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Michael Senachereim Monomachos
Michael Senachereim Monomachos ( el, Μιχαὴλ Σεναχηρείμ Μονομάχος; ) was a high-ranking Byzantine official, who served as governor of Thessalonica and Thessaly. He reached the high rank of ''megas konostaulos''. Life Michael and his brother, George Atouemes Monomachos, were scions of the Monomachos family, an aristocratic lineage that stretched back to the 10th century. Their exact relation to other early 14th-century members of the family is unknown, and they are among the last attested members of the family in Byzantine times. Michael is mentioned for the first time in 1315, when he served as governor ('' kephale'') of Thessalonica. He continued in the same office in 1321, when he is recorded as ''tatas tes aules'', and in 1327, when he was '' eparchos''. In the civil war of 1321–28, he supported Andronikos II Palaiologos against his grandson, Andronikos III. Monomachos remained in Thessalonica until 1332/3. In that year, Stephen Gabrielopoulos, t ...
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Megas Konostaulos
''Konostaulos'' or ''konostablos'' ("constable", in Greek variously ), later corrupted to ''kontostaulos''/''kontostablos'' (κοντόσταυλος), was a late Byzantine title, adopted from the Normans. The derivative dignity of ''megas konostaulos'' (μέγας κονόσταυλος, "Grand Constable") became one of the highest court posts in the Palaiologan period (1261–1453) and was awarded to high-ranking generals. History It was adopted in the 11th century, under influence from the Normans of Sicily, from the French ''connétable'' (cf. English "constable"), which in turn derived from the Latin ''comes stabuli'' ("count of the stable").. In the 11th–12th centuries, the ''konostaulos'' appears to have been a purely honorary title, although it may also have replaced the middle Byzantine ''komēs tou staulou'', the direct descendant of the late Roman ''comes stabuli'', in his functions. In the last years of the reign of the Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes (), the post ...
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John II Orsini
John II Orsini, also John Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas (Greek: Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Iōannēs Komnēnos Doukas'', Italian: Giovanni II Orsini), was count palatine of Cephalonia from 1323 to 1324 and Despot of Epirus from 1323 to 1335. Life John was the son of Count John I Orsini of Cephalonia by Maria, a daughter of Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus by Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene. His older brother Nicholas Orsini had made himself ruler of Epirus in 1318 by murdering their maternal uncle Thomas I Komnenos Doukas. In 1323 John murdered his brother and succeeded in both Cephalonia and Epirus. In 1324 John's Angevin overlord, John of Gravina, stopped at Cephalonia on his way to fight the Byzantines in the Peloponnese and deposed John Orsini as count of Cephalonia, annexing the island to his own domains. Deprived from his family base, John had to conclude peace with Andronikos II Palaiologos of the Byzantine Empire and was allowed to esta ...
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John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of Emperor Andronikos III and his wife Anna, the daughter of Count Amadeus V of Savoy by his wife Maria of Brabant. His long reign was marked by the gradual dissolution of imperial power amid numerous civil wars and the continuing ascendancy of the Ottoman Turks. Early rule and first civil war John V came to the throne at age eight. His reign began with an immediate civil war between his designated regent, his father's friend John VI Kantakouzenos, and a self-proclaimed council of regency composed of his mother Anna, the patriarch John XIV Kalekas, and the '' megas doux'' Alexios Apokaukos. During this civil war in 1343 Anna pawned the Byzantine crown jewels for 30,000 Venetian ducats. From 1346 to 1349, the Black Death devastated Constan ...
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John Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus;  – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 90 or 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors. Early life Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea; Donald Nicol speculates that he may have been born after his father's death and raised as an only child. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was related to the then-reigning house of Palaiologos. He was also related to the imperial dynasty through his wife Ire ...
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Byzantine Civil War Of 1341–47
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. 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 the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome a ...
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Panhypersebastos
The title of ( gr, πανυπερσέβαστος, , venerable above all) was a Byzantine court title created by Alexios I Komnenos () using the imperial root (the Greek translation of ). It was always conferred to members of aristocratic families closely allied to the imperial family. Michael Taronites, Alexios I's brother-in-law, was first awarded this title and regarded as almost equal to a . Under the Komnenian emperors, was one of the titles accorded to the emperor's sons-in-law (): the husband of the eldest daughter received the title of , the husband of the second daughter became , and those of the third and fourth received the titles of and respectively. The title remained very important through to the Palaiologan era, coming right after the , but under Andronikos III Palaiologos (), when the future emperor John VI Kantakouzenos was named , the latter office was raised above the . According to Pseudo-Kodinos George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδι ...
