John Doukas ( gr, Ἰωάννης Δούκας, Iōannēs Doúkas; ) was a senior

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 ...

military commander and diplomat under

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 ...

, serving in Italy,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. He rose to the rank of ''

sebastos ( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-ce ...

'' and the office 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 ...

''. Several of his seals bearing these titles are extant. Demetrios Polemis erroneously identified him with his contemporary, the Eparch of the City John Kamateros, as "John Doukas Kamateros". This has been corrected by other scholars since.

Patricia Karlin-Hayter Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

notably decomposed Polemis' composite figure into six or seven different people, of which John Doukas was assigned the bulk of the military and diplomatic career of Polemis' figure. The first activity which can be more or less securely attributed to John Doukas is an embassy to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

in 1155/6, followed by his stay in Italy. He then commanded an expedition in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

in 1164, and against the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

in 1166. He is first attested as ''megas hetaireiarches'' in 1170, when he attended the synod at Constantinople that condemned John Eirenikos. In 1177, he led an embassy to Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. In 1179, he paid a visit to

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 ...

and was the object of an oration by the scholar and archbishop

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sa ...

, who praises his interest in theology. He is known to have corresponded with

Michael Glykas Michael Glykas or Glycas ( gr, Μιχαὴλ Γλυκᾶς) was a 12th-century Byzantine historian, theologian, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He was probably from Corfu and lived in Constantinople. He was a critic of Manuel I Komnenos, and wa ...

concerning theological matters. Eustathius further mentions that he fought unspecified campaigns in

. Another scholar, the philosopher

Constantine of Nicaea Constantine of Nicaea or Constantine the Philosopher was a Neoplatonic philosopher in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos, Manuel I (1143–1180).Merle Eisenberg and David Jenkins (2021), "The Philosophy of Constantine the Ph ...

, wrote a ''

consolatio :''See also the Catharist Consolamentum The ''Consolatio'' or consolatory oration is a type of ceremonial oratory, typically used rhetorically to comfort mourners at funerals. It was one of the most popular classical rhetoric topics,Ernst Robert ...

'' on the death of John's wife, praising her interest in "real philosophy" (ascetic virtue). John supported the accession of

Alexios II Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos ( gkm, Αλέξιος Β' Κομνηνός; 14 September 1169, p. 383September 1183), Latinized Alexius II Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He ascended to the throne as a minor. For the duration of his shor ...

in 1180. He may be the John Doukas that

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 ...

has him defending

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

unsuccessfully against Andronikos Komnenos in 1182. This identification is uncertain, since Choniates does not give him a title. If he still was ''megas hetaireiarches'', he was replaced by Andronikos.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doukas, John 12th-century births 12th-century deaths 12th-century diplomats 12th-century Byzantine people Byzantine diplomats Generals of Manuel I Komnenos Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Christians of the Third Crusade Sebastoi Byzantine Empire–Holy Roman Empire relations Megaloi hetaireiarchai