. Η εσωτερική πολιτική του Ανδρονίκου Β΄ Παλαιολόγου, the Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453
6.
Emperor of Nicaea
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This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. All Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be the rightful Roman emperor in direct succession from Augustus, the title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially Augustus, although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus, following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus, which had formerly meant sovereign but was then used in place of Augustus. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, in later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the Emperor of the Greeks. Towards the end of the Empire, the standard formula of the Byzantine ruler was in Christ, Emperor. For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors, family tree of the Byzantine emperors List of Roman emperors List of Roman usurpers List of Byzantine usurpers List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
7.
John IV Laskaris
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John IV Doukas Laskaris was emperor of Nicaea from August 18,1258 to December 25,1261. This empire was one of the Greek states formed from the fragments of the Byzantine Empire. John was a son of Theodore II Doukas Laskaris and Elena of Bulgaria and his maternal grandparents were Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and his second wife Anna Maria of Hungary. Anna was originally named Mária and was the eldest daughter of Andrew II of Hungary, John IV was only seven years old when he inherited the throne on the death of his father. The young monarch was the last member of the Laskarid dynasty and his regent was originally the bureaucrat George Mouzalon, but Mouzalon was murdered by the nobility, and the nobles leader Michael Palaiologos usurped the post. Soon, on January 1,1259, Palaiologos made himself co-emperor as Michael VIII, Michael was, in fact, Johns second cousin once removed, since they were both descended from Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. This made him ineligible for the throne, and he was exiled and imprisoned in a fortress in Bithynia and this action led to the excommunication of Michael VIII Palaiologos by the Patriarch Arsenius Autoreianus, and a later revolt led by a Pseudo-John IV near Nicaea. John IV spent the remainder of his life as monk in Dacibyza, there is a rescript of Charles of Anjou, dated 9 May 1273, which refers to a report that John escaped from his imprisonment and invites him to come to his court. Further documents attest to his arrival and receiving a pension from the Angevin arch-enemy of Michael Palailogos, however, this contradicts the evidence of the historians George Pachymeres and Nikephoros Gregoras, who record that John remained in Dacbyza until long after Michaels death. In 1290 John was visited by Michael VIIIs son and successor Andronikos II Palaiologos, as Donald Nicol notes, The occasion must have been embarrassing for both parties, but especial for Andronikos who, after all, was the beneficiary of his fathers crimes against John Laskaris. The deposed emperor died about 1305 and was recognized as a saint. List of Byzantine emperors Notes References Hackel, Sergei, - Total pages,245 The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991
8.
Lysimachia (Thrace)
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Lysimachus no doubt made Lysimachia the capital of his kingdom, and it must have rapidly risen to great splendour and prosperity. After his death the city fell under Seleucid dominion, and during the wars between Seleucus Callinicus and Ptolemy Euergetes it passed from the hands of the Seleucids into those of the Ptolemies. Whether these latter set the free, or whether it emancipated itself, is uncertain. In 287 BC, the city was damaged by an earthquake. In 277 BCE near Lysimachia the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas defeated the Gauls, as the Aetolians were not able to afford the town the necessary protection, it was destroyed again in 197 BCE by the Thracians during the war of the Romans against Philip of Macedonia. Antiochus the Great restored the place, collected the scattered and enslaved inhabitants and this restoration, however, appears to have been unsuccessful, and under the dominion of Rome it decayed more and more. The last time the place is mentioned under its ancient name, is in a passage of Ammianus Marcellinus, the emperor Justinian restored it and surrounded it with strong fortifications, and after that time it is spoken of only under the name of Hexamilion. Lysimachia, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, London and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
9.
Theodora Palaiologina (Byzantine empress)
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Theodora Doukaina Komnene Palaiologina, usually known simply as Theodora Palaiologina, was the Empress consort of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Theodora was a daughter of John Doukas and his wife Eudokia and her paternal grandfather was sebastokrator Isaac Doukas Vatatzes, the older brother of the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes. Her grandmothers name is not known, acropolites mentions that the father of Theodora died in young manhood. Her mother died in the early 1250s, leaving Theodora to be raised by her great-uncle John III who was said to have loved her like a daughter. In 1253, John III arranged the marriage of Theodora to Michael Palaiologos, John III died on 3 November 1254. He was succeeded by his only son Theodore II Laskaris, who died four years later leaving his only son John IV Laskaris, Michael maneuvered his way into first becoming regent of John IV, then advancing step by step to despotes making him next in order to Emperor. The final step came at the beginning of 1259 when Michael, on 25 July 1261, Alexios Strategopoulos captured Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire that had been shattered by the Fourth Crusade. Michael took advantage of the success of his general and entered the city on 15 August 1261 and was followed by Theodora. About the time of achievement, Theodora confronted a crisis in her marriage. When Theodora learned of this, she turned to Patriarch Arsenios Autoreianos for help, the Patriarch confronted the emperor and pressured him to abandon his plans. Michael yielded and allow Anna to leave for home in December 1261, there is little evidence for Theodoras political role in the reign of her husband. She took an interest in the marriages of her two daughters Anna and Irene and she also intervened to gain clemency for courtiers who fell into disfavor. The evidence of her activities primarily concern her support of monastic communities, a number of documents survive from the archives of the Patmos and Lembiotissa monasteries from the years 1259 to 1281 attesting to her active involvement. When Michael pursued a policy of union at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. When she failed to persuade Michael to change his mind, she supported the policy out of loyalty to Michael for she was later forced to publicly recant in 1283. At some point after Michaels death in 1282, Theodora undertook the restoration of Lips monastery which had founded in the 10th century. In reconstructing the convent she added a church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Talbot explains one motivation for her interest in the convent of Lips was to provide a place for her daughters and granddaughters to retire in their old age, another was to provide a resting place for her family, having seen how Michael had been denied Christian burial
10.
Constantine Palaiologos (son of Michael VIII)
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Constantine Palaiologos was a Byzantine prince of the Palaiologos dynasty, who also served as a general in the wars against the Serbs and Turks. Constantine was the son of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Palaiologina. He was born in autumn 1261 in Constantinople, which had just been recovered from the Latin Empire in August and he was hence a true porphyrogennetos prince, and was often referred to as such. His father reportedly accorded him honours above even those of a despotes and he later rebuilt the famous Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople. In 1293, he was slandered to his brother, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and he later became a monk, with the monastic name Athanasios. He died at Constantinople on 5 May 1306, and was buried at the Lips Monastery, from his marriage to Irene Palaiologina Raoulaina, he had one son, the panhypersebastos John Palaiologos. The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus is a late 13th-century Byzantine palace in the part of the old city of Constantinople named after him
11.
Maria Palaiologina
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Maria Palaiologina was an illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, the wife of the Mongol ruler Abaqa Khan, and an influential Christian leader among the Mongols. After Abaqas death she became the leader of a Monastery in Constantinople which was named after her as Saint Mary of the Mongols. In the 13th century, the Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan had expanded to its greatest extent, Hulagus portion was known as the Ilkhanate and stretched through the area today that covers parts of Turkey and Iran on the west, and Pakistan on the east. The section to the north, covering parts of Russian and Eastern Europe, was known as the Golden Horde, Michael VIII, the Byzantine Emperor based in Constantinople, attempted to stay on friendly relations with both khanates. Hulagu had been negotiating for a lady of the family of Constantinople to be added to his number of wives. He also betrothed another of his daughters, Marias sister Euphrosyne Palaiologina, to Nogai Khan, both khanates maintained an attitude of tolerance towards the Christians. On her journey to marry Hulagu, Maria left Constantinople in 1265, escorted by the abbot of Pantokrator monastery, historian Steven Runciman relates how she was accompanied by the Patriarch Euthymius of Antioch. However, in Caesarea they learned that Hulagu had died, so Maria was instead married to his son and she led a pious life and was quite influential on the politics and the religious outlooks of the Mongols, many of whom were already Nestorian Christians. They had previously looked to Doquz Khatun, Hulagus wife, as a religious leader, when Doquz also died in 1265, this sentiment turned to Maria, who was called Despina Khatun by the Mongols. Maria resided in Persia at court of Abaqa for a period of 15 years, according to Orleans manuscript, Baidu Khan was close to Maria during her time in Persia and frequently visited her ordo to hear interesting stories about Christianity. Maria went there, both to encourage its defense and to hasten the negotiations with the Mongols about her wedding and she met with the Ottoman Sultan, Othman, but her menacing behaviour aroused the spirit of the Ottomans. Before the 30,000 troops sent to her aid by the Mongols could reach the city, the Ottomans stormed the fortress of Tricocca, which was the key to Nicaea, and conquered it. Maria was then forced to go back to Constantinople once again, where she became the Ktetorissa of the Panagiotissa Monastery, and remained there for the rest of her life. The church of the monastery was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Church is called by the Turks “the Church of Blood”, the Church is the only one in Constantinople to have never been converted to a mosque, following an order by Mehmet the Conqueror. It is located in Tevkii Cafer Mektebi Sok, in the quarter of Fener, there is a surviving mosaic portrait of Maria, from the narthex at the Chora Monastery, in the lower right hand corner of the Deesis scene. La Géographie ecclésiastique de lEmpire byzantin, part, Le Siège de Constantinople et le Patriarcat Oecuménique. 3rd Vol. Les Églises et les Monastères, a History of the Crusades 3
12.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
13.
