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Avar–Byzantine Wars
The Avar–Byzantine wars were a series of conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the Avar Khaganate. The conflicts were initiated in 568, after the Avars arrived in Pannonia, and claimed all the former land of the Gepids and Lombards as their own. This led to an unsuccessful attempt to seize the city of Sirmium from Byzantium, which had previously retaken it from the Gepids. Most subsequent conflicts came as a result of raids by the Avars, or their subject Slavs, into the Balkan provinces of the Byzantine Empire. The Avars usually raided the Balkans when the Byzantine Empire was distracted elsewhere, typically in its frequent wars with the Sassanid Empire in the East. As a result, they often raided without resistance for long periods of time, before Byzantine troops could be freed from other fronts to be sent on punitive expeditions. This happened during the 580s and 590s, where Byzantium was initially distracted in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591, but then fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manasses Chronicle
Constantine Manasses ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Μανασσῆς; c. 1130 - c. 1187) was a Byzantine chronicler who flourished in the 12th century during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180). He was the author of a chronicle or historical synopsis of events from the creation of the world to the end of the reign of Nikephoros Botaneiates (1081), sponsored by Irene Komnene, the emperor's sister-in-law. It consists of about 7000 lines in political verse. It obtained great popularity and appeared in a free prose translation; it was also translated into Bulgarian in the 14th century.Chronicle edition: Bekker, Bonn 1837; the Bulgarian translation, ''Cronica lui Constantin Manasses'', by Ioan Bogdan and I. Bianu, Bucharest, 1922. In 1969 Bulgaria issued two sets of stamps depicting important scenes of the chronicle, to celebrate it. Manasses also wrote the poetical romance ''Loves of Aristander and Callithea'', also in political verse. It is only known from the fragments pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter (curopalates)
Petrus ( el, Πέτρος, ''Petros'', also known as Peter in English (c. 545 in Arabissus, Cappadocia – 27 November 602 in Constantinople or Chalcedon) was a brother of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (r. 582 - 602). Background Petrus was a son of Paul, head of the Byzantine Senate and a sibling to Maurice, Byzantine emperor; Gordia, the wife of Philippicus; and Theoctista.Whitby (1988), pp. 5 He had a son named Domitian, who became bishop of Melitene. Military career Raised to the rank of '' curopalates'', he was an important general in the Byzantine army. Together with Priscus and Comentiolus, he was one of the three commanders-in-chief during Maurice's Balkan campaigns. Though less able than Priscus, he succeeded the latter as leader of the Roman forces in Moesia in 594, being more loyal to the emperor, his own brother. The reason for this replacement was Priscus' refusal to obey the emperor's orders to spend the winter on the northern Danube bank in 593 and to carry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and 796) that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili,: "From Proto-Germanic '' winna-'', meaning "to fight, win" who dwelt in southern Scandinavia (''Scadanan'') before migrating to seek new lands. By the time of the Roman-era - historians wrote of the Lombards in the 1st century AD, as being one of the Suebian peoples, in what is now northern Germany, near the Elbe river. They continued to migrate south. By the end of the fifth century, the Lombards had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria and Slovakia north of the Danube, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, and his successor A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gepids
The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals. They are first mentioned by Roman sources in the third century. In the fourth century, they were among the peoples incorporated into the Hunnic Empire, within which they formed an important part. After the death of Attila, the Gepids under their leader Ardaric, led an alliance of other peoples who had been in the empire, and defeated the sons of Attila and their remaining allies at the Battle of Nedao in 454. The Gepids and their allies subsequently founded kingdoms on the Middle Danube, bordering on the Roman Empire. The Gepid Kingdom was one of the most important and long-lasting of these, centered on Sirmium, and sometimes referred to as Gepidia. It covered a large part of the former Roman pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now western Hungary, western Slovakia, eastern Austria, northern Croatia, north-western Serbia, northern Slovenia, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name Julius Pokorny believed the name ''Pannonia'' is derived from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root ''*pen-'', "swamp, water, wet" (cf. English ''fen'', "marsh"; Hindi ''pani'', "water"). Pliny the Elder, in '' Natural History'', places the eastern regions of the Hercynium jugum, the "Hercynian mountain chain", in Pannonia and Dacia (now Romania). He also gives us some dramaticised description of its composition, in which the proximity of the forest trees causes competitive struggle among them (''inter se rixantes''). He mentions its gigantic oaks. But even he—if the passage in q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shahin Vahmanzadegan
