John Kammytzes ( el, Ἱωάννης Καμμύτζης; ) was a senior military commander of the

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

, with the rank of ''

megas hetaireiarches The ( grc-gre, ἑταιρειάρχης), sometimes anglicized as Hetaeriarch, was a high-ranking Byzantine officer, in command of the imperial bodyguard, the . In the 9th–10th centuries there appear to have been several , each for one of the su ...

''. His early life is unknown, but he was a member of the notable aristocratic Kam tzes clan and a relative of Manuel Kammytzes, who served as ''

protostrator ''Prōtostratōr'' ( el, πρωτοστράτωρ) was a Byzantine court office, originating as the imperial stable master. Its proximity to the imperial person led to a highly visible role in imperial ceremonies, and served as a springboard for ...

'' under the

Angelos The House of Angelos (; gr, Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (), plural Angeloi (), was a Byzantine Greek noble lineage which rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the youn ...

emperors. He is only mentioned by

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 ...

in ca. 1224, when the inhabitants of

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, ...

sent envoys to Nicaea, calling upon the emperor

John III 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 ...

to liberate them from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

rule. Vatatzes sent Kammytzes, along with the ''protostrator''

John Ises John Ises ( el, Ἱωάννης Ἴσης; ) was a senior military commander of the Empire of Nicaea, with the rank of ''protostrator''. He is first documented in a chrysobull issued in 1221 by the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris for the Monast ...

, at the head of an army. The city was easily captured, but soon after in late 1224 or early 1225, the ruler of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

Theodore Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas ( el, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Δούκας, ''Theodōros Komnēnos Doukas'', latinisation of names, Latinized as Theodore Comnenus Ducas, died 1253) was ruler of Despotate of Epirus, Epirus and Thessaly#Late M ...

, a rival of Vatatzes who also claimed the imperial title, appeared before the city. Theodore won over the inhabitants, and Ises and Kammytzes agreed to leave the city on guarantee of safe passage. Kammytzes is said to have infuriated Theodore when he failed to dismount and do homage to him as emperor as he was leaving the city, and the Epirote ruler insulted him. As a reward for this display of loyalty, Vatatzes named Kammytzes ''

''.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kammytzes, John 13th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals People from the Empire of Nicaea Military history of Edirne

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Megaloi hetaireiarchai