Palaiologos
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Founded by the 11th-century general Nikephoros Palaiologos and his son George, the family rose to the highest aristocratic circles through its marriage into the Doukas and Komnenos dynasties. A branch of the Palaiologos became the lords of Montferrat. This inheritance was eventually incorporated by marriage to the Gonzaga family, rulers of the Duchy of Mantua, the origins of the Palaiologoi are unknown. Later traditions sometimes tied them to the Italian city of Viterbo or to the Romans who immigrated east with Constantine the Great during the founding of his new capital, both were probably fabrications created to help legitimize the dynasty. The family are first attested as local lords in Asia Minor, particularly Anatolikon and he supported the revolt of Nikephoros Botaneiates, while his son George married Anna Doukaina and therefore supported his sister-in-laws husband Alexios Komnenos during his rise to power. As commander of Dyrrhachium, George faced the Norman Duke Robert Guiscard in battle, the Palaiologoi held military offices and further united their family to the Doukai and Komnenoi during the 12th century. They followed Theodore Laskaris to Nicaea and began to assume high-ranking political offices as well, Alexios Palaiologos, whose wife was a granddaughter of Zoe Doukaina and her husband Adrianos Komnenos. Another Alexios Palaiologos married Irene Angelina, eldest daughter of Alexios III Angelos, the latter couples daughter Theodora Palaiologina married her cousin Andronikos Palaiologos, who was descended from Zoe. The couple were the progenitors of the imperial dynasty and their son was Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Michael VIIIs son Andronikos II Palaiologos married Anne of Hungary and fathered Michael Palaiologos, Michael IX married Rita of Armenia. Their son, the grandson of Andronikos II, was Andronikos III Palaiologos, Andronikos III married Anna of Savoy. Their son was John V Palaiologos, John V married Helena Kantakouzene, a daughter of his co-ruler John VI Kantakuzenos. Their sons included Andronikos IV Palaiologos and Manuel II Palaiologos and they were the parents of John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, as well as the despots of Morea Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos. Demetrios, after giving Mehmed II a pretext to invade Morea, was kept from his throne and his daughter Helen was a member of the sultans harem for a time. Thomas, in exile in Venice, sold the title to Charles VIII of France. Thomas daughter Zoe married Ivan III of Russia and, on rejoining the Orthodox faith and her influence on the court curtailed the power of the boyars and eventually led to the proclamation of the Grand Prince of Muscovy as the Tsar of all the Russias. Though Thomass male-line descendants soon became extinct, his descent lives on through a daughter, one such female descendant, Princess dArenberg, married at the beginning of the 19th century a Pfalzgraf of Zweibrücken, whereby the Dukes of Bavaria descend from Byzantine emperors. Also Queen Anne, consort of former king Michael of Romania descends from these Arenbergs, reportedly Herina, the first wife of Emperor Isaac II Angelos who reigned from 1185 to 1195, was of the Palaiologos family
14.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
15.
Fall of Constantinople
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The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453, the capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a blow to Christendom. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which also marks, for some historians, Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and they fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, thereafter there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople, the Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea. This optimism was reinforced by friendly assurances made by Mehmed to envoys sent to his new court, but Mehmeds actions spoke far louder than his mild words. Since the mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing authority over the eastern church, nominal union had been negotiated in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin church. Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV, finally, the attempted Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. Although some troops did arrive from the city states in the north of Italy. Some Western individuals, however, came to defend the city on their own account. One of these was a soldier from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople
16.
Empire of Nicaea
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Founded by the Laskaris family, it lasted from 1204 to 1261, when the Nicaeans restored the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. In 1204, Byzantine emperor Alexios V Ducas Murtzouphlos fled Constantinople after crusaders invaded the city. Theodore I Lascaris, the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos, was proclaimed emperor but he too, realizing the situation in Constantinople was hopeless, fled to the city of Nicaea in Bithynia. The Latin Empire, established by the Crusaders in Constantinople, had control over former Byzantine territory, and Byzantine successor states sprang up in Epirus, Trebizond. Trebizond had broken away as an independent state a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople, Nicaea, however, was the closest to the Latin Empire and was in the best position to attempt to re-establish the Byzantine Empire. Theodore also defeated an army from Trebizond, as well as minor rivals. In 1206, Theodore proclaimed himself emperor at Nicaea, numerous truces and alliances were formed and broken over the next few years, as the Byzantine successor states, the Latin Empire, the Bulgarians, and the Seljuks of Iconium fought each other. In 1211, at Antioch on the Meander, Theodore defeated an invasion by the Seljuks. The Nicaeans were compensated for this loss when, in 1212. Theodore consolidated his claim to the throne by naming a new Patriarch of Constantinople in Nicaea. In 1219, he married the daughter of Latin Empress Yolanda of Flanders, the accession of Vatatzes was initially challenged by the Laskarids, with the sebastokratores Isaac and Alexios, brothers of Theodore I, seeking the aid of the Latin Empire. Vatatzes prevailed over their forces, however, in the Battle of Poimanenon, securing his throne. It proved short-lived, as it came under Bulgarian control after the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230, with Trebizond lacking any real power, Nicaea was the only Byzantine state left, and John III expanded his territory across the Aegean Sea. In 1235, he allied with Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, allowing him to extend his influence over Thessalonica and Epirus. In 1242, the Mongols invaded Seljuk territory to the east of Nicaea, in 1245, John allied with the Holy Roman Empire by marrying Constance II of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Frederick II. In 1246, John attacked Bulgaria and recovered most of Thrace and Macedonia, by 1248, John had defeated the Bulgarians and surrounded the Latin Empire. He continued to land from the Latins until his death in 1254. Theodore II Lascaris, John IIIs son, faced invasions from the Bulgarians in Thrace, a conflict between Nicaea and Epirus broke out in 1257
17.
Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty
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From the start, the régime faced numerous problems. The Turks of Asia Minor had since 1263 been raiding and expanding into Byzantine territory in Asia Minor, Anatolia, which had formed the very heart of the shrinking empire, was systematically lost to numerous Turkic ghazis, whose raids evolved into conquering expeditions inspired by Islamic zeal. By 1380, the Byzantine Empire consisted of the capital Constantinople and a few other isolated exclaves, the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of the Morea and the Empire of Trebizond, fell shortly afterwards. However, the Palaiologan period witnessed a flourishing in art. The migration of Byzantine scholars to the West also helped to spark the Renaissance in Italy, in addition, the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire allowed the Bulgarians, the Serbs and the various Turcoman emirates of Anatolia to make gains. Although Epirus was initially the strongest of the three Greek states, the Nicaeans were the ones who succeeded in taking back the city of Constantinople from the Latin Empire, the Nicaean Empire was successful in holding its own against its Latin and Seljuk opponents. At the Battle of Meander Valley, a Turkic force was repelled, in the west, the Latins were unable to expand into Anatolia, consolidating Thrace against Bulgaria was a challenge that kept the Latins occupied for the duration of the Latin Empire. In 1261, the Empire of Nicaea was ruled by John IV Laskaris, however, John IV was overshadowed by his co-emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos. In 1261, while the bulk of the Latin Empires military forces were absent from Constantinople, Thrace, Macedonia and Thessalonica had already been taken by Nicaea in 1246. Following the capture of Constantinople, Michael ordered the blinding of John IV in December 1261, as a result, Patriarch Arsenios excommunicated Michael, but he was deposed and replaced by Joseph I. The Fourth Crusade and their successors, the Latin Empire, had much to reduce Byzantiums finest city to an underpopulated wreck. Michael VIII began the task of restoring many monasteries, public buildings, the Hagia Sophia, horribly looted in the Crusade of 1204, was refurbished to Greek Orthodox tradition. The Kontoskalion harbour and the walls of Constantinople were all strengthened against a new expedition by the Latin West. Many hospitals, hospices, markets, baths, streets and churches were built, even a new Mosque was built to compensate for the one burnt during the Fourth Crusade. These attempts were costly and crippling taxes were placed on the peasantry, nonetheless, the city grew new cultural and diplomatic contacts, notably with the Mamelukes. Both had common enemies, Latin aggression, and later on, the Sultanate of Rum was in chaos and decentralized ever since the Mongol invasions in ca. The situation became worse when Charles of Anjou, brother of the King of France, in 1267, Pope Clement IV arranged a pact, whereby Charles would receive land in the East in return for assisting a new military expedition to Constantinople. Unfortunately for Michael VIII, the new union was seen as a fake by the Clements successor, the Greek Church was excommunicated, and Charles was given renewed Papal support for the invasion of Constantinople
18.
Grand Domestic
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The title of Grand Domestic was given in the 11th–15th centuries to the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army, directly below the Byzantine Emperor. It evolved from the office of the Domestic of the Schools. From Byzantium, it was adopted by the breakaway Empire of Trebizond. Nevertheless, the office was sometimes referred to in the sources as the Grand Domestic of the Schools or of the army. For most of its existence, the office of Grand Domestic was by its nature confined to a single holder, the office varied in importance in the court hierarchy. Under the Komnenian emperors, it immediately after the imperial titles of Caesar, sebastokratōr. In the 13th century, it rose and fell according to the desire to honour its holder, but was usually at seventh place, below the prōtovestiarios. Like all Byzantine offices, it was neither hereditary nor transferable, the office also included various ceremonial functions, as detailed in the mid-14th century account of offices of pseudo-Kodinos. Alternatively, a domed skaranikon hat could be worn, again in red and gold, with a portrait of the emperor, standing crowned and flanked by angels, within a circle of pearls, the skaranikon itself was also bordered with pearls. A rich silk tunic, the kabbadion, of two colours, decorated with stripes of gold braid. A staff of office with carved knobs, with the first of plain gold, the second of gold bordered with silver braid, the third like the first, the Late Byzantine Army, Arms and Society 1204–1453. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Press, recherches sur les institutions byzantines, Tome I. Recherches sur les institutions byzantines, Tome I, haldon, John F. Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, george Akropolites, The History – Introduction, Translation and Commentary. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium, The Empire of Constantinople, verpeaux, Jean, ed. Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des Offices. Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
19.
Alexios III Angelos
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Alexios III Angelos was Byzantine Emperor from March 1195 to July 17/18,1203. A member of the imperial family, Alexios came to throne after deposing, blinding. The most significant event of his reign was the attack of the Fourth Crusade on Constantinople in 1203, Alexios III took over the defense of the city, which he mismanaged, then fled the city at night with one of his three daughters. From Adrianople, and then Mosynopolis, he attempted to rally his supporters. Alexios III Angelos was the son of Andronikos Doukas Angelos. Andronikos was himself a son of Theodora Komnene Angelina, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, thus Alexios Angelos was a member of the extended imperial family. Together with his father and brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos and his younger brother Isaac was threatened with execution under orders of Andronikos I, their first-cousin once-removed, on September 11,1185. Isaac made an attack on the imperial agents and killed their leader Stephen Hagiochristophorites. He then took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia and from there appealed to the populace and his actions provoked a riot, which resulted in the deposition of Andronikos I and the proclamation of Isaac as Emperor. Alexios was now closer to the throne than ever before. By 1190 Alexios had returned to the court of his younger brother, in March 1195 while Isaac II was away hunting in Thrace, Alexios was acclaimed as emperor by the troops with the covert support of Alexios wife Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. These actions inevitably led to the ruin of the state. At Christmas 1196, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI attempted to force Alexios to pay him a tribute of 5,000 pounds of gold or face invasion. Alexios gathered the money by plundering imperial tombs at the church of the Holy Apostles and taxing the people heavily, though Henrys death in September 1197 meant the gold was never dispatched. The able and forceful empress Euphrosyne tried in vain to sustain his credit and his court, Vatatzes, the Emperors attempts to bolster the empires defences by special concessions to pronoiars in the frontier zone backfired, as the latter increased their regional autonomy. Byzantine authority survived, but in a weakened state. Soon Alexios was threatened by a new and more formidable danger, in 1202, soldiers assembled at Venice to launch the Fourth Crusade. Alexios III took no measures to resist, and his attempts to bribe the crusaders failed
20.
Sack of Constantinople (1204)
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The Sack of Constantinople or Siege of Constantinople occurred in 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Mutinous Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, after the capture, the Latin Empire was created and Baldwin of Flanders was crowned Emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople in the Hagia Sophia. After the citys sacking, most of the Byzantine Empires territories were divided up, however, the restored Empire would never return to its former territorial or economic status, and eventually fell to the rising Ottoman Sultanate in the 1453 Siege of Constantinople. The sack of Constantinople is a turning point in medieval history. The Crusaders decision to attack a major Christian capital was unprecedented and immediately controversial, the Fourth Crusade therefore left Christendom more divided and weakened than before. Following the siege of Constantinople in 1203, on 1 August 1203, the pro-Crusader Alexios Angelos was crowned Emperor Alexios IV of the Byzantine Empire, who then tried to pacify the city. But riots between anti-Crusader Greeks and pro-Crusader Latins broke out later that month and lasted until November, during which most of the populace began to turn against Emperor Alexios IV. Emperor Alexios V then attempted to negotiate with the Crusaders for a withdrawal from Byzantine territory, when Alexios V ordered Alexios IVs execution on 8 February, the Crusaders declared war on Alexios V. In March 1204, the Crusader and Venetian leadership decided on the outright conquest of Constantinople, by the end of March, the combined Crusader armies were besieging Constantinople as Emperor Alexios V began to strengthen the citys defences while conducting more active operations outside the city. By the first week of April, the Crusaders had begun their siege from their encampment in the town of Galata across the Golden Horn from Constantinople, on 12 April 1204 weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders as the weather cleared and a second assault on the city was ordered. A strong north wind aided the Venetian ships near the Golden Horn to come close to the city wall, after a short battle approximately 70 Crusaders managed to enter the city. Emperor Alexios V fled from the city that night through the Polyandriou Gate, the Crusaders looted, terrorized, and vandalized Constantinople for three days, during which many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works were either stolen or destroyed. The famous bronze horses from the Hippodrome were sent back to adorn the façade of St Marks Basilica in Venice, as well as being stolen, works of immeasurable artistic value were destroyed merely for their material value. One of the most precious works to such a fate was a large bronze statue of Hercules, created by the legendary Lysippos. Like so many other artworks made of bronze, the statue was melted down for its content by the Crusaders. The great Library of Constantinople was destroyed as well, the civilian population of Constantinople were subject to the Crusaders ruthless lust for spoils and glory, thousands of them were killed in cold blood. Women, even nuns, were raped by the Crusader army, the very altars of these churches were smashed and torn to pieces for their gold and marble by the warriors. Although the Venetians engaged in looting too, their actions were far more restrained, doge Dandolo still appeared to have far more control over his men
21.
