Michael I. Komnenos Dukas Angelos

Monogram of Michael Komnenos Dukas on the kennel of the fortress Berat (Albania)

Michael I. Komnenos Dukas ( Greek : Μιχαήλ Α΄ Κομνηνός Δούκας, Mikhaēl I Komnēnos Doukas ) († 1215 in Berat ) is often referred to as Michael Angelos as a member of the Angelos family , although he never used this name himself. He was the founder and from 1205 the first ruler of the despotate of Epirus .

origin

Despite his name, Michael came from the Angeloi house. He was an illegitimate son of the Sebastokrator Johannes Dukas (Angelos) , but called himself Michael Komnenos Dukas. This illustrates the confusing practice of Byzantine families of adding the more famous ancestors to their own family name. But here they went even further: The actual family name - Angelos - was omitted altogether, although it was given by Michael's cousins, the emperors of Byzantium Isaak II. Angelos and Alexios III. Angelos not worn without pride. Instead, Michael used the family name of his paternal grandmother, Theodora Komnene, (daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos ) and that of his paternal great-grandmother (!) Irene Dukaina (wife of his great-grandfather Emperor Alexios I Komnenos). He was the half-brother of Theodoros I Angelos , who succeeded him as ruler of Epirus from 1215 to 1230, made himself ruler of the Kingdom of Thessaloniki in 1224 and was proclaimed and crowned Emperor of Byzantium in Arta in 1225/26, but ultimately as a prisoner Nicaea died in 1253.

biography

In 1189 he was one of the hostages that Emperor Isaak II had to take from Byzantium to Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa to ensure that his promises to the Crusaders were kept. In 1195 he was entitled "Sebastos" and was Dux (governor) of the Mylasa theme in Asia Minor .

After the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, he entered the service of Margrave Boniface I of Montferrat , who received the kingdom of Thessaloniki and sovereignty over Greece when the Byzantine Empire was divided. Michael soon gave up his allegiance, took the side of the resistance against the Crusaders and perhaps also took part in the battle in the olive grove of Kunduros (spring 1205).

After the defeat in this battle he fled to Epirus , where he subjugated the area from Dyrrhachion (now Durrës in Albania ) to the Gulf of Corinth and established a tight military regiment. The Latin Kingdom of Thessaloniki in the east, the Venetians on the Adriatic, the Slavs in the north and northeast was opposed by the Epirotic state he created, which included Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia (today the Aetolia-Akarnania region in western Greece) as an independent Byzantine empire . Like the empire of Nikaia in Asia Minor, Epirus on the Balkan Peninsula became the center of cultural self-preservation and the nucleus of political collection for the Byzantines.

Arta became the capital on the theme of Nicopolis . Epirus soon became a haven for many Greek refugees from Constantinople, Thessaly and the Peloponnese , and Michael was referred to as the second Noah who saved the people from the Latin flood. However, when John X. Kamateros, the Patriarch of Constantinople , did not recognize Michael as a legitimate ruler and instead joined Theodor Laskaris , Michael placed Epirus under the authority of Pope Innocent III. and thereby cut all ties to the Orthodox Church in the Nikaia Empire .

In addition, he resisted all Boniface attempts to subjugate him. The Latin Emperor of Constantinople Heinrich von Flanders asked him to recognize his sovereignty, but then accepted an alliance that was reinforced with the marriage between Heinrich's brother Eustach and a daughter of Michael in 1209. Michael, however, did not care about this alliance, assuming that it would be almost impossible for the Latin to conquer the mountains of Epirus. In 1210 Michael allied himself with the Republic of Venice and attacked Thessaloniki . Since he is said to have crucified Catholic priests, he was named by Pope Innocent III. excommunicated . Emperor Heinrich liberated Thessaloniki towards the end of the year and forced a new alliance on Michael.

Despite this treaty, Michael subsequently conquered strategically important cities in the territory of his former and current allies, including Larissa in Thessaly (1212), Dyrrhachium and Corfu (1214), and also took control of the ports in the Gulf of Corinth . When he was involved in a war against the Serbs as an ally of the Latins and Bulgaria , he was murdered by a servant in 1215. His successor was his half-brother Theodoros Komnenos Dukas .

family

Michael married two times:

• in first marriage: Ne Melissa
• in second marriage: 1204 Ne Melissene, cousin of his first wife and widow of Senacherim, strategist on the subject of Nicopolis.

Child from first marriage:

• Ne Komnene (Angela),

oo after July 1209 Eustach of Flanders 1206/1209 military leader, 1210–1216 regent of the Kingdom of Thessaloniki , + n. 1217

From 2nd marriage:

• Theodora Komnene (Angela)

Before 1217 she was supposed to be the bride for a son of the Serbian grand zupan, Stefan.

oo before 1228 Maio II. Orsini Count Palatine of Kefalonia , † 1259/64

• Maria Komnene (Angela)

Before 1217 she was engaged to Stefan "Prvovenčani" (the first-crowned) King of Serbia (1217–1227), but the engagement was canceled due to close relatives (5th degree).

oo Constantine Maliasenus ; epirotic governor of Megalovlachia and Volos, + as a monk, October 1256

• Konstantinos Komnenos (Angelos), cl. 1210, + v. 1214

Comes from an extramarital relationship

• Michael II. Komnenos Dukas Nothos Angelos

He was Archon of Epirus and Aetolia from 1237 to 1266 and was recognized as a despotes by the Nikaia Empire in 1249 (* c. 1205, + 09.1266 / 08.1268)

oo c. 1230 Theodora Dukaina Petraliphaina Basilissa , (as saint of the Orthodox Church "Theodora of Arta"), 1252/56 separated from her husband, + as a nun, born in Arta, T. v. John Petraliphas , Governor of Thessaly and Macedonia .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Detlev Schwennike: European Family Tables New Series, Verlag JA Stargardt Volume II, Plate 180
2. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantinische Geschichte 324 - 1453, Verlag CH Beck Munich, second edition 2006 ISBN 3-406-39759-X
3. ↑ Detlev Schwennike: European Family Tables New Series, Verlag JA Stargardt Volume II, Plate 180

literature

• Κωνσταντίνος Βαρζός: Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών (= Βυζαντινά Κείμενα και Μελέται. T. 20β, ZDB -ID 420491-8 ). Τόμος Β '. Κέντρο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών - ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη 1984, pp. 669-689 No. 174, digital version (PDF; 45 MB) .
• 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. 134 No. 190, pp. 148–149 No. 211.
• John VA Fine: The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor MI 1994, ISBN 0-472-08260-4 , pp. 65-68.
• Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
• Georg Ostrogorsky : Byzantine History 324 - 1453, Verlag CH Beck Munich Second Edition 2006, ISBN 3-406-39759-X

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Despot of Epiros 1204-1214	Theodoros I. Komnenos Angelos Dukas