Manuel Erotikos Komnenos

Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, drawing by Skylitzes, Madrid.

Manuel Erotikos Comnenos ( Greek Μανουήλ Ἐρωτικός Κομνηνός , Manouel Erotikos Comnenos ; 955/960 - ~ 1020) was a Byzantine commander under Basil II. And the first family member of the Dynasty of Comneni , whose life is known. However, its origin and descent are unknown. He is first mentioned in the sources as the leader of the defense of Nicaea in 978 against the rebel Bardas Scleros , and as the imperial envoy to Scleros eleven years later. In old age he had three children. The eldest, Isaac , became emperor from 1057 to 1059 and the youngest, Joannis Komnenos (Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός), as the father of Alexios I Komnenos, was the real ancestor of the Komnenen dynasty.

Life

Nothing is known about Manuel's youth. From the fact that he was militarily active in 978 and from the observation that he had children up to 1015, one can assume a date of birth around 955/960. Little is known about his parents either : since Manuel’s own firstborn son Isaac (Isaakios) was named, the Greek scholar Konstantinos Varzos considers it likely that his father had the same name, as there is a Greek custom, the eldest son after the Name paternal grandfather. According to Varzos, Manuel got his family name "Komnenos" from his father, while his mother was probably a lady from the "Erotikos" family, possibly related to the rebel Theophilos Erotikos from the 11th century. The French historian Jean-Claude Cheynet, on the other hand, suspects that Manuel came from the Erotikos family and that he was the first to adopt the family name “Komnenos”. Most historians accept Michael Psellos ' statement that the family came from the village of "Komne" in Thrace . Varzos also suspects that Manuel was the brother of the protospatharios Nikephoros Komnenos , who was installed as governor of medieval Armenia in the Vaspurakan region soon after 1021 . This is possible, but a relationship cannot be proven.

Manuel is first mentioned in 978 when he led the defense of Nicaea against the rebel general Bardas Skleros . Scleros had risen against Emperor Basil II (r. 976-1025). Even if his great-granddaughter, Princess Anna Komnena , claims in her Alexiad that he was appointed strategos autokrator (αὐτοκράτωρ, high commanding officer) of the East and was empowered to deal with the revolt, it is much more likely that he was just a local commander. Manuel maintained the defenses of the city with some success, although the besiegers managed to undermine one of the towers and bring it down until the food shortage became unbearable. At this point Manuel was able to outsmart Scleros by pretending that he still had mountains of grain in store and made preparations to join Scleros, whereupon the latter allowed him and the inhabitants to freely move to Constantinople . Manuel reappears in 989 when he is sent as an envoy to Sclerus, who had rebelled against Basil II. This time Manuel was sent to persuade him to surrender. He was successful at this and the aging rebel ended his revolt and surrendered on October 11th. At that time Manuel is called with the titles Patrikios , Anthypatos and Vestes .

Erotikos owned land in the region of today's Kastamonu in Paphlagonia , which passed to his eldest son after his death and which became an important base of the family in the 11th century. Manuel Erotikos Komnenos died around 1020. At that time his children were still very young, which is why he transferred their guardianship to Emperor Basil II.

family

Nothing is known about his wife either. Possibly her name was Maria, like two of her granddaughters, and she may have died around 1015. The marriage had two sons and a daughter:

1. Isaak I. Komnenos (approx. 1007 - 1061), ∞ Ekaterina of Bulgaria (Єкатерїна), the daughter of the last tsar of the Bulgarian Empire (ц︢рьство бл︢гарское, ts'rstvo bl'garskoe), and a successful general. He became emperor in 1057 as the leader of a cabal of Anatolian generals, but he surrendered the throne in 1059 and retired to a monastery.
2. an unnamed daughter (* approx. 1012), ∞ Michael Dokeianos , (Μιχαήλ Δοκειανός, Catepan von Italia ). He was killed by the Pechenegs in 1050 .
3. Johannes Komnenos (approx. 1015–12 July 1067), ∞ Anna Dalassene . He served during the reign of his brother as Domestikos ton Scholoon (δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν, domestikos tōn scholōn). Several of his children also became important military leaders. His third son, Alexios I Komnenus , became emperor in 1081 and founded the Komnenen dynasty.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Varzos 1984: 38; PmbZ: Manuel Erotikos or Komnenos (# 24885)
2. ↑ Varzos 1984: 37-38.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Manuel Erotikos or Komnenos (# 24885) In: Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Pratsch, Thomas; Zielke, Beate (2013). Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period Online. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Komnenos (A. Kazhdan) In: Alexander Kazhdan (ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. (ODB) Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press 1991: 1143-1144. ISBN 0-19-504652-8 ; Varzos 1984: 25.
5. ↑ Varzos 1984: 39th
6. ↑ Varzos 1984: 39th
7. ↑ Varzos 1984: 39th
8. ↑ Varzos 1984: 41-47.
9. ↑ Varzos 1984: 47-49.
10. ↑ Varzos 1984: 49-57.

swell

• Alexander Kazhdan (ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press 1991. ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
• Elena Koytcheva: The Forefather of the Komnenian Dynasty. His name and career. In: Andreas Schwarcz, Peter Soustal, Antoaneta Tcholakova (ed.): Medieval Bulgaria, Byzantium and Europe. Vienna: LIT Verlag 2014: pp. 89–100. ISBN 978-3-643-50591-0
• Ralph-Johannes Lilie, Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period Online. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter 2013 PMBZ
• Konstantinos Varzos: Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] ( PDF ) (in Greek). A. Thessaloniki: Center for Byzantine Studies, University of Thessaloniki 1984. OCLC 834784634Η