Fourth Crusade
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The Fourth Crusade was a Western European armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III, originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, a sequence of events culminated in the Crusaders sacking the city of Constantinople, the intention of the crusaders was then to continue to the Holy Land with promised Byzantine financial and military assistance. On 23 June 1203 the main fleet reached Constantinople. In August 1203, following clashes outside Constantinople, Alexios Angelos was crowned co-Emperor with crusader support, however, in January 1204, he was deposed by a popular uprising in Constantinople. In April 1204, they captured and brutally sacked the city, Byzantine resistance based in unconquered sections of the empire such as Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus ultimately recovered Constantinople in 1261. Ayyubid Sultan Saladin had conquered most of the Frankish, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the ancient city itself, the Kingdom had been established 88 years before, after the capture and sack of Jerusalem in the First Crusade. The city was sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews, Saladin led a Muslim dynasty, and his incorporation of Jerusalem into his domains shocked and dismayed the Catholic countries of Western Europe. Legend has it that Pope Urban III literally died of the shock, the crusader states had been reduced to three cities along the sea coast, Tyre, Tripoli, and Antioch. The Third Crusade reclaimed an extensive amount of territory for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the key towns of Acre and Jaffa, but had failed to retake Jerusalem. The crusade had also marked by a significant escalation in long standing tensions between the feudal states of western Europe and the Byzantine Empire, centred in Constantinople. The experiences of the first two crusades had thrown into relief the vast cultural differences between the two Christian civilisations. For their part, the educated and wealthy Byzantines maintained a sense of cultural, organizational. Constantinople had been in existence for 874 years at the time of the Fourth Crusade and was the largest and most sophisticated city in Christendom. Almost alone amongst major medieval urban centres, it had retained the civic structures, public baths, forums, monuments, at its height, the city held an estimated population of about half a million people behind thirteen miles of triple walls. As a result, it was both a rival and a target for the aggressive new states of the west, notably the Republic of Venice. Crusaders also seized the breakaway Byzantine province of Cyprus, rather than return it to the Empire, barbarossa died on crusade, and his army quickly disintegrated, leaving the English and French, who had come by sea, to fight Saladin. There they captured Sidon and Beirut, but at the news of Henrys death in Messina along the way, many of the nobles, deserted by much of their leadership, the rank and file crusaders panicked before an Egyptian army and fled to their ships in Tyre. Also in 1195, the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos was deposed in favour of his brother by a palace coup, ascending as Alexios III Angelos, the new emperor had his brother blinded and exiled
22.
Melnik, Bulgaria
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Melnik is a town in Blagoevgrad Province, southwestern Bulgaria, in the southwestern Pirin Mountains, about 440 m above sea level. The town is a reserve and 96 of its buildings are cultural monuments. With a population of 385, it is the smallest town in Bulgaria, according to archaeological evidence, the first to settle in the area were the Thracian tribe Medi to which the famous rebel Spartacus belonged. Centuries later, the presence of the Romans left the one of its landmarks — the Ancient Roman bridge. The Slavs who later came in these parts named the settlement Melnik after the sand surrounding it on all sides. Melnik became a part of the First Bulgarian Empire under the rule of Khan Presian I, the town continued to flourish under Tsar Ivan Asen II because of the duty-free trade with Venetian-ruled Dubrovnik. In that time Melnik was also a centre of craftsmanship, particularly church decoration, many Bulgarian schools and churches were built in Melnik in that period. Melnik was taken by the Imperial Russian Army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the town was the centre of a kaza in the Sanjak of Siroz as Menlik until 1912. During the First Balkan War, Melnik was ultimately liberated and became again part of Bulgaria. In the late 18th century, the town had 1300 houses, seventy churches and a population of some 20,000 people, Melnik is the subject of Yuri Trifonovs short story The Smallest Town on Earth. According to Bulgarian claims submitted to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, some Bulgarian shops, the Greek population moved primarily to Sidirokastro and fewer settled in Serres and Thessaloniki. Melnik has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cold winters, climate table, The unique architecture of Melnik and the nearby Rozhen Monastery make it a popular tourist destination. The town has also been famous for producing a strong wine since at least 1346, the local wine from the varietal Broad Leave Melnik Vine was reportedly a favourite of Winston Churchills. Lately, the area of Melnik is enjoying a revival of vine growing, several new, modern wineries have been built and operate (Villa Melnik Winery, Sintika Winery, Orbelus, etc. producing high quality wine from local and international varieties. Several others are under construction, preparing for the new 2014 harvest, some of the old churches in the town worth visiting are St Nicholas, SS Peter and Paul, St Nicholas the Thaumaturge and St Anthony. Anastasios Polyzoidis a Greek politician and judicial official, emanuil Vaskidovich a Bulgarian National Revival enlightener. Melnik Ridge and its summit Melnik Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Melnik, Rich History, Breathtaking Views And Great Wines D. M. Brancoff. La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne, paris,1905, 192–193 Popovic, M. Die Siedlungsstruktur der Region Melnik in spätbyzantinischer und osmanischer Zeit
23.
Serres
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Sérres is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece, the city is situated in a fertile plain at an elevation of about 70 metres, some 24 kilometres northeast of the Strymon river and 69 km north-east of Thessaloniki, respectively. Serres official municipal population was 76,817 in 2011 with the number of people living in the city. The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus mentions the city as Siris in the 5th century BC, theopompus refers to the city as Sirra. Later, it is mentioned as Sirae, in the plural, in the local Greek dialect, the city is known as ta Serras, which is actually a corruption of the plural Accusative tas Serras of the archaic form ai Serrai. It was known as Serez or Siroz in Turkish, in the Slavic languages, the city is known as Ser in both Serbian, while in Bulgarian it is known as Syar or Ser. Although the earliest mention of Serres is dating in the 5th century BC, the ancient city was built on a high and steep hill just north of Serres. It held a strategic position, since it controlled a land road. The most ancient known inhabitants of the area were the Bryges and Strymonians, afterwards were Siriopaiones and these populations mainly engaged in agriculture and cattle-raising especially worshiped the Sun, the deified river Strymon and later the Thracian horseman. The colony of Serraepolis was founded in Cilicia by people from Serres, in Roman antiquity the city is mentioned in sources under the name Sirra and in inscriptions as Sirraion polis. It was an important city of the Roman province of Macedonia and it flourished especially during the imperial period thanks to the Pax Romana. Then, during the crisis of the Roman Empire, the city declined and only in the times of Diocletian, with its reforms. As regards the structure it featured, like all Greek cities. The local government was based on the known Greek institutions, which were the parliament, the municipality. Sirra as a city-state, apart from the usual Greek institutions, held also its own territory, within the limits of its territory have also discovered traces of marble quarries and iron mines, which indicate systematic exploitation of the existing mineral wealth in the imperial period. In terms of population, except the most numerous Greek element, are recognized some population substrates even from prehistoric times, concerning the society, the main feature was its distinction in upper and lower social strata. Finally, concerning the cults of the residents, except the known panhellenic cults, are evidenced and some local, the first attested bishop of the city is recorded as participating in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449. In the early Middle Ages, Serres became the site of a fortress built by the Byzantine Empire to guard the empires northern frontier
24.