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John Angelos (sebastokrator)
John Angelos ( el, ; ) was a Byzantine aristocrat, general, and governor. He first distinguished himself in the suppression of a revolt in Epirus in 1339–1340, where he was subsequently appointed as governor. A relative of the statesman and emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, he took the latter's side in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 and in late 1342 received the governorship of Thessaly (and possibly Epirus), which he held until his death in 1348. Biography John Angelos was a relative – he is variously qualified as a nephew or cousin, with the latter being more likely – of John Kantakouzenos,. the closest friend and associate of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341) and later emperor as John VI (r. 1341–1354). The names and identities of John's parents are unknown. The only precise information available is that he was the son-in-law of the ''protovestiarios'' Andronikos Palaiologos.. In his memoirs, John Kantakouzenos states that he himself raised John A ...
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Theodore Synadenos
Theodore Komnenos Doukas Palaiologos Synadenos ( el, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνός Δούκας Παλαιολόγος Συναδηνός,. ca. 1277 – ca. 1346), usually simply Theodore Synadenos, was a Byzantine magnate, senior official and military leader of the early 14th century, who played an important role in the civil wars of the period. The scion of a noble lineage, he became one of the first and most prominent supporters of Andronikos III Palaiologos in his struggle against his grandfather Andronikos II. Synadenos held various provincial governorships during Andronikos III's reign, including Epirus and Thessalonica. After the outbreak of the civil war of 1341–1347, he tried to surrender Thessalonica to his old friend John Kantakouzenos, but was driven from the city by the Zealots of Thessalonica. Forced to join Kantakouzenos's enemies, he was initially honoured with the high rank of ''protovestiarios'' but soon placed under house arrest in Constantinople, where ...
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Kingdom Of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), when the island of Sicily revolted and was conquered by the Crown of Aragon, becoming a separate kingdom also called the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1816, it reunified with the island of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The territory of the Kingdom of Naples corresponded to the current Italian regions of Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise and also included some areas of today's southern and eastern Lazio. Nomenclature The term "Kingdom of Naples" is in near-universal use among historians, but it was not used officially by the government. Since the Angevins remained in power on the Italian peninsula, they kept the original name of the Kingdom ...
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Capetian House Of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou or House of Anjou-Sicily, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct French House of Capet, part of the Capetian dynasty. It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as ''Angevin'', meaning "from Anjou" in France. Founded by Charles I of Anjou, the youngest son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century. Later the War of the Sicilian Vespers forced him out of the island of Sicily, leaving him with the southern half of the Italian Peninsula — the Kingdom of Naples. The house and its various branches would go on to influence much of the history of Southern and Central Europe during the Middle Ages, until becoming defunct in 1435. Historically, the House ruled the counties of Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Provence and Forcalquier, the principalities of Achaea and Taranto, and the kingdoms of Sicily, Naples, Hungary, Croatia, Albania, and Poland. Rise of Charles I and his sons A you ...
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Nikephoros II Orsini
Nikephoros II Orsini - Doukas (Greek: Νικηφόρος Β΄ Δούκας, ''Nikēphoros II Doukas''), was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359. Life Nikephoros was the son of John Orsini of Epirus and Anna Palaiologina. When his mother allegedly poisoned his father in 1335, Nikephoros II succeeded as a 7-year-old child. His mother Anna assumed the regency for her young son but failed to allay the enmity of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos, who invaded and annexed the Epirote part of Thessaly in 1336 and advanced on Ioannina. The Albanians took advantage of conflict to the south to raid the Byzantine possessions in the north, but were defeated by the emperor in 1337. Andronikos summoned Anna to negotiate in 1338 but refused to accept her son as Byzantine vassal and installed his governors in Epirus. Keeping Anna as hostage, Andronikos arranged for the marriage between Nikephoros and Maria Kantakouzene, the daughter of his ...
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Arta, Greece
Arta ( el, Άρτα) is a city in northwestern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia ( grc, Ἀμβρακία). Arta is known for the medieval bridge over the Arachthos River. Arta is also known for its ancient sites from the era of Pyrrhus of Epirus and its well-preserved 13th-century castle. Arta's Byzantine history is reflected in its many Byzantine churches; perhaps the best known is the Panagia Paregoretissa (Mother of God the Consoling), built about 1290 by Despot Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas. Etymology The origin of the city's name is quite uncertain. It's either derived from a corruption of the river Arachthos, either from the Latin word "artus" (narrow) either from the Slavic word "balta" (swamp). History Antiquity The first settlement in the area of the modern city dates to the 9th century B.C. Ambracia was founded as a Corinthian colony in the 7th century B.C. In 294 BC, af ...
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