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Gregory Kamateros
Gregory Kamateros ( gr, Γρηγόριος Καματηρός, Grēgorios Kamatēros; ) was a senior Byzantine official. Of low birth but very well educated, he reached high office under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and eventually became ''logothetes ton sekreton'', ''de facto'' prime minister, under both Alexios and John II Komnenos. Through his marriage with Irene Doukaina, an imperial relative, he founded the bureaucratic dynasty of the Doukai– Kamateroi. Life and career There are several scattered references to a "Gregory Kamateros" in documents and seals of the late 11th/early 12th century. Most scholars consider them to refer to the same person, with the notable exception of the historian Vitalien Laurent, who cast doubt on this identification. According to the historian Niketas Choniates, Gregory Kamateros was of lowly and undistinguished birth. Nevertheless, he was distinguished by his great erudition, which was said to encompass all fields of knowledge. He first appears i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seal Of Gregorios Kamateros, Protopraitor Of Peloponnesos And Hellas (Schlumberger, 1891)
Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of authentication, on paper, wax, clay or another medium (the impression is also called a seal) * Seal (mechanical), a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join Arts, entertainment and media * ''Seal'' (1991 album), by Seal * ''Seal'' (1994 album), sometimes referred to as ''Seal II'', by Seal * ''Seal IV'', a 2003 album by Seal * ''Seal Online'', a 2003 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Law * Seal (contract law), a legal formality for contracts and other instruments * Seal (East Asia), a stamp used in East Asia as a form of a signature * Record sealing Military * ''Fairey Seal'', a 1930s British carrier-borne torpedo bomber aircra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tax Farming
Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contractor. It is most commonly used in public finance, where governments (the lessors) lease or assign the right to collect and retain the whole of the tax revenue to a private financier (the farmer), who is charged with paying fixed sums (sometimes called "rents", but with a different meaning from the common modern term) into the treasury. Sometimes, as in the case of Miguel de Cervantes, the tax farmer was a government employee, paid a salary, and all money collected went to the government. Farming in this sense has nothing to do with agriculture, other than in a metaphorical sense. Etymology There are two possible origins for ''farm''. Derivation from classical Latin Some sources derive "farm" with its French version ''ferme'', most notably ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Kallikles
Nicholas Kallikles ( gr, Νικόλαος Καλλικλῆς, Nikólaos Kalliklēs) was a prominent Greek physician and a leading court poet active in the Byzantine court in Constantinople during the reigns of Alexios I Komnenos () and John II Komnenos (). Biography Very little is known about Kallikles's life. What information we have comes from a short mention in the '' Alexiad'' of Anna Komnene, his correspondence with Theophylact of Ohrid and his own poems... He was a well-known physician at the imperial court already before 1108. In 1118, he was one of the doctors attending Alexios I during his final illness. According to the ''Alexiad'' (XV.11.3), Kallikles was the only one to discern the gravity of the emperor's situation and to suggest the use of purgatives. As his colleagues were opposed to this, his advice was not followed. From his correspondence with Theophylact, Kallikles appears as a very learned and cultivated man, and was in possession of a fine library. As a court p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religions. Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Axouch
John Axouch or Axouchos, also transliterated as Axuch ( el, , flourished circa 1087 – circa 1150) was the commander-in-chief (''megas domestikos'') of the Byzantine army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143), and during the early part of the reign of his son Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180). He may also have served as the ''de facto'' chief of the civil administration of the Byzantine Empire. Biography Origins and friendship with John II John was a Turk by birth (referred to anachronistically as a "Persian" by John Kinnamos).. As a child, he had been captured at Nicaea in 1097. Given to Alexios I Komnenos as a present, he was raised in the imperial household.. Growing up, he was a constant companion of John Komnenos, Alexios's heir. When the latter ascended the throne as John II in 1118, he appointed John Axouch as ''megas domestikos'' with the court title of ''sebastos''. He was the emperor's only close personal friend and confidant, and all mem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megas Domestikos
The title of grand domestic ( grc-gre, μέγας δομέστικος, ''mégas doméstikos'') 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 earlier office of the domestic of the Schools, and came to rank as one of the senior dignities in the Byzantine state during the last centuries of its existence. From Byzantium, it was also adopted by the breakaway Empire of Trebizond, as well as by the 14th-century Serbian Empire. History and evolution The title of the grand domestic is first mentioned in the 9th century, and most likely derives from the older office of ''domestikos tōn scholōn'' ("Domestic of the Schools"), with the epithet ''megas'' added to connote the supreme authority of its holder, following contemporary practice evident in other offices as well. Both titles appear to have co-existed for a time, with the grand domestic being a more exalted variant of the plain tit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protovestiarios