John III Doukas Vatatzes
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John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes, was Emperor of Nicaea from 1222 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known as Theodore II Laskaris, John Doukas Vatatzes had two older brothers. The struggle ended with the Battle of Poimanenos in 1224, in which his opponents were defeated in spite of support from the Latin Empire of Constantinople. John IIIs victory led to territorial concessions by the Latin Empire in 1225, followed by Johns incursion into Europe, where he seized Adrianople. John IIIs possession of Adrianople was terminated by Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Epirus and Thessalonica, the elimination of Theodore by Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria in 1230 put an end to the danger posed by Thessalonica, and John III made an alliance with Bulgaria against the Latin Empire. In 1235 this alliance resulted in the restoration of the Bulgarian patriarchate, in that same year, the Bulgarians and Nicaeans campaigned against the Latin Empire, and in 1236 they attempted a siege of Constantinople. Subsequently, Ivan Asen II adopted an ambivalent policy, effectively becoming neutral, immediately afterwards, John III was able to establish an effective stranglehold on Constantinople in 1247. In the last years of his reign Nicaean authority extended far to the west, michaels allies Golem of Kruja and Theodore Petraliphas defected to John III in 1252. John III died in Nymphaion in 1254, and was buried in the monastery of Sosandra, John III Doukas Vatatzes was a successful ruler who laid the groundwork for Nicaeas recovery of Constantinople. John III effected Nicaean expansion into Europe, where by the end of his reign he had annexed his former rival Thessalonica and had expanded at the expense of Bulgaria and Epirus. Moreover, John III is credited with developing the internal prosperity and economy of his realm, encouraging justice. In spite of his epilepsy, John III had provided leadership in both peace and war. A half-century after his death, John III was canonized as a saint, under the name John the Merciful, but those who ramble and play about his ruined palace seldom connect it even with his name. The generations after John Vatatzes looked back upon him as the Father of the Greeks, John III Doukas Vatatzes married first Irene Lascarina, the daughter of his predecessor Theodore I Laskaris in 1212. They had one son, the future Theodore II Doukas Laskaris, Irene fell from a horse and was so badly injured that she was unable to have any more children. Irene retired to a convent, taking the monastic name Eugenia, John III married as his second wife Constance II of Hohenstaufen, an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Frederick II by his mistress Bianca Lancia. List of Byzantine emperors This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. John Vatatzes entry in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, alexander Kazhdan Oxford University Press,1991
25.
Trial by ordeal
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Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. The test was one of life or death and the proof of innocence was survival, in some cases, the accused was considered innocent if they escaped injury or if their injuries healed. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, trial by ordeal was considered a judicium Dei, the practice has much earlier roots, attested to as far back as the Code of Hammurabi and the Code of Ur-Nammu. In pre-modern society, the ordeal typically ranked along with the oath, indeed, the term ordeal, Old English ordǣl, has the meaning of judgment, verdict, from Proto-Germanic *uzdailjam that which is dealt out. Priestly cooperation in trials by fire and water was forbidden by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, trials by ordeal became rarer over the Late Middle Ages, but the practice was discontinued only in the 16th century. Ordeal by combat took place between two people in a dispute and they or, under certain conditions, a designated champion would fight, and the loser of the fight or the party represented by the losing champion was deemed guilty or liable. A notable case was that of Gero, Count of Alsleben, whose daughter married Siegfried II, Ordeal by fire was one form of torture. Ordeal of fire typically required that the walk a certain distance. One famous story about the ordeal of ploughshares concerns Edward the Confessors mother, according to legend, she was accused of adultery with Bishop Ælfwine of Winchester, but proved her innocence by walking barefoot unharmed over burning ploughshares. Another form of the ordeal required that an accused remove a stone from a pot of boiling water, oil, the assessment of the injury and the consequences of a miracle or lack of one, followed a similar procedure to that described above. An early example of the test was described by Gregory of Tours in the late 6th century and he describes how a Catholic saint, Hyacinth, bested an Arian rival by plucking a stone from a boiling cauldron. Gregory said that it took Hyacinth about an hour to complete the task and he died as a result of his injuries. It was used to prove the innocence of the accused in cases of treason, however, the Byzantines viewed trial of ordeal with disgust and considered it a barbarian innovation at odds with Byzantine law and ecclesiastical canons. Angold notes, Its abolition by Michael Paliologos was universally acclaimed. The first of its kind for over 400 years, the trial was a fiasco for Savonarola, since a sudden rain doused the flames, canceling the event, and was taken by onlookers as a sign from God against him. The Holy Inquisition arrested him shortly thereafter, with Savonarola convicted of heresy, Ordeal by fire was also used for judiciary purposes in ancient Iran. Persons accused of cheating in contracts or lying might be asked to prove their innocence by ordeal of fire as an ultimate test, two examples of such an ordeal include the accused having to pass through fire, or having molten metal poured on his chest. There were about 30 of these kinds of tests in all
26.
Metropolitan bishop
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Before the establishment of patriarchs, metropolitan was the highest episcopal rank in the Eastern rites of the Church. They presided over synods of bishops, and were granted privileges by canon law. The Early Church structure generally followed the Roman imperial practice, with one bishop ruling each city, the bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called suffragans. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops, the metropolitan is obliged to request the pallium, a symbol of the power that, in communion with the Church of Rome, he possesses over his ecclesiastical province. This holds even if he had the pallium in another metropolitan see and it is the responsibility of the metropolitan, with the consent of the majority of the suffragan bishops to call a provincial council, decide where to convene it, and determine the agenda. It is his prerogative to preside over the provincial council, no provincial council can be called if the metropolitan see is vacant. As of April 2006,508 archdioceses were headed by metropolitan archbishops,27 archbishops lead an extant archdiocese, but were not metropolitans, see also Catholic Church hierarchy for the distinctions. In those Eastern Catholic Churches that are headed by a patriarch, similarly, a metropolitan has the right to ordain and enthrone the bishops of his province. The metropolitan is to be commemorated in the liturgies celebrated within his province, a major archbishop is defined as the metropolitan of a certain see who heads an autonomous Eastern Church not of patriarchal rank. The canon law of such a Church differs only slightly from that regarding a patriarchal Church, there are also autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches consisting of a single province and headed by a metropolitan. In his autonomous Church it is for him to ordain and enthrone bishops, in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the title of metropolitan is used variously, in terms of rank and jurisdiction. In terms of rank, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches metropolitans are ranked above archbishops in precedence, primates of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches below patriarchal rank are generally designated as archbishops. In the Greek Orthodox Churches, archbishops are ranked above metropolitans in precedence, some Eastern Orthodox Churches have functioning metropolitans on the middle level of church administration. In Romanian Orthodox Church there are six regional metropolitans who are the chairmen of their respective synods of bishops, for example, Metropolitan of Oltenia has regional jurisdiction over four dioceses. On the other hand, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches title of metropolitan is only honorary, in Serbian Orthodox Church, honorary title of metropolitan is given to diocesan bishops of some important historical sees. For example, diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral is given the title of metropolitan. Diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Dabar-Bosnia is also given the title of metropolitan. Non-canonical Eastern Orthodox Churches generally use metropolitan title according to traditions of usage in Churches from which they were split
27.
Phokas (Byzantine family)
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Its members and their clients monopolized the high command positions of the Byzantine army for much of the 10th century and led the successful Byzantine offensive against the Arabs in the East. As one of the families of the Anatolian military aristocracy. Their power was broken by Basil II, and the family declined in importance after the 11th century. According to Michael Attaleiates, the family descended from the ancient Roman gens Fabia, whatever their origins, the Phokades appear to have settled in Cappadocia, where their estates were concentrated and which is clearly attested as their power base and the center of their activities. The first attested member of the family was a soldier, probably of humble origin and his son, Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, became a distinguished general, scoring several victories against the Arabs, especially in southern Italy, and reaching the position of Domestic of the Schools. His brother, Bardas Phokas the Elder, already active as a general, fell in disgrace for a time, but by the time of Lekapenoss fall in 944, he was a patrikios and a high-ranking general. These appointments heralded a period of twenty years when the Phokades. During this period, the Phokas clan was allied with the Maleinoi. Other families that were aligned with and often related to them through marriage were the Adralestoi, Skleroi, Kourkouai, Parsakoutenoi, Balantai. Bardas himself, already in his mid-sixties when named commander-in-chief, proved a mediocre general, one of them, in 953, even left his son Constantine captive in the Hamdanids hands. Finally, in 955, Bardas was replaced by his son Nikephoros, with the sudden death of Romanos II in 963, the popular and powerful Nikephoros seized the throne, becoming senior emperor and guardian over the young sons of Romanos, Basil II, and Constantine VIII. His father Bardas was named Caesar, and his brother Leo became kouropalates and logothetes tou dromou, as emperor, Nikephoros continued his campaigns in the East, conquering Cilicia and northwestern Syria. Nikephoross regime, however, quickly became unpopular, both due to his focus on military affairs to the detriment of the economy and for his religious policies. In December 969, he was murdered by a group of disaffected generals led by his nephew and one-time protégé John Tzimiskes, the Phokades were dismissed from their posts and titles and exiled by the new regime. One member of the family had a different fate, Leos daughter Sophia Phokaina had married Constantine Skleros, Constantine was Tzimiskess brother-in-law from his first marriage and a close ally of the new emperor. Their daughter, Theophano, was married in 972 to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, in 978, Bardas was recalled by Basil II to lead the imperial forces against the rebellion of Bardas Skleros. Named magistros and Domestic of the East, he managed to defeat Skleros, Bardas himself rebelled in 987, with the support of many of the major aristocratic families, in an uprising that lasted until his death in 989 at the Battle of Abydos. Leo tried to out in Antioch but was surrendered to the emperor by the citys inhabitants
28.
