Johannes Roger Dalassenos

Johannes Roger Dalassenos ( Middle Greek Ιωάννης Ρογέριος Δαλασσηνός ; around or shortly after 1100; † before 1166 in Constantinople ?) Was a Byzantine aristocrat of Norman origin and son-in-law of Emperor John II.

Life

Johannes Roger was the son of a follower of Robert Guiskard , who defected to the Byzantines during his campaign against Alexios I and entered the imperial service, and an unknown member of the Byzantine aristocratic family of the Dalassenoi . According to the findings of the seals , Johannes himself preferred his mother's more prestigious family name, while historians , beginning with Johannes Kinnamos , mostly use his Norman patronymic .

Johannes Roger was already connected to the ruling dynasty of the Komnenen through his maternal descent . This connection was strengthened when, before October 1136, he married John II's eldest daughter Maria Komnena , the twin sister of the heir to the throne Alexios . The marriage resulted in two sons and two daughters. Probably on the occasion of this wedding, John II gave his son-in-law the title of Kaisar, which became vacant with the death of Nikephoros Bryennios at about the same time . The coronation may not take place until 1138 on the occasion of the triumphant return of the emperor from his campaign against Lesser Armenia and Muslim Syria .

After the death of John II on April 8, 1143, Johannes Roger tried to dispute the empire with his brother-in-law, Manuel I, who had been designated as his successor . His claim to the throne supported parts of the aristocracy and in particular the Normans living in Constantinople, including Robert II of Capua, who fled Italy from Roger II . Maria Komnena, however, stood by her younger brother and revealed to him her husband's usurpation plans. Johannes Roger was then lured out of the capital, captured and held in custody until Manuel's coronation.

Similar to his older brother Isaak , Manuel I was lenient towards his rebellious brother-in-law and left him with the title of emperor. For February 1147, Johannes Roger is recorded as a participant in a synod in the Blachernen Palace , and in 1152 he was governor of Strumitza in the upper Vardar valley . Widowed since 1145/46, the emperor was sent to Antioch in 1152 to win the widow of Prince Raimund , Konstanze , for himself. However, despite his proud title and Norman descent, Konstanze rejected him because she found him too old and unattractive, and instead preferred Rainald von Châtillon .

Johannes Roger Dalassenos returned to Constantinople and entered a monastery as a monk , where he died at an unknown date before 1166.

swell

• Johannes Kinnamos 36-37; 122-123; 178 (in the edition by August Meineke )
• Theodoros Prodromos , Historical Poems 54

literature

• Κωνσταντίνος Βαρζός: Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών (= Βυζαντινά Κείμενα και Μελέται. T. 20α, ZDB -ID 420491-8 ). Τόμος A '. Κέντρο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών - ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη 1984, pp. 348–356, digitized version (PDF; 264 MB) .
• Jean-Claude Cheynet: La société Byzantine. L'apport des sceaux (= Bilans de Recherche. Vol. 3, 2). Volume 2. Association des amis du Center d'histoire et civilization de Byzance, Paris 2008, ISBN 978-2-91-671617-6 , pp. 413–472 (Dalassenoi) , no. 30.
• Jean-Claude Cheynet: Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance (963-1210) (= Publications de la Sorbonne. Series Byzantina Sorbonensia. Vol. 9). Reimpression. Publications de la Sorbonne Center de Recherches d'Histoire et de Civilization Byzantines, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-85944-168-5 , p. 107 No. 143.
• Jean-Claude Cheynet, Jean-François Vannier: Études Prosopographiques (= Publications de la Sorbonne. Série Byzantina Sorbonensia. Vol. 5). Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris 1986, ISBN 2-85944-110-7 , pp. 111-113.
• Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , pp. 1802-1803.
• Paul Magdalino: The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2002, ISBN 0-52-152653-1 , pp. 66, 207-209, 503.
• Lucien Stiernon: Notes de titulature et de prosopographie byzantines. A propos de trois membres de la famille Rogerios (XIIe siècle). In: Revue des études byzantines 22, 1964, ISSN  0766-5598 , pp. 184-198, digitized .

Web links

• Ioannes Rogerios Dalassenos in the Prosopography of the Byzantine World
• Jean Roger on Medieval Lands