John Chryselios ( el, ) was a provincial magnate in late 10th-century Dyrrhachium, and the father-in-law of Tsar

Samuel of Bulgaria Samuel (also Samuil; bg, Самуил, ; mk, Самоил/Самуил, ; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (''Emperor'') of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was a ...

().

Biography

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

in origin, Chryselios was the "leading man" (''proteuon'') of Dyrrhachium. According to another opinion, his name is not Bulgarian and there is no evidence that Chryselios was Bulgarian; it is suggested that he was of Armenian Paulician or Bogomil origin.

Nicholas Adontz Nicholas Adontz (, ''Nikoghayos Adonts’'', also spelled Adonts; ; January 10, 1871 – January 27, 1942) was an Armenian historian, specialist of Byzantine and Armenian studies, and philologist. Yuzbashyan, Karen. s.v. Adonts', Nikoghayos ...

. ''Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares''. In: Etudes Armeno-Byzantines. Publisher: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Lisbon, 1965, p. 395, 396. According to a note on the history of

John Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...

, the Bulgarian tsar Samuel married Chryselios's daughter Agatha, who was taken captive after Samuel sacked the city of Larissa. It is possible that thereby Samuel managed to acquire control over the strategically important Adriatic port city. After the

Battle of Spercheios The Battle of Spercheios ( bg, Битка при Сперхей, el, Μάχη του Σπερχειού) took place in 997 AD, on the shores of the Spercheios river near the city of Lamia in central Greece. It was fought between a Bulgarian army ...

in 997, Samuel made his son-in-law Ashot Taronites, a Byzantine captive who had married his daughter Miroslava, governor of the city. In circa 1005, however, Ashot and Miroslava, with the connivance of Chryselios, fled on a Byzantine ship to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, bearing a letter by Chryselios that promised to hand over the city to the Byzantine emperor,

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...

(), in exchange for the rank of ''

patrikios The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned aft ...

'' for himself and his two sons. Soon, a Byzantine squadron appeared off the city under

Eustathios Daphnomeles Eustathios Daphnomeles ( el, , early 11th century) was a Byzantine and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between E ...

, and the city returned to Byzantine rule, but Chryselios had died in the meantime. It is, however, possible that this episode actually took place as late as 1018, at the end of the Bulgarian war, since the chronology of the war's primary source, John Skylitzes, is unclear; while the Italian chronicle of

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 auth ...

gives a completely different date for the recovery of Dyrrhachium, 1004/5, and does not mention Chryselios at all.

Family

Apart from his daughter Agatha, modern Bulgarian scholars equate a ''patrikios'' Nicholas Chryselios or Nicholas the Bulgarian, recorded by Skylitzes as being active under

Romanos III Argyros Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...

(), with one of John Chryselios' sons. A certain Theodoretos, who was the father of

Kosara Kosara or Cossara ( Bulgarian and sr, Косара) was a Bulgarian noblewoman, related to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who was married to Prince Jovan Vladimir of Duklja. Origin and identity The 11th-century Byzantine historian John Skylitzes c ...

, the wife of Prince

Jovan Vladimir Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir ( sr-cyr, Јован Владимир; c. 990 – 22 May 1016) was the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between t ...

Duklja Duklja ( sh-Cyrl, Дукља; el, Διόκλεια, Diokleia; la, Dioclea) was a medieval South Slavic state which roughly encompassed the territories of modern-day southeastern Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor in the west to the Bojana Riv ...

, has also been suggested by modern scholarship as one of Chryselios' sons.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chryselios, John 10th-century Bulgarian people 10th-century Byzantine people History of Durrës Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Byzantine people of Slavic descent