Christopher or Christophoros Burgaris was the short-tenured successor of the famous

Basil Boioannes Basil Boioannes ( grc-gre, Βασίλειος Βοϊωάννης, Basíleios Boïōánnēs, ; la, Basilius Bugianus, ), in Italian called it, Bugiano, label=none, i=no (), was the Byzantine catapan of Italy (1017 – 1027 Chalandon, Ferdinand. ' ...

catepan of Italy The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of S ...

. The chronicler

Lupus Protospatharius Lupus Protospatharius Barensis was the reputed author of the ''Chronicon rerum in regno Neapolitano gestarum'' (also called ''Annales Lupi Protospatharii''), a concise history of the Mezzogiorno from 805 to 1102. He has only been named as the aut ...

gives the date of Boioannes' departure as 1029, but modern historian Ferdinand Chalandon corrects this to 1027. This synchronises with the death of

Guaimar III of Salerno Guaimar III (also ''Waimar'', ''Gaimar'', ''Guaimaro'', or ''Guaimario'' and sometimes numbered Guaimar IV) (c. 983 – 1027×31) was the Lombard prince of Salerno from around 994 to his death. Under his reign, Salerno entered an era of great splen ...

, though other events associated with it are known to have occurred in 1028. Lupus, however, misplaces the election of Byzantius as

archbishop of Bari The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto ( la, Archidioecesis Barensis-Bituntina) is Metropolitan Latin rite archbishopric in the administrative Bari province, Puglia ( Apulia) region, southeastern Italy (the 'Heel'), created in 1986, when ...

, which occurred before 1025, in this year and therefore his whole chronology for the period seems to be in error, in our manuscripts at least. Christophoros saw the recommencement of the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

incursions. In 1027,

Obbiano Uggiano la Chiesa ( Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. Main sights *Mother Church, finished in 1775. *Tower of the Angel *Crypt of St. Helena, a Byzantine church with remains o ...

capitulated and

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

had to repel and assault. Christophoros was out of power by 1029. He was replaced by Pothos, under whom the Saracen attacks continued.

Sources

* Chalandon, Ferdinand. ''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile''.

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, 1907. 11th-century deaths 11th-century catepans of Italy Year of birth unknown {{Europe-mil-bio-stub