Sakarya River
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The Sakarya is the third longest river in Turkey. It runs through what in ancient times was known as Phrygia, the source of the river is the Bayat Yaylası which is located to the northeast of Afyon. Joined by the Porsuk Çayı close by the town of Polatlı, the Sakarya was once crossed by the Sangarius Bridge, constructed by the East Roman Emperor Justinian I. In the Middle Ages, the valley of the Sakarya was the home of the Söğüt tribe, from downstream to upstream, it is dammed at Gölpazarı, Yenice, Gökçekaya and Sarıyar. Battle of Sakarya Sakarya Province Sangarius Bridge Nana
29.
Sultanate of Rum
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The name Rûm reflects the Arabic name of Anatolia, الرُّومُ ar-Rūm, a loan from Greek Ρωμιοί Romans. The Sultanate of Rum seceded from the Great Seljuk Empire under Suleiman ibn Qutulmish in 1077, following the Battle of Manzikert, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. It reached the height of its power during the late 12th and early 13th century, in the east, the sultanate absorbed other Turkish states and reached Lake Van. Trade from Iran and Central Asia across Anatolia was developed by a system of caravanserai, especially strong trade ties with the Genoese formed during this period. The increased wealth allowed the sultanate to absorb other Turkish states that had established in eastern Anatolia. The Seljuq sultans bore the brunt of the Crusades, and eventually succumbed to the Mongol invasion in 1243, for the remainder of the 13th century, the Seljuqs acted as vassals of the Ilkhanate. Their power disintegrated during the half of the 13th century. The last of the Seljuq vassals of the Ilkhanate, Mesud II, was murdered in 1308, the dissolution of the Seljuq state left behind a number of Anatolian beyliks, among them that of the Ottoman dynasty, which eventually became the Ottoman Empire. In 1075, he captured the Byzantine cities of Nicaea and Nicomedia, two years later, he declared himself sultan of an independent Seljuq state and established his capital at İznik. Suleyman was killed in Antioch in 1086 by Tutush I, the Seljuk ruler of Syria, when Malik Shah died in 1092, Kilij Arslan was released and immediately established himself in his fathers territories. Kilij Arslan was defeated by soldiers of the First Crusade and driven back into south-central Anatolia, in 1107, he ventured east and captured Mosul but died the same year fighting Malik Shahs son, Mehmed Tapar. Meanwhile, another Rum Seljuq, Malik Shah, captured Konya, in 1116 Kilij Arslans son, Mesud I, took the city with the help of the Danishmends. Upon Mesuds death in 1156, the sultanate controlled nearly all of central Anatolia, Mesuds son, Kilij Arslan II, captured the remaining territories around Sivas and Malatya from the last of the Danishmends. At the Battle of Myriokephalon in 1176, Kilij Arslan II also defeated a Byzantine army led by Manuel I Komnenos, despite a temporary occupation of Konya in 1190 by the Holy Roman Empires forces of the Third Crusade, the sultanate was quick to recover and consolidate its power. During the last years of Kilij Arslan IIs reign, the experienced a civil war with Kaykhusraw I fighting to retain control. Suleiman II was routed by Kingdom of Georgia in Battle of Basian and he was succeeded by his son Kilij Arslan III, whose reign was unpopular. Kaykhusraw I seized Konya in 1205 reestablishing his reign, under his rule and those of his two successors, Kaykaus I and Kayqubad I, Seljuq power in Anatolia reached its apogee. Kaykhusraws most important achievement was the capture of the harbour of Attalia on the Mediterranean coast in 1207 and his son Kaykaus captured Sinop and made the Empire of Trebizond his vassal in 1214
30.
Theodore II Laskaris
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Theodore II Doukas Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris was Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258. Theodore was born in late 1221 or early 1222, reportedly on the day his father ascended the throne. Theodore II received an education by George Akropolites and Nicephorus Blemmydes the latter who would become a tutor to him. In contrast with earlier practice, Theodore II was not crowned co-emperor with his father, the succession of Theodore was exploited by the Bulgarians, who invaded Thrace under the leadership of the young and inexperienced Michael Asen I of Bulgaria in 1255. In spite of his own scholarly predisposition, Theodore immediately marched against the Bulgarians, during his second expedition in 1256, he managed to conclude a favorable peace with Bulgaria, which may have plunged the latter into a crisis of leadership. Theodore followed up his victory against Bulgaria by expanding his control in the west, internally, Theodore favored bureaucrats from the middle classes instead of members of the great aristocratic families. Michael Angold explains this as in part, a matter of his temperament, He was happier in the company of a circle of friends. He clearly disliked what he considered the philistinism prevalent among a section of the men at his fathers court. The conflict led to the exile of one of the leaders of the faction, the future Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus. John IV Doukas Laskaris List of Byzantine emperors Rosser, John H, the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991. Dimiter G. Angelov, The Moral Pieces by Theodore II Laskaris, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 65/66, pp. 237–269
31.
George Mouzalon
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George Mouzalon was a high official of the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore II Laskaris. Of humble origin, he became Theodores companion in childhood and was raised to state office upon the latters assumption of power. This caused great resentment from the aristocracy, which had monopolized high offices, shortly before Theodores death in 1258, he was appointed regent of Theodores under-age son John IV Laskaris. He was assassinated only a few days later by soldiers, as the result of a conspiracy led by the nobles under the soon-to-be emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, George Mouzalon was born at Adramyttium on the Anatolian coast in circa 1220. His family was considered as low-born, but he and his brothers became the friends of Theodore II. It is assumed that they were educated along with Theodore. There were also at least two sisters, one of whom was married to a member of the Hagiotheodorites family. According to the chroniclers, the emperor loved George above all others, in some letters he calls him son. During Theodores reign, George was the senior minister and his most trusted advisor. George Mouzalon supported the majority opinion that Theodore himself should campaign against the invaders, during Theodores absence on campaign in 1255, George was left behind as regent of the state. Upon his return, Theodore raised George further, naming him protosebastos and protovestiarios, Andronikos Mouzalon succeeded George as megas domestikos. After Mouzalons murder, Theodora would marry the protovestiarios John Raoul Petraliphas, a staunch opponent of her uncles unionist religious policies, she was exiled and became a nun. Shortly before Theodore II died on 16 August 1258, he left George Mouzalon as regent and this appointment further enraged the aristocracy, and Mouzalons position became extremely precarious. Mouzalon was also unpopular with the clergy because he was associated with Theodores high-handed treatment of the Church, and with the people, who feared that he would try to usurp the throne. Most importantly, however, he faced the hostility of the army, in particular the Latin mercenaries, in addition, they probably resented Theodores intention to raise a national army composed solely of Byzantine Greeks, and Mouzalon is recorded by Pachymeres to have taken such measures. Palaiologos, who as megas konostaulos held command over the Latins, was in a position to exploit these grievances. Immediately after his death, George Mouzalon, aware of his vulnerability and his lack of support, called an assembly of the leading nobles, officials. It was a sham, as a conspiracy by the aristocratic families was well under way to depose him, in which Palaiologos apparently played a covert
32.
