The ''archontopouloi'' ( gr, Ἀρχοντόπουλοι) were an elite military formation of the Byzantine army during the

Komnenian era The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...

, in the 11th-12th centuries. They were founded by Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

() as part of his military reforms and were recruited among the

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

s of Byzantine officers who were killed in battle.

History

During the Seljuq invasion of Byzantine

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

after the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...

(1071), there were increased numbers of orphaned children; this led Emperor

() to initiate rescue efforts. In , while involved in a war against the

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

, Alexios recruited some of these orphans, drawn from the children of the Byzantine officers who had died in battle, and armed and trained to form an elite 2,000-strong cavalry unit, known as the ''archontopouloi'', the "sons of the

archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

s (leaders)". The ''archontopouloi'' are considered to be the only Byzantine orphan care institution directly influenced by

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

policies. Although Alexios's daughter and biographer,

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

, compared her father's ''archontopouloi'' to a

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n institution, the better documented

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

tradition to aid the children of deceased warriors was the probable inspiration for Alexios. The Byzantinist John Birkenmeier sees the ''archontopouloi'' as being primarily a 'palace officer-training corps', and their deployment as a field regiment by Alexios I as an isolated expedient. The regiment suffered 300 casualties during a battle at

Chariopolis Hayrabolu, formerly Charioupolis ( el, Χαριούπολις), is a town and district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. As of 2013 the mayor is Hasan İrtem of the ( Democrat Party). History Byzantine period Nothing is know ...

against the Pechenegs. The ''archontopouloi'' regiment disappears from Byzantine sources after the death of Alexios in 1118. However, people termed ''archontopouloi'' continue to be recorded later in Byzantine history. The later ''archontopouloi'' appear to have belonged to two perhaps related groups. The first group consists of young

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

attached to the Byzantine imperial court who may have had a military function, and the second group consists of a type of provincial "

pronoia The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care" or "forethought," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions in the late Byz ...

r", an elite soldier who held an imperial land-grant in return for military service. The latter group were possibly recruited from the former, following their training at the imperial court.

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book, last=Miller, first=Timothy S., title=The Orphans of Byzantium: Child Welfare in the Christian Empire, year=2003, location=Washington, DC, publisher=Catholic University of America, isbn=0-8132-1313-4, url=https://archive.org/details/orphansofbyzanti0000mill, url-access=registration Military units and formations established in the 11th century Alexios I Komnenos Military units and formations of the Byzantine Empire Cavalry units and formations Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement

History

See also

References

Sources