Basil Vatatzes ( gr, Βασίλειος Βατάτζης, Vasileios Vatatzēs, ) was a

Byzantine 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 Constantinopl ...

military commander, and likely the father of the

Nicaean emperor The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley ...

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

Biography

Origin and early life

Vatatzes was of low birth, hailing from the region around

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

and

Didymoteichon Didymoteicho ( el, Διδυμότειχο, Didymóteicho ) is a city located on the eastern edge of the Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town ...

. He likely entered military service under Emperor

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"), w ...

(), but details of his early life are otherwise unknown. He apparently reached sufficient prominence to be married, around 1187, to an unnamed daughter of Isaac Angelos Doukas, uncle to the emperor

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...

(). Married to a cousin of the emperor, Vatatzes suddenly became a member of the senior aristocracy: he was awarded the rank of ''

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-ce ...

'', and the path to senior military commands opened to him.

Ousting of Theodore Mankaphas

His first office after the marriage was likely as military governor ('' doux'') of the small province of

Mylasa and Melanoudion The Theme of Mylasa and Melanoudion ( el, θέμα Μυλά ��ης και Μελανουδίου) was a Byzantine province ('' thema'') in southwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is first attested in 1127/1128, an ...

, which he is known to have held in August 1189. From there he was promoted to " Grand Domestic of the East" and governor of the extensive Thracesian Theme. In this capacity he had to deal with the usurper

Theodore Mankaphas Theodore Mangaphas or Mankaphas ( gr, Θεόδωρος Μαγκαφᾶς, fl. c. 1188–1205) was a Greek nobleman from Philadelphia, who assumed the title of Byzantine emperor twice, first during the reign of Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195 and ...

. Mankaphas had launched a rebellion , when he proclaimed himself as emperor in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The revolt was short-lived, as Isaac II besieged the city and forced Mankaphas to submit, but the latter was pardoned and allowed to continue as governor of the city.. In , however, Basil Vatatzes was sent against Theodore Mankaphas, who had rebelled once more. This time Vataztes effectively ended the rebellion and forced the usurper to flee to the court of the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

Iconium Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

Bulgarian rebellion

Soon after he was appointed Domestic of the West (as with his contemporary and co-commander,

Alexios Gidos Alexios Gidos ( el, Ἀλέξιος Γίδος; ) was a senior Byzantine general of the late 12th century. He is the first attested member of the Gidos family, which rose to some prominence in the Byzantine Empire at the end of the 12th and the beg ...

, it is unclear if he was a real

Grand Domestic 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 earl ...

or simply Domestic), based at

. His primary task was to confront the ongoing Bulgarian rebellion in the northern

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. In 1193 he refused any military support to the rebellion of his brother-in-law Constantine Angelos Doukas, a cousin to the emperor and commander of the Byzantine armies in Philippopolis. Doukas proclaimed himself emperor and marched his troops onto Adrianople, but he was betrayed by his followers and surrendered to Isaac II Angelos for a pardon in return. In 1194 Isaac II ordered Vatatzes and Gidos to campaign against the Bulgarians. The Byzantines were defeated, and Vatatzes was killed at the Battle of Arcadiopolis.

Family

He was likely the father of

, the future

Emperor of Nicaea This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

, as well as of John's two older brothers, the ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

Isaac Doukas Vatatzes Isaac Doukas Vatatzes ( gr, Ἰσαάκιος Δούκας Βατάτζης, Isaakios Doukas Vatatzēs c. 1188-1261) was the brother of the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes (). Life His exact origin is obscure: probably born , he was the ...

, and anonymous middle son, whose daughter married the ''

protovestiarios ''Protovestiarios'' ( el, πρωτοβεστιάριος, "first ''vestiarios''") was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs. In the late Byzantine period (12th–15th centuries), it denoted the Empire's senior-most fina ...

Alexios Raoul Alexios Raoul ( el, ; died c. 1258) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general of the Empire of Nicaea. He attained the rank of ''protovestiarios'' during the reign of Emperor John III Vatatzes (r. 1221–1254). Biography Alexios Raoul was the scion ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vatatzes, Basil 12th-century births 1194 deaths 12th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals Byzantines killed in battle Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars

Basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

Domestics of the Schools Governors of the Thracesian Theme