Shahen or Shahin (Middle Persian: ''Shāhēn Vahūmanzādagān'', in Greek sources: ; died ca. 626) was a senior Sasanian general ('' spahbed'') during the reign of Khosrow II (590–628). He was a member of the House of Spandiyadh. Biography Shahin is first mentioned in 602, after the outbreak of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, where he commanded the forces invading Byzantine territory in the Transcaucasia, winning a battle against Domentziolus near Theodosiopolis in 607/8. Following the expulsion of Roman forces from that region, in 611 Shahin led an advance into Anatolia, capturing Caesarea. There, Phocas' son-in-law Priscus, started a year-long siege to trap them inside the city. However, Shahin's troops escaped Priscus' blockade and burned Caesarea, much to Heraclius' displeasure. In 613 the Roman offensive pressed on into Syria, but the combined Persian armies under Shahin and Shahrbaraz crushingly defeated Heraclius near Antioch. After this victory the Persian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shahrbaraz
Shahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: ), was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurping the Sasanian throne he was a '' spahbed'' (general) under Khosrow II (590–628). He is furthermore noted for his important role during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and the events that followed afterwards. Name ' is actually a title, literally meaning "the Boar of the Empire", attesting to his dexterity in military command and his warlike personality, as the boar was the animal associated with the Zoroastrian Izad Vahram, the epitome of victory. ''Shahrwarāz'' (Inscriptional Pahlavi: štlwlʾc) is a Middle Persian word, with ''shahr'' meaning "country" and ''warāz'' meaning "boar". This word is rendered as ''Shahrbarāz'' () in New Persian and as ''Sarbaros'' (Greek: ; Latin: ') in Byzantine sources. Ferd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khosrow II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year. Khosrow II was the son of Hormizd IV (reigned 579–590), and the grandson of Khosrow I (reigned 531–579). He was the last king of Iran to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran, which began five years after his execution. He lost his throne, then recovered it with the help of the Byzantine emperor Maurice, and, a decade later, went on to emulate the feats of the Achaemenids, conquering the rich Roman provinces of the Middle East; much of his reign was spent in wars with the Byzantine Empire and struggling against usurpers such as Bahram Chobin and Vistahm. After the Byzantines killed Maurice, Khosrow II began a war in 602 against the Byzantines. Khosrow II's for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bayan I
Bayan I reigned as the first khagan of the Avar Khaganate between 562 and 602. As the Göktürk Empire expanded westwards on the Eurasian Steppe during the 6th century, peoples such as the Avars (also known as the ''Pseudo-Avars'', ''Obri'', ''Abaroi'' and ''Varchonites'') and the Bulgars migrated into Central Europe and the Balkans. Bayan I led the Avars (along with some Bulgars) into Pannonia, where they established their khaganate from 568. Raids against the Franks and Lombards By 562, the Avars and Bulgars had reached the Lower Danube: it was most likely in that year that Bayan became their supreme Khagan, as his predecessor, the Kutrigur khan Zabergan had died. As allies of the Byzantine Empire (ruled at time by Justinian I), the Avars had obtained a grant of gold to crush other nomads — the Sabirs, Utigurs, Kutrigurs and Saragurs - in the lands later known as Ukraine, a task they accomplished to the emperor's satisfaction. Bayan's Avars now exacted the renewa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodore (brother Of Heraclius)
Theodore ( la, Theodorus, el, Θεόδωρος; fl. c. 610 – 636) was the brother (or half-brother) of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), a ''curopalates'' and leading general in Heraclius' wars against the Persians and against the Muslim conquest of the Levant. Life He was the son of the general and exarch of Africa Heraclius the Elder, and is usually regarded as the brother (although John of Nikiu suggests him to be the half-brother) of Heraclius. Soon after Heraclius' overthrow of the emperor Phocas (r. 602–610), Theodore was appointed to the crucial post of ''curopalates'', controlling the palace administration, which at the time was ranked second in importance only to the imperial office itself.Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 1278 In 612, after the deposition and imprisonment of the '' magister militum per Orientem'' Priscus, command of his troops was assumed by Theodore and Philippicus. In late 613, Theodore accompanied his brother in a campaign a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonus (patrician)
Bonus ( grc, Βῶνος or Βόνος, died 627) was a Byzantine statesman and general, one of the closest associates of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), who played a leading role in the successful defense of the imperial capital, Constantinople, during the Avar–Persian siege of 626. Biography Almost nothing is known of Bonus's origins or private life. In a panegyric poem dedicated to Bonus in 626, George Pisides calls him a "companion in arms" of Heraclius, possibly implying that Bonus accompanied him when he sailed from Africa in 610 to overthrow Emperor Phocas (r. 602–610). He is also known to have had an illegitimate son, John, who was sent as a hostage to the Avars in 622.. At this time, the Byzantine Empire was engaged in a prolonged struggle with its large eastern antagonist, the Sassanid Persian Empire. Over the previous twenty years, Persian armies had scored victory after victory and captured most of the Byzantine Levant. In 622, after securing peace with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
