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Vardariotai
The ''Vardariotai'' ( el, ), sometimes Anglicized as Vardariots, were an ethnic and territorial group (probably originally of Magyar origin) in the later Byzantine Empire, which provided a palace guard regiment during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. History The exact origin and nature of the ''Vardariotai'' is uncertain. The name first appears in the tenth century, when a bishopric of the "''Vardariotai'' or ''Tourkoi''" is mentioned as subject to the diocese of Thessalonica.. The mid-fourteenth century writer Pseudo-Kodinos calls them "Persians" by race (a typical Byzantine anachronism for "Turks"), and recalls that they were settled in the Vardar river valley by an unnamed Byzantine emperor of old. In both cases, however, "Turks" probably implies the Magyars, who were called "''Tourkoi''" by the Byzantines in the tenth–eleventh centuries. Hence it seems that the ''Vardariotai'' were Magyars resettled in Macedonia in the tenth century, and that they had become Chris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primikerios
The Latin term ''primicerius'', hellenized as ''primikērios'' ( el, πριμικήριος), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various colleges. Etymologically the term derives from ''primus in cera'', which is to say ''in tabula cerata'', the first name in a list of a class of officials, which was usually inscribed on a waxed tablet. Civil and military From their origin in the court of the Dominate, there were several ''primicerii'' (''primikērioi'' in Greek, from the 12th century usually spelled ''primmikērioi''). In the court, there was the ''primicerius sacri cubiculi'' (in Byzantine times the ''primikērios'' of the ''kouboukleion''), in charge of the emperor's bedchamber, almost always a eunuch. The title was also given to court officials in combination with other offices connected to the imperial person, such as the special treasury (''eidi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaiologan Byzantine Army
The Palaiologan army refers to the military forces of the Byzantine Empire under the rule of the Palaiologos dynasty, from the late 13th century to its final collapse in the mid-15th century. The army was a direct continuation of the forces of the Empire of Nicaea, which itself was a fractured component of the formidable Komnenian army of the 12th century. Under the first Palaiologan emperor, Michael VIII, the army's role took an increasingly offensive role whilst the naval forces of the empire, weakened since the days of Andronikos I Komnenos, were boosted to include thousands of skilled sailors and some 80 ships. Due to the lack of land to support the army, the empire required the use of large numbers of mercenaries. After Andronikos II took to the throne in 1282, the army fell apart and the Byzantines suffered regular defeats at the hands of their eastern opponents, although they would continue to enjoy success against the Latin territories in Greece. By c. 1350 the Empire's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglicization
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Culture of England, English culture or Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influence of English culture and business on other countries outside England or the United Kingdom, including their media, cuisine, popular culture, technology, business practices, laws, or political systems. Linguistic anglicisation is the practice of modifying foreign words, names, and phrases to make them easier to spell, pronounce or understand in English language, English. The term commonly refers to the respelling of foreign words, often to a more drastic degree than that implied in, for example, Romanization, romanisation. One instance is the word "dandelion", modified from the French ''dent-de-lion'' ("lion's tooth", a reference to the plant's sharply indented leaves). The term can also re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions. The Rus' provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard. They were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. The Guard was first formally constituted under Emperor Basil II in 988, following the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Vladimir I of Kiev. Vladimir, who had recently usurped power in Kiev with an army of Varangi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guards Units Of The Byzantine Empire
Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison guard, who supervises prisoners in a prison or jail * Security guard, who protects property, assets, or people * Conductor (rail) § Train guard, in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and India Computing and telecommunications * Guard (computer science), in programming language, an expression that directs program execution * Guard (information security), a device for controlling communication between computer networks * Guard interval, intervals in transmission, used in telecommunications * Aircraft emergency frequency, commonly referred to as "guard" Governmental and military * Border guard, a state security agency * Coast guard, responsible for coastal defence and offshore rescue * Colour guard, a detachment of soldiers assigned to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komnenian Byzantine Army