''Protovestiarios'' ( el, πρωτοβεστιάριος, "first ''vestiarios''") was a high Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court position, originally reserved for Eunuch (court official), eunuchs. In the late Byzantine period (12th–15th centuries), it denoted the Empire's senior-most financial official, and was also adopted by the medieval Serbian state as protovestiyar (прото-вестијар). History and functions The title is first attested in 412, as the ''comes sacrae vestis'', an official in charge of the Byzantine emperor's "sacred wardrobe" ( la, sacra vestis), coming under the ''praepositus sacri cubiculi''. In Greek language, Greek, the term used was ''oikeiakon vestiarion'' (, "private wardrobe"), and by this name it remained known from the 7th century onward. As such, the office was distinct from the public or imperial wardrobe, the ''basilikon vestiarion'', which was entrusted to a state official, the ''chartoularios tou ves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parakoimomenos
The ''parakoimōmenos'' ( el, παρακοιμώμενος, literally "the one who sleeps beside he emperor's chamber) was a Byzantine court position, usually reserved for eunuchs. The position's proximity to the emperors guaranteed its holders influence and power, and many of them, especially in the 9th and 10th centuries, functioned as the Byzantine Empire's chief ministers. History and functions The title was used anachronistically by various Byzantine writers for prominent eunuch court officials of the distant past, including Euphratas under Constantine the Great (reigned 306–337), the notorious Chrysaphius under Theodosius II (), or an unnamed holder of the office under Emperor Maurice (). The position was probably created no later than the reign of Leo IV the Khazar (), when the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor mentions a "''koubikoularios'' and ''parakoimomenos”'' serving Leo. In the beginning, it was a modest office, given to those ''koubikoularioi'' (from Lati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodore Prodromos
Theodore Prodromos or Prodromus ( el, Θεόδωρος Πρόδρομος; c. 1100 – c. 1165/70), probably also the same person as the so-called Ptochoprodromos (Πτωχοπρόδρομος "Poor Prodromos"), was a Byzantine Greek writer, well known for his prose and poetry. Biography Very little is known about his life. Further developing a genre begun by Nicholas Kallikles, he wrote many occasional poems for a widespread circle of patrons at the Byzantine court. Some of the literary pieces attributed to him are unpublished, while still others may be wrongly attributed to him. Even so, there does emerge from these writings the figure of an author in reduced circumstances, with a marked inclination towards begging, who was in close touch with the court circles during the reigns of John II Komnenos (1118–1143) and Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180). He was given a prebend by Manuel I, and he ended his life as a monk. Despite the panegyric and conventional treatment, his writings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monody
In music, monody refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is specifically applied to Italian song of the early 17th century, particularly the period from about 1600 to 1640. The term is used both for the style and for individual songs (so one can speak both of monody as a whole as well as a particular monody). The term itself is a recent invention of scholars. No composer of the 17th century ever called a piece a monody. Compositions in monodic form might be called madrigals, motets, or even concertos (in the earlier sense of "concertato", meaning "with instruments"). In poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death. (In the context of ancient Greek literature, monody, , could simply refer to lyric poetry sung by a single performer, rather than by a chorus.) History Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastos
( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title ''sebastos'' and variants derived from it, like , , , and . History The term appears in the Hellenistic East as an honorific for the Roman emperors from the 1st century onwards, being a translation of the Latin . For example, the Temple of the Sebastoi in Ephesus is dedicated to the Flavian dynasty. This association also was carried over to the naming of cities in honor of the Roman emperors, such as Sebaste, Sebasteia and Sebastopolis. The epithet was revived in the mid-11th century—in the feminine form —by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos () for his mistress Maria Skl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Magdalino
Paul Magdalino FBA (born 10 May 1948) is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews, professor of Byzantine history at Koç University, Istanbul; and a Fellow of the British Academy. His research interests include Byzantine history: the society, culture and economy of the Byzantine world from 6th to 13th centuries; the city of Constantinople; prophecy, scientific thought, the formation of Byzantine religious Orthodoxy. He is well known for his monograph on the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180), which challenged Niketas Choniates' negative appraisal of the ruler. Magdalino received the 1993 Runciman Award for his work. Biography Magdalino was educated at the University of Oxford (1970 BA, 1976 D.Phil.). He has worked as a lecturer and reader in Mediaeval history in University of St Andrews (1977–1999), as a Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews (1999–2009), and as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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