Megas doux
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The megas doux was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the later Byzantine Empire, denoting the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy. It is sometimes given in English by the half-Latinizations megaduke or megadux. The Greek word δούξ is the Hellenized form of the Latin term dux, the Emperors brother-in-law John Doukas is usually considered to have been the first to hold the title, being raised to it in 1092, when he was tasked with suppressing the Turkish emir Tzachas. There is however a document dated to December 1085, where a monk Niketas signs as supervisor of the estates of an unnamed megas doux. From this time the megas doux was also given control of the provinces of Hellas, the Peloponnese and Crete. With the virtual disappearance of the Byzantine fleet after the Fourth Crusade, Michael VIII Palaiologos assumed the title when he became regent for John IV Laskaris, before being raised to senior co-emperor. It was also used by the Latin Empire, where, in ca,1207, the Latin emperor awarded the island of Lemnos and the hereditary title of megadux to the Venetian Filocalo Navigajoso. His descendants inherited the title and the rule of Lemnos until evicted by the Byzantines in 1278, the mid-14th century Book of Offices of Pseudo-Kodinos lists the insignia of the megas doux as a golden-red skiadion hat decorated with embroideries in the klapoton style, without veil. Alternatively, a domed skaranikon hat could be worn, again in red and gold and decorated with golden wire, with a portrait of the standing in front. The megas doux also wore a rich silk tunic, the kabbadion and his staff of office featured carved knots and knobs in gold, bordered with silver braid. Pseudo-Kodinos also records that, while the other warships flew the usual imperial flag of the cross and the firesteels and his subordinate officials were the megas droungarios tou stolou, the amēralios, the prōtokomēs, the junior droungarioi, and the junior komētes. The Serbian Empire, established in 1346 by Tsar Stefan Dushan, adopted various Byzantine titles, among them that of megas doux, holders of the office included senior noblemen such as Jovan Uglješa and Jovan Oliver. In the 1490 Valencian epic romance Tirant lo Blanc, the valiant knight Tirant the White from Brittany travels to Constantinople and this story has no basis in actual history, though it may reflect the above-mentioned cases of the office being conferred upon foreigners. The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204, A Political History, the Late Byzantine Army, Arms and Society 1204–1453. Emperor Michael Palaeologus and the West, 1258–1282, A Study in Byzantine-Latin Relations, le Drongaire de la flotte, le Grand drongaire de la flotte, le Duc de la flotte, le Mégaduc. Recherches sur les institutions byzantines, Tome I, haldon, John F. Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world, 565–1204. Nicol, Donald M. Byzantium and Venice, A Study in Diplomatic, the Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453. The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180, the Doukai, A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography
33.
Despot (court title)
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Despot was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent. From Byzantium it spread throughout the late medieval Balkans, and was granted in the states under Byzantine influence, such as the Latin Empire, Bulgaria, Serbia. In English, the form of the title is despotess, which denoted the spouse of a despot. The term must not be confused with its usage, which refers to despotism. In colloquial Modern Greek, the word is used to refer to a bishop. The original Greek term δεσπότης meant simply lord and was synonymous with κύριος, as the Greek equivalent to the Latin dominus, despotēs was initially used as a form of address indicating respect. According to the contemporary Byzantine historian John Kinnamos, the title of despot was analogous to Belas Hungarian title of urum, or heir-apparent. From this time and until the end of the Byzantine Empire, the title of despot became the highest Byzantine dignity, in a similar manner, the holders of the two immediately junior titles of sebastokrator and Caesar could be addressed as despota. The despot shared with the Caesar another appelatory epithet, eutychestatos or paneutychestatos, during the last centuries of Byzantiums existence, the title was awarded to the younger sons of emperors as well as to the emperors sons-in-law. Like the junior titles of sebastokrator and Caesar however, the title of despot was strictly a courtly dignity, women could not hold a noble title, but bore the titles of their husbands. Thus the spouse of a despot, the despotissa, had the right to bear the insignia as he. Among the women of the court, the despotissai likewise took the first place after the empress, the use of the title spread also to the other countries of the Balkans. The Latin Empire used it to honour the Doge of Venice Enrico Dandolo, after ca.1219 it was regularly borne by the Venetian podestàs in Constantinople, as the Venetian support became crucial to the Empires survival. In 1279/80, it was introduced in Bulgaria to placate the powerful magnate George Terter in 1279/80, in the 15th century, the Venetian governors of Corfu were also styled as despots. Only John II of Trebizond and his son Alexios II, however, accepted the title, with the death of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI on May 29,1453, the creation of a despot became irregular. The title was granted by Pope Paul II to Andreas Palaiologos, heir to the Byzantine throne in 1465, and by the king of Hungary to the heirs of the Serbian Despotate. It is important to stress that the term despotate is technically inaccurate, even in the so-called despotates, a son of a despot might succeed to his fathers territory but could not hold the title unless it was conferred anew by the emperor. In normal Byzantine usage, a distinction was drawn between the personal dignity of despot and any other offices or attributes of its holder
34.
William of Villehardouin
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William of Villehardouin was the last Villehardouin prince of Achaea and ruled the principality at the height of its power and influence. William was the son of Geoffrey I Villehardouin, in 1239 he married the daughter of Narjot de Toucy and of Narjots first wife. William came to power in Achaea in 1246 when his brother Geoffrey II Villehardouin died, as prince he conquered the remaining territory of the Peloponnese and built the fortress of Mistra near Sparta. In 1249 he captured Monemvasia with help from his Euboeote vassals, Louis also gave him a license to mint coins in the style of royal French money. Under Williams rule the Duchy of the Archipelago, the Duchy of Athens, in 1255 his Venetian second wife Carintana dalle Carceri died, leading to a dispute over the inheritance of a fief in Euboea, and war broke out between Venice and Achaea. William won the war and also defeated the Duke of Athens in 1258, in September of that year he led the Achaean forces at the Battle of Pelagonia against the Nicaeans, but the Epirote army deserted and William was defeated. He fled the field and hid under a haystack, where he was captured and he remained in captivity until 1262, and was forced to hand over Grand Maigne, Monemvasia and Mistra to the Byzantine Empire, which had been restored in Constantinople the previous year. William had now lost all of his previous power, as had his former lord, Baldwin II of Constantinople, William and Baldwin both acknowledged Charles of Anjou as lord of Achaea under the Treaty of Viterbo in 1267, Charles had earlier defeated and killed Williams old ally Manfred. As a vassal of Charles, William and 400 Achaean knights fought against Conradin at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268. William and Anna had two daughters, Isabella and Margaret, Isabella, the daughter, married Charless son Philip of Sicily. Charles personally succeeded William in 1278, ending the Villehardouin dynasty and setting up Angevin rule, with the decreasing power and influence of Achaea, the Duchy of Athens became the most powerful state in Greece. William was also noted as a trouvère, and the Manuscrit du Roi and he was fluent in both French and Greek
35.
Principality of Achaea
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The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica was captured by Theodore, after this, Achaea became for a while the dominant power in Greece. Achaea was founded in 1205 by William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, the victory was decisive, and after the battle all resistance from the locals was limited to a few forts, that continued to hold out. The fort of Araklovon in Elis, was defended by Doxapatres Boutsaras and withstood the attacks until 1213, the fort of Monemvasia, and the castles of Argos, Nauplia and Corinth under Leo Sgouros held out until his suicide in 1208. By 1212, these too had conquered, and organized as the lordship of Argos and Nauplia. William of Champlitte ruled Achaea until he departed for France to assume an inheritance and he was succeeded by Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, who ruled until his own death in 1219. Achaea was rather small, consisting of the Peloponnese peninsula, but it was fairly wealthy, exporting wine, raisins, wax, honey, oil, the capital of the principality was originally at Andravida. It was bordered on the north by Epirus and the Duchy of Athens and surrounded by Venetian-held territories in the Aegean Sea, the twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by the Latin Archbishop of Patras. The twelve secular baronies were, Shortly after 1260, a barony, that of Arcadia was established. When Tsakonia and the mountainous regions of the southeast were subdued in the late 1240s. The twelve barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign, thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Princes permission, or to decree capital punishment. Since Salic Law was not adopted in Achaea, women could inherit the fiefs. In addition, a Lower Court is mentioned, which abjudicated in matters of common law. On the other hand, all vassals owed the Prince four months service in the field and four months garrison duty every year, retiring after the age of sixty and this put the principality on constant war footing. Indeed, the knights of Achaea enjoyed a reputation both in the Levant and in Western Europe. The most important secular and ecclesiastical lords participated in the council of the Grand Court, the council had great authority, and its decisions were binding for the Prince. The Principality also produced a set of laws, the Assizes of Romania, which combined aspects of Byzantine and French law. Several Byzantine titles such as logothetes and protovestarius continued in use, the Frankish barons were subjected to heavy military obligations
36.
