Johannes Bryennios
Johannes Bryennios ( Middle Greek Ἰωάννης Βρυέννιος ; † 1078 in Constantinople ) was a Byzantine general and rebel against Emperor Michael VII.
Life
John was a son of General Nikephoros Bryennios , who in 1057 unsuccessfully opposed Emperor Michael VI. had raised. In 1077 he tried to instigate a rebellion in Adrianople against the in his opinion incapable Emperor Michael VII and his powerful minister Nikephoritzes . John's brother, the prominent general Nikephoros Bryennios , hesitated at first, but then, on John's initiative, was proclaimed anti-emperor in Traianopolis .
Johannes received the high dignity of a Kuropalate , Magistros and Domestikos of the Scholai from his brother and thus advanced to his de facto co-regent. An assassination attempt on Johannes initiated by Nikephoritzes by a Varangian mercenary failed, with the assassin himself being mutilated in the nose.
At the head of a multi-ethnic force, Johannes Bryennios moved from Adrianople to Constantinople in November 1077 . Because he gave up the suburbs for sacking without hesitation, strong resistance against his brother's ambitions for the throne formed in the capital, so that Michael VII managed to induce the besiegers to retreat to Thrace. At the end of 1077 Johannes and his troops suffered a defeat at Athyras against a contingent of mercenaries led by Alexios Komnenos and Roussel de Bailleul .
After the abdication of Michael VII at the end of March 1078, his successor Nikephoros Botaneiates defeated the Bryennoi in a battle near Kalabrye in Thrace. While Nikephorus was captured and later blinded, Johannes fell victim to an act of revenge by the warrior mercenary who had been mutilated by him in the imperial palace .
swell
- Michael Attaleiates 242-261
- Nikephoros Bryennios 217-281
- Anna Komnena , Alexiade 1 , 14-15
- Skylitzes Continuatus 172-181
- Johannes Zonaras 18, 17-22
literature
- Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , pp. 330-331.
- Basile Skoulatos: Les Personnages Byzantins de l'Alexiade. Analysis Prosopographique et Synthèse (= Recueil de Travaux d'Histoire et de Philoloqie. Sér. 6, Fasc. 20, ZDB -ID 437846-5 ). Nauwelaerts, Louvain-la-Neuve 1980, p. 213 No. 86 (at the same time: Louvain, Universität, Dissertation, 1978).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johannes Bryennios |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ἰωάννης Βρυέννιος (Middle Greek) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Byzantine general and rebel against Emperor Michael VII. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 11th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1078 |
| Place of death | Constantinople |