The Byzantine army of the Komnenian era or Komnenian army was the force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late 11th/early 12th century, and perfected by his successors John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos during the 12th century. From necessity, following extensive territorial loss and a near disastrous defeat by the Normans of southern Italy at Dyrrachion in 1081, Alexios constructed a new army from the ground up. This new army was significantly different from previous forms of the Byzantine army, especially in the methods used for the recruitment and maintenance of soldiers. The army was characterised by an increased reliance on the military capabilities of the immediate imperial household, the relatives of the ruling dynasty and the provincial Byzantine aristocracy. Another distinctive element of the new army was an expansion of the employment of foreign mercenary troops and their organisation into more permanent units. However, continuity in e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Akropolites
George Akropolites ( Latinized as Acropolites or Acropolita; el, , ''Georgios Akropolites''; 1217 or 1220 – 1282) was a Byzantine Greek historian and statesman born at Constantinople. Life In his sixteenth year he was sent by his father, the logothete Constantine Akropolites the elder, to the court of John III Doukas Vatatzes, emperor of Nicaea, where Akropolites continued his studies under Theodore Hexapterygos and Nicephorus Blemmydes. The emperor afterwards entrusted George with important state missions, as did his successors (Theodore II Laskaris and Michael VIII Palaiologos). The office of Grand Logothete, or chancellor, was bestowed upon him in 1244. As commander in the field in 1257 against Michael II, despot of Epirus, he showed little military ability. George was captured and kept for two years in prison, from which he was released by Michael Palaiologos. Meanwhile, Michael Palaiologos was proclaimed emperor of Nicaea, afterwards expelling the Latins from Constan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manglabites
The Manglabites or Manglavites ( el, μαγ αβίται, ''manglabitai''; sing. μαγ αβίτης, ''manglabitēs'') were a corps of bodyguards in the Byzantine Empire. Etymology Their name derives from the term ''manglabion'' (μαγγλάβιον, "cudgel") which was also used to designate the entire corps. The origin of the term itself is debated: one theory regards it as deriving from Arabic ''mijlab'' ("whip"), while another from Latin ''manus'' ("hand") and ''clava'' ("cudgel"). History The ''manglabitai'' first appear in the 9th century, when, along with the imperial ''Hetaireia'', they were responsible for the personal safety of the emperor. Armed with swords, the ''manglabitai'' preceded him in ceremonies and were responsible for the unlocking of certain gates of the imperial palace, the Great Palace of Constantinople every morning. Structure The individual ''manglabitēs'' was of relatively lowly origin and status, often even illiterate, but their commander, kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramonai
The ''Paramonai'' ( el, Παραμοναί) were an obscure Byzantine guard regiment of the Palaiologan period. The name derives from the Greek verb παραμένω, meaning "to stand near something". Unlike other major guard units in the Palaiologan army like the Varangian Guard, the regiment of the ''Paramonai'' was a native Byzantine formation, although little else is known about it. Its existence is safely attested in the literary sources only for the period from 1272 until 1315.. They are still mentioned by the mid-14th century writer Pseudo-Kodinos, however, who records that the regiment had two divisions, one on foot and the other on horse, each commanded by an '' allagator'', and that all the soldiers were armed with sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaiologan Period
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founded after the Fourth Crusade (1204), up to the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. Together with the preceding Nicaean Empire and the contemporary ''Frankokratia'', this period is known as the late Byzantine Empire. From the start, the regime faced numerous problems.Mango, p. 255 The Turks of Asia Minor had begun conducting raids and expanding into Byzantine territory in Asia Minor by 1263, just two years after the enthronment of the first Palaiologos emperor Michael VIII. 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, the prospect of economic gain, and the desire to seek refuge from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magyars
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic language family. There are an estimated 15 million ethnic Hungarians and their descendants worldwide, of whom 9.6 million live in today's Hungary. About 2–3 million Hungarians live in areas that were part of the Kingdom of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 and are now parts of Hungary's seven neighbouring countries, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Significant groups of people with Hungarian ancestry live in various other parts of the world, most of them in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Chile, Brazil, Australia, and Argentina. Hungarians can be divided into several subgroups according to local linguistic and cultural characteristics; subgroups with distinct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Romanization of Greek, Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantine Empire, Byzantium and the History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire had seen a resurgence of its military and economic power and had enjoyed a cultural revival. Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with Pope Adrian IV and the resurgent Greek East and Latin West, West. He invaded the Normans, Norman Kingdom of Sicily, although unsuccessfully, being the last Eastern Roman emperor t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