Michael II Komnenos Doukas
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Michael was an illegitimate son of Michael I Komnenos Doukas, the founder of the state of Epirus. The historian Demetrios Polemis estimates that he was born in the years of his fathers reign. After his fathers murder in 1215 and the succession of his uncle Theodore Komnenos Doukas, according to the hagiography of his later wife, St. Theodora of Arta, Theodore sent him and his mother to exile in the Peloponnese. As a son-in-law of Ivan Asen, Manual was allowed to maintain internal autonomy, Michael seized the opportunity and returned to Epirus. Michael quickly succeeded, apparently with the support of the local population, Manuel was forced to recognize the fait accompli under the pretence that Michael recognized his suzerainty, in token of which Manuel conferred him the title of Despot. In reality Michael was fully independent, and very quickly ceased to acknowledge Manuels suzerainty, by 1236, Michael II secured the support of local notables by marrying Theodora Petraliphaina, and established a close relationship with the Empire of Nicaea. In 1238, Michael was visited by the Nicaean Patriarch Germanus II, in 1237 Theodore was released by Ivan Asen, who married his daughter, Irene. Theodore returned to Thessalonica, where he deposed his brother Manuel and installed his son John Komnenos Doukas as emperor. The deposed Manuel was sent to exile, but in 1239 he returned with Nicaean aid in an attempt to take back Thessalonica, in the event, an agreement to partition the family possessions was reached, Theodore and John remained in control of Thessalonica, while Manuel received Thessaly. Michael in Epirus was not part of his uncles agreement, in this context he sent an embassy to Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen in December 1239, presumably to secure his assistance against his uncles. In 1241 Manuel died, Michael moved in quickly to occupy Thessaly before either of his uncles could react. Michael IIs relations with Nicaea ensured his neutrality during the conflict in which John III Doukas Vatatzes conquered Thessalonica, in autumn 1246, John III Doukas Vatatzes exploited the accession of the underage Michael Asen to the Bulgarian throne to attack Bulgaria. Within three months, he captured most of Thrace and all of eastern and northern Macedonia, Michael II also took advantage of the opportunity to expand into Albania and northwestern Macedonia. At the close of this campaign, Vatatzes turned on Thessalonica, with Thessalonica secured, Vatatzes turned to Epirus, offering Michael II a marriage alliance between Michaels eldest son Nikephoros and his own granddaughter Maria. The offer was accepted by Michaels wife, Theodora Petraliphaina. There the young couple was engaged, and a marriage was arranged for the year, before Theodora. While his wife supported an alliance with Nicaea, Michael himself remained ambivalent. Together, Michael and his uncle planned and launched an attack on Thessalonica in spring 1251
37.
Despotate of Epirus
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The Despotate of Epirus was one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It claimed to be the successor of the Byzantine Empire, along the Empire of Nicaea. The term Despotate of Epirus is, like Byzantine Empire itself, the Despotate was centred on the region of Epirus, encompassing also Albania and the western portion of Greek Macedonia and also included Thessaly and western Greece as far south as Nafpaktos. After that, the Epirote state contracted to its core in Epirus and Thessaly and it nevertheless managed to retain its autonomy until conquered by the restored Palaiologan Byzantine Empire in ca. His successor Theodore Komnenos Doukas did not use it either, earlier historians assumed that Michael I was indeed named Despot by the deposed emperor Alexios III Angelos after ransoming him from Latin captivity, this has been disproven by more modern research. Consequently, it was borne by the princes sent to govern semi-autonomous appanages. The term Despotate of Epirus is thus replaced by State of Epirus in more recent historiography. The Epirote realm itself did not have an official name, the Epirote state was founded in 1205 by Michael Komnenos Doukas, a cousin of the Byzantine emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. Epirus soon became the new home of refugees from Constantinople, Thessaly, and the Peloponnese. Henry of Flanders demanded that Michael submit to the Latin Empire, Michael did not honour this alliance, assuming that mountainous Epirus would be mostly impenetrable by any Latins with whom he made and broke alliances. Meanwhile, Bonifaces relatives from Montferrat made claims to Epirus as well, Michael was excessively cruel to his prisoners, in some cases crucifying Latin priests. Pope Innocent III excommunicated him in response, henry forced Michael into a renewed nominal alliance later that year. Michael turned his attention to capturing other strategically important Latin-held towns, including Larissa and he also took control of the ports on the Gulf of Corinth. In 1214 he captured Corcyra from Venice, but he was assassinated later that year and was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore, Theodore Komnenos Doukas immediately set out to attack Thessalonica, and he fought with the Bulgarians along the way. Henry of Flanders died on the way to counterattack, and in 1217 Theodore captured his successor Peter of Courtenay, the Latin Empire, however, became distracted by the growing power of Nicaea and could not stop Theodore from capturing Thessalonica in 1224. Theodore now challenged Nicaea for the title and crowned himself emperor. In 1225, after John III Doukas Vatatzes of Nicaea had taken Adrianople, Theodore arrived, Theodore also allied with the Bulgarians and drove the Latins out of Thrace. In 1227 Theodore crowned himself Byzantine emperor, although this was not recognized by most Greeks, in 1230 Theodore broke the truce with Bulgaria, hoping to remove Ivan Asen II, who had held him back from attacking Constantinople
38.
Siege of Constantinople (1260)
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Both of the latter claimed to represent the legitimate Empire, and in view of the weakness of the Latin Empire, vied for the recovery of Constantinople. At first it seemed as if the city would fall to Epirus, epirote power however was broken at the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 against Bulgaria. Thus the path opened up for Nicaea, under John III Doukas Vatatzes, allied with the Bugarians, Vatatzes established a first foothold in Thrace in 1234. Together with the Bulgarians, he undertook an unsuccessful siege of the city in 1235–6. Thereafter, the Nicaean ruler switched his aim to increasing his territory in Europe, under Vatatzes, the Nicaeans seized most of Thrace and Macedonia from Epirus and Bulgaria, becoming the strongest state of the region. Even the papacy seemed willing to accept the inevitable in exchange for concessions in theological matters, the Latin Empire gained a short reprieve with Vatatzes death, as his son and successor Theodore II Laskaris was forced to confront numerous attacks on his territories in the Balkans. Soon after Theodore IIs death, the ambitious Michael VIII Palaiologos ascended the throne, at this juncture, a coalition of Nicaeas enemies was formed, comprising Epirus, the Principality of Achaea, and the Kingdom of Sicily. The alliance however was dealt a blow at the Battle of Pelagonia in summer 1259. With his chief enemies either dead, in captivity or temporary exile after Pelagonia, after wintering in Lampsacus, in January 1260 Palaiologos crossed the Hellespont with his army and headed towards Constantinople. The accounts of the Byzantine chroniclers on the subsequent events differ greatly with each other. Consequently, the expedition was not large enough for an assault on the city. Michael led his men to encamp at Galata, ostensibly preparing to attack the fortress of Galata on the shore of the Golden Horn. Asel however did not act, and claimed that his keys had been taken by the citys ruler, Akropolites then says that Michael obtained a one-year truce and abandoned the siege. The other chroniclers present the expedition in a different light, as a large-scale undertaking. It involved a campaign to isolate the city by capturing the outlying forts and settlements controlling the approaches, as far as Selymbria. This was an affair, supervised personally by Michael from a conspicuous elevated place, with siege engines. Galata however held due to the resistance of its inhabitants. In the face of this, and worried by news of imminent relief for the besieged, the difference in the two accounts is attributed by modern scholars to Akropolites known tendency to minimize the failures of Michael VIII
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Michael (emperors)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 359–360.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
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