Andronikos Palaiologos (Megas Domestikos)

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Andronikos Palaeologus ( Greek : Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος), full name Andronikos Dukas Komnenos Palaiologos (* 1190, † 1248/52) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general, the Megas domestikos and supreme commander of the armed forces of the Byzantine Empire to Nicaea (Nicaea) , today İznik in Anatolia and as the father of Emperor Michael VIII. Palaiologos became the progenitor of the dynasty of palaeologists , who ruled the Byzantine Empire until 1453.

origin

Andronikos Palaiologos comes from the Byzantine noble family of Palaiologists, whose first tangible representative is Nikephoros Palaiologos, the 1078 general of Nikephoros III. Botaneiates , emperor of the Byzantine Empire (1078-1081), as well as Dux (governor) of the subject Mesopotamia and fell on October 18, 1081 at Durazzo in the fight against the Normans under Robert Guiscard , Duke of Apulia and Calabria (1059-1085) . Since then, the family has been at the top of the Byzantine military aristocracy and was related to the imperial dynasties of the Dukai and the Komnenen at an early age .

The father of Andronikos Palaiologos was Megas Doux Alexios Palaiologos, a son of Georgios Dukas Komnenos Palaiologos (* around 1125, † 1167/70 in Adrianople), who bore the titles of Sebastos, Pansebastos and Megas Hetairarches and who participated in the Synod of Constantinople in 1166 . Andronikos' mother was Irene Komnene. She was possibly a daughter of Johannes Dukas Komnenos, who was Dux of Cyprus in 1155 and died on September 17, 1176 at the Battle of Myriokephalon. He was married to a daughter of Michael Taronites. The full family name "Dukas Komnenos Palaiologos" carried by Andronikos reflects the pride of being descended from the imperial dynasties of the Dukai and the Comnenes and thus belonging to the imperial family in the broader sense.

Andronikos had an older brother, Michael Palaiologos, who was Megas Chartularios and who died in captivity after 1257. He too had entered into a dynastic marriage, as he was with a daughter of Alexios V. Dukas "Murzuphlos" (Emperor of Byzantium from February 5, 1204 to April 13, 1204) and Eudokia Angelina († after 1211), a daughter of Emperor Alexios III. Angelos (1195-1203), was married.

Life

youth

Little is known about the youth of Andronikos Palaiologos. He undoubtedly received an education corresponding to his status as a member of one of the leading noble families of Constantinople and went through a military career in accordance with family tradition. A decisive turning point in Byzantine history - the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 - he undoubtedly witnessed as a child or young person, although his family evidently succeeded in following this catastrophe to Nikaia at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Break through exile, where Andronikos began his military career and rose to become the leading general.

Megas Domestikos

John III Dukas Vatatzes, emperor of Byzantium to Nicaea, sovereign and patron of Andronikos Palaiologos

In Nikaia, Andronikos achieved the highest rank in the military hierarchy of the Byzantine Empire, as he was appointed Megas Domestikos, that is, the commander in chief of the entire Byzantine armed forces that were subordinate to the emperors residing in exile in Nikaia. However, it is not entirely clear whether this important function was given to him by Emperor Theodor I. Laskaris (1204–1222) or by his successor, Emperor Johannes III. Vatatzes , which was transferred shortly after he came to power, as the Byzantine historian and polymath Nikephoros Gregoras (* around 1295; † 1359/61) writes in his extensive "Rhomean History". Modern historians consider the latter to be more likely.

After the death of Emperor Theodor I Laskaris in 1222, there were disputes over the throne between his son-in-law and successor, Emperor Johannes III. Vatatzes, and Isaak and Alexios Laskaris, the brothers of the late emperor. These disputes finally led to a "treasonable" alliance between the Laskaris brothers, who allied themselves to overthrow the emperor with the "hereditary enemy", the emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, Robert de Courtenay († 1228). They marched with their troops at the head of the Latin army, but encountered the army of Emperor John III in the region of the Skamandros river in the Troas region near Poimanenon, which led to the battle of Poimanenon , in which the Latin army defeated, the Laskaris brothers were captured and blinded to finally exclude them from a line of succession.

There is no documentary evidence that Andronikos Palaiologos took part in the battle, but two facts clearly support it: He was the Megas Domestikos, i.e. the commander in chief of the troops of Emperor John III; its absence in this decisive battle would therefore hardly be understandable. In addition, he was after the battle of John III. instructed to use the victory to regain the areas lost to the Latins in Anatolia and to take over the military administration of these areas. He was likely to have been very successful in this, because in 1225 the Latin Empire was forced to renounce all possessions in Anatolia in favor of the Byzantine Empire of Nicaia. The only exceptions were the east bank of the Bosporus and the city of Nicomedia .

