Stephen Gabrielopoulos ( el, Στέφανος Γαβριηλόπουλος, died 1332/1333) was a powerful magnate and semi-independent ruler in western

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 ...

, who pledged allegiance 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 ...

and was rewarded with the title of ''

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 ...

''.

Biography

After Thessaly's ruler

John II Doukas John II Doukas, also Angelos Doukas ( Latinized as Angelus Ducas) ( gr, Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος Δούκας, Iōannēs Angelos Doukas), was ruler of Thessaly from 1303 to his death in 1318. John II Angelos Doukas was the son of Constanti ...

(r. 1303–1318) died in 1318 without a male heir, the

moved to take advantage of the power vacuum in the region. Byzantine troops under

John Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under And ...

occupied northern Thessaly, while the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

of the

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

moved into the southern parts of the region. Central Thessaly became a battleground for the various local magnates, who competed with each other and called upon the two states for aid. One of those who turned to Byzantium for support was Gabrielopoulos, who possessed many estates in western Thessaly as well as in parts of southwestern Macedonia, his lands reaching from

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria regional unit, in the geographic region of Macedonia. It is situated on a promontory on the weste ...

. Sometime between 1318 and 1325, he acknowledged Byzantine

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

and was given the title of ''

'' in return. He thus became the ''de facto'' governor of much of Thessaly on behalf of the

Byzantine emperor 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 ...

, but preserving much local autonomy. His possessions included the towns and fortresses of Trikala, Phanarion, Stagoi, Damasis, and

Elasson Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα; Katharevousa: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the Larissa regional unit in Greece. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the Perrhaebi t ...

.. After his death in 1332/3, however, his heirs began quarrelling amongst themselves, leading to an invasion by the

Epirote Epirus (; el, Ήπειρος, translit=Ípiros, ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region in northwestern Greece.Π.Δ. 51/87 “Καθορισμός των � ...

ruler John II Orsini, while the Byzantines under Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341) moved in and established direct control over the northern and eastern part of the region. With Orsini's death three years later, all of Thessaly came under Byzantine control..

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielopoulos, Stephen 1330s deaths 14th-century Byzantine people Byzantine governors of Thessaly Sebastokrators Year of birth unknown 14th-century rulers in Europe