The Petraliphas or Petraleiphas ( el, Πετραλ ��φας), feminine form Petraliphaina (Πετραλίφαινα), were 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 ...

aristocratic family of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent.

History

The family's ancestor was Peter, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

from Alifa, who first came to the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

during the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...

, but later entered the service of 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 ...

(r. 1081–1118).. The earliest member of the family recorded was Alexios Petraliphas, according to

John Kinnamos Joannes Kinnamos, or John Cinnamus ( el, or Κίναμος; born shortly after 1143, died after 1185), was a Byzantine historian. He was imperial secretary (Greek "grammatikos", most likely a post connected with the military administration) to Em ...

a general in charge of a military force sent by 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 ...

(r. 1143–80) to his ally

Kilij Arslan II Kilij Arslan II ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان دوم) or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd ( fa, عز الدین قلج ارسلان بن مسعود) (Modern Turkish ''Kılıç Arslan'', meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm ...

Sultan of Rûm fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

. According to ''The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es'' (1973) by Sterios Fassoulakis, Alexios Petraliphas married Anna Raoul, a daughter of

John Roger Dalassenos John Roger or Rogerios ( el, Ιωάννης Ρογέριος), also known as John Dalassenos (Greek: Ιωάννης Δαλασσηνός), was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine aristocrat of Normans, Norman descent, son-in-law of Byzantine emperor John ...

(Raoul) and Maria Komnene. However, Kinnamos records that Anna was a daughter of

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

(r. 1118–43) and

Piroska of Hungary Irene of Hungary (Greek: Είρήνη, born Piroska; 1088 – 13 August 1134) was a Byzantine empress by marriage to John II Komnenos. She is venerated as a saint. Life The name Piroska was a Hungarian derivation of the Latin name Prisca, lite ...

. A son of Alexios Petraliphas and Anna Raoul reportedly married Helena of Bohemia. Helena was a daughter of

Frederick of Bohemia Frederick ( cs, Bedřich) ( – 25 March 1189), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1172 to 1173 and again from 1178 to his death. Life Frederick was the eldest son of King Vladislav II of Bohemia and Gertrude of ...

and Elizabeth of Hungary; Elizabeth was a daughter of

Géza II of Hungary Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child a ...

and

Euphrosyne of Kiev Euphrosyne of Kiev (also ''Euphrosine of Novgorod'';Jirí Louda and Michael MacLagan, ''Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe'', 2nd edition (London, U.K.: Little, Brown and Company, 1999), table 89. hu, Eufrozina; 1130 ...

. During the reign of Manuel I Komnenos, alongside Alexios, a Nikephoros Petraliphas is recorded as a distinguished general. Although the relation between them is unknown, perhaps they were among the four Petraliphas brothers from

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 ...

recorded by

Niketas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates ( el, Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek government official and historian – like his brother Michael Akominatos, wh ...

. A Theodora Antiochitissa Petraliphaina is mentioned on a seal dated to c. 1200. Antiochitissa means "woman from

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

". The family became prominent in the late 12th and the first half of the 13th century: 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 ...

John Petraliphas John Petraliphas ( el, ) was a Byzantine noble and governor of Thessaly and Macedonia in the late 12th/early 13th century with the rank of ''sebastokrator''. Biography John was a member of the Petraliphas family, which was of Italo-Norman origi ...

was governor of

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

and Macedonia, and played a leading role in the deposition of

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 ...

(r. 1185–1195 and 1203–1204) in 1195. Another ''sebastokrator'' Nikephoros Komnenos Petraliphas is also attested circa 1200. The ''sebastokrator'' John's sister

Maria Petraliphaina Maria Doukaina Komnene Petraliphaina ( gr, Μαρία Δούκαινα Κομνηνή Πετραλίφαινα) was the wife of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus and in 1224–1230 self-proclaimed Emperor of Thessalonica. She is the earlie ...

married 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 ...

and

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

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 ...

(r. 1215–1230), while John's daughter

Theodora Petraliphaina Theodora Petraliphaina ( el, Θεοδώρα Πετραλίφαινα), canonized as Saint Theodora of Arta ( el, Αγία Θεοδώρα της Άρτας; ca. 1225 – after 1270), was a consort of Epirus and an Orthodox Christian saint. Li ...

married

Michael II Komnenos Doukas Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas ( el, Μιχαήλ Β΄ Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Mikhaēl II Komnēnos Doukas''), often called Michael Angelos in narrative sources, was from 1230 until his death in 1266/68 the rule ...

(r. 1231–1266/1268). John's son Theodore was married to a daughter of Demetrios Tornikes, one of the leading ministers of

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 ...

(r. 1221–1254), and played a prominent role in the Nicaean-Epirote conflicts of the 1250s, first defecting to Nicaea and then back to his brother-in-law. A marriage to

Alexios the Slav Alexius Slav ( bg, Алексий Слав, el, ; 1208–28) was a Bulgarian nobleman ('' bolyarin''), a member of the Asen dynasty, and a nephew of the first three Asen brothers. He was first probably the governor of the Rhodopes domain of th ...

, a vassal of the

Latin emperor The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261 ...

Henry of Flanders Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry was born in V ...

(r. 1206–1216) by an unidentified Petraliphaina, possibly John's other daughter Maria, is also reported 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 ...

. A different branch of the family is attested in 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 ...

, where another John was ''

megas chartoularios Magnús Þór Jónsson (born 7 April 1945), better known by the stage name Megas, is a vocalist, songwriter, and writer who is well known in his native Iceland. Interest in music Being an admirer of Elvis Presley, Megas welcomed the arrival of ...

'' and military commander in the late 1230s..

References

Sources

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