It was essential for the rise of the empire to Nicaea, actively promoted by Andronikos Palaiologos, that the rival western Byzantine part of Thessaloniki suffered a major setback. This is because Theodoros I Komnenos Dukas Angelos (* 1180/85; † after 1253 in nizänischer detention) since 1215 Despot of Epirus , since 1224 autocrat (autocrat) in the Kingdom of Thessaloniki since 1225 against Byzantine emperor against . Ivan Asen II , the Tsar of the Bulgarians (1218–1241) - as the future father-in-law of the heir of the Latin Empire, who was also regent of the Latin Empire from 1228 - suffered a devastating defeat in the Battle of Klokotnitsa in March 1230 and thus turned out to be a rival for the renewal of the Byzantine Empire .

In the meantime the expansion of the domain of Nikaia continued under the military direction of Andronikos Palaiologos. The Niceaan fleet occupied Lesbos , Samos and Ikaria , and in 1233 Andronikos Palaiologos commanded a military expedition against the island of Rhodes in order to bring the island's governor, Leon Gabalas , who held the high honorary title of Emperor , to submission to the Byzantine Empire of Nikaia to force.

A change in the regional strategic situation occurred in 1231 through the election of the aged Johann von Brienne (* 1169/74; † 1237) as emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople. He ruled the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1210 to 1212 as king, from 1212 to 1225 as regent and was considered the most experienced Latin general and statesman in the Levant. With this election the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II lost all hope of controlling Constantinople and thus the Latin Empire, so he switched sides and concluded a military alliance with the Empire of Nicaia against the Latin Empire. A permanent side effect of this turning point was that the Tsar removed the Bulgarian Church, which was subordinate to the Pope, from the control of Rome in 1203 and achieved the renewal and recognition of the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the ordination of the Archbishop of Tarnovo as Patriarch , who was formally subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The relevant contract was signed in 1235 in the Kallipolis conquered by Andronikos shortly before and through the marriage of Helena Asenina (* 1224, † 1254), the daughter of the tsar, with the son of the emperor John III., The future emperor Theodor II. Dukas Laskaris (Vatatzes) (1254–1258), sealed.

Emperor John III undertook a military expedition to Macedonia in 1242 , the planning and implementation of which was incumbent on the Megas Domestikos Andronikos Palaiologos. The destination was Thessaloniki, where Johannes Komnenos Dukas , the son of the counter-emperor Theodoros I Angelos, who had been released by the Bulgarians, had ruled since 1237. This campaign was stopped, however, when alarming reports of the Mongol invasion of Byzantine territory were confirmed. After a quick peace agreement with Johannes Komnenos Dukas, who formally became Emperor Johannes III. surrendered, the Byzantine army, under the command of Andronikos Palaiologos, withdrew to prepare to defend the Mongols.

Thanks to the massive threat to the empire from the Mongols, an alliance was concluded in 1243 with the eastern "hereditary enemy" of the Byzantine Empire, the Sultanate of the Rum Seljuks at Iconium. In the meantime the Mongols had defeated the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1242 and, like the Sultanate of the Rum Seljuks and the Byzantine Empire established in 1204, had forced Trebizond to submit and pay tribute. Due to the surprising withdrawal of the Mongols, the empire of Nikaia was spared and gained considerable reputation and influence. Emperor Johann III took advantage of this location. for a campaign in the Balkans. There, the previously dominant power of the Bulgarians was weakened by the defeat by the Mongols and the dynastic situation. The powerful Tsar Ivan Asen II died in 1241, his heirs were children. His twelve-year-old son Koloman I. Asen , who ruled from 1241 to 1246, was followed by his younger half-brother Michael II († 1256) as tsar in 1246 .

The planning and implementation of the campaign was entrusted to Megas Domestikos Andronikos Palaiologos as the commander in chief of the Byzantine troops. The territories that they had previously wrested from the western Greek Empire of Thessaloniki could be taken from the Bulgarians without resistance. The army advanced through Thrace to Macedonia and was able to enter Thessaloniki without a fight, where the sons of the blinded former counter-emperor Theodoros I Angelos exercised a weak rule. As a consolation, Theodoros received a sizeable property near Voden, whose son Demetrios Komnenos Dukas (* 1225; † 1246), who ruled in Thessaloniki since 1244, was taken as a prisoner to Asia Minor and the former Byzantine part of Thessaloniki was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire at Nikaia.

Governor General of the European Territories

Emperor John III appointed his deserved general Andronikos Palaiologos in thanks for his essential contribution to the consolidation of the empire of Nikaia in December 1246 as governor general ("praetor") of the entire European possessions of the Nicean empire. Andronikos therefore set up his residence in Thessaloniki, while Emperor John III. returned to his capital, Nikaia.

