Bryennios or Bryennius ( el, Βρυέννιος), feminine form Bryennissa (Βρυέννισσα), was the name of a noble

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 ...

family which rose to prominence in the 11th and 12th centuries, mostly as military commanders. The etymology of the name is uncertain. The first members of the family appear in the 9th century, with the ''

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...

Theoktistos Bryennios Theoktistos Bryennios ( el, Θεόκτιστος Βρυέννιος, ) was a Greek nobleman and a Byzantine general who quelled a Slavic rebellion in the Peloponnese in 842. Theoktistos Bryennios is the first known member of the aristocratic Bryen ...

. None are known for the 10th, but they reappear in the latter half of the 11th century, when they rose to high military commands and became associated with the

Komnenian dynasty Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην� ...

. Members of the family retained high positions through the 12th century, and are documented up to the 15th century.

Notable members

* Alexios Bryennios, '' megas doux'' in 1156 *

Joseph Bryennios Joseph Bryennios ( el, Ἰωσήφ Βρυέννιος; 1350 – 1431/38)) was a learned Byzantine monk of the 15th century. He was a monk at the Monastery of Stoudios. He wrote many important works of scholarship in support of Orthodoxy, and agains ...

(c. 1350 – 1430), Byzantine monk and writer *

Manuel Bryennios Manuel Bryennios or Bryennius ( el, Μανουήλ Βρυέννιος; c. 1275 – c. 1340). was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine scholar who flourished in Constantinople about 1300 teaching astronomy, mathematics and musical theory.. His only survivin ...

(fl. 1300), Byzantine scholar *

Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch) Nikephoros Bryennios ( el, Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος), Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius, was an important Byzantine general who was involved in rebellions against the empress Theodora and later the emperor Michael VI Stratiotikos. ...

(fl. 1050s), Byzantine general *

Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder ( el, Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος ο πρεσβύτερος), Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius, was a Byzantine Greek general who tried to establish himself as Emperor in the late eleventh century. His co ...

(fl. 1070s), Byzantine general, son of the ethnarch, who made an attempt on the throne of

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...

in 1077–1078 *

Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger Nikephoros Bryennios (or Nicephorus Bryennius; Greek: Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος, ''Nikēphoros Bryennios; ''1062–1137) was a Byzantine general, statesman and historian. He was born at Orestias (Adrianople) in the theme of Macedonia.D ...

(1062–1137), son or grandson of the preceding, Byzantine general, statesman and historian, husband of

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, ...

, (fl. 842), ''strategos'' of the Peloponnese

Sources

* * {{Authority control