During his tenure as Governor General Andronikos gave his eldest son Michael Palaiologos - the future Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos - the opportunity to gain extensive political experience by appointing him as Governor of Melenikon (now Melnik in southwestern Bulgaria) and later as Governor of Serres ( today in the Greek region of Central Macedonia ).

Demise

The exact time of the death of Andronikos Palaiologos is not known. Towards the end of his days he entered a monastery, where he died as a monk Arsenios between 1248 and 1252. His successor as Megas Domestikos was his son-in-law Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes.

Marriages and offspring

Michael VIII. Emperor of Byzantium, son of Andronikos Palaiologos

Marriages

Andronikos Palaiologos married a distant cousin named Theodora Komnene Palaiologina (* around 1200; † as a nun Theodosia) around 1216. She was the daughter of Alexios Komnenos Palaiologos , who was heir to the throne of his father-in-law, the emperor Alexios III, in 1199 with the title of Despotes. Angelos was appointed, but died between 1201 and 1204. The mother of the wife of Andronikos was Irene Komnene Angelina, the eldest daughter of Emperor Alexios III. Angelos and the Euphrosine Dukaina Kamaterina. Andronikos married a second time after the death of his first wife, but the name and origin of this woman are unknown.

progeny

From 1st marriage:

  1. Michael VIII. Palaiologos (full name: Michael VIII. Dukas Angelos Komnenos Palaiologos; * 1223; † December 11, 1282) Emperor of Byzantium (1259–1282), again in Constantinople since 1261 ; Ancestor of the dynasty of palaeologists who ruled the Byzantine Empire until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
  2. Johannes Dukas Palaiologos († 1274) was 1258 Megas Domestikos, 1259 Sebastokrator, 1261-1263 Despotes, ⚭ I. Ne Philantropene, ⚭ II.1259 Ne Tornikaine, daughter of Konstantinos Tornikios
    1. Anna Komnene Dukaina Palaiologina Philantropene (from first marriage); † as a nun Anthusa (around 1280) ⚭ around 1267 Nikolaos Komnenos Dukas Angelos Bryennios Maliasenos; † as a monk Joassaph around 1280
    2. Konstantin Tornikes Palaiologos (from 2nd marriage), Megas Drungarios, cl. 1326, ⚭ Ne (children)
  3. Maria Palaiologina, was entitled “Protosebastissa” (* around 1216; † before 1266 as a nun Martha) ⚭ 1237 Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes, general, around 1254–1258 and again from 1260 Megas Domestikos; † around 1266 (descendants)
  4. Eirene Komnene Palaiologina (* around 1218; † as a nun Eulogia in early December 1285) ⚭ Johannes Komnenos Angelos Kantakuzenos, Dux of the subject Thrace, Pinkernes; † as a monk Johannikios before 1257 (descendants),
  5. Konstantin Angelos Komnenos Dukas Palaiologos received the title Kaisar (Caesar) in 1259, Sebastokrator 1260, 1262–1264 general in the Peloponnese ; † as a monk Kallinikos around 1271, ⚭ 1259/60 Eirene Komnene Laskarina Kantakuzene Branaina; † as nun Maria around 1271, daughter of N Branas, Strategos and the Ne Kantakuzene . (Progeny)

From 2nd marriage or out of wedlock:

  1. Ne Palaiologina (daughter) ⚭ Shams-ed-Din, son of Izz Ad-Din Kai Kaus I. from 1211 to 1220 ruler of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum zu Ikonion ( Konya ) (descendants: The Sultanoi-Palaiologoi family)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ European Family Tables , Volume III.1, Plate 198.
  2. ↑ European Family Tables , Volume II, Plate 177.
  3. ↑ European Family Tables , Volume III.1, Plate 198.
  4. ↑ Rodolphe Guilland: Le grand domestique. Research on the institutions byzantines. Volume I, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1967, p. 409.
  5. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History 234–1453. CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 372.
  6. ↑ Ruth Macrides: George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, Translation and Commentary . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 , p. 242, note 2.
  7. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History 234–1453. CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 374.
  8. ↑ Ruth Macrides: George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, Translation and Commentary . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 , pp. 187 f.
  9. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History 234–1453. CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 376.
  10. ↑ Ruth Macrides: George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, Translation and Commentary . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 , pp. 215 f.
  11. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History 234–1453. CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 378.
  12. ↑ Ruth Macrides: George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, Translation and Commentary . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 , pp. 260 f.
  13. ↑ Ruth Macrides: George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, Translation and Commentary . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1 , pp. 243–244, note 6.
  14. ↑ European Family Tables , New Series, Volume III.1, Plate 198.
personal data
SURNAME Andronikos Palaiologos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Andronikos Dukas Komnenos Palaiologos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine general, father of Michael VIII. Palaiologos Emperor of Byzantium (1259–1282)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1190
DATE OF DEATH around 1248