Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch)

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Nikephoros Bryennios ( Middle Greek Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος ; * in Adrianople ; † after 1057) was a Byzantine general and rebel against Emperor Michael VI.

Life

Nikephoros Bryennios officiated under Emperor Constantine IX. as ethnarch in theme Macedonia , where he commanded the foreign mercenaries quotas. In 1051 he inflicted a heavy defeat on the Pechenegs , who had plundered the Balkan provinces for several years. In 1054 Bryennios took part as a strategos with his Macedonian troops in a campaign against the Seljuks .

As Constantine IX. was dying in January 1055, Nikephoros Bryennios was one of the key military who wanted to bring the Dux of Bulgaria Nikephoros Proteuon to the throne of Constantinople . However, this plan was made by Constantine's sister-in-law Theodora III. thwarted, which put the rival in a monastery and took over the rule after Constantine's death. In the course of a purge of the military leadership, Bryennios, whom the western Tagmata apparently wanted to proclaim emperor against Theodora, was also released and sent into exile .

After Theodora's death on August 31, 1056, Bryennios was succeeded by Michael VI. brought back from exile. He got back his previous rank, but not the confiscated goods and lands. When Bryennios was sent again in 1057 with a contingent of 3000 men to reinforce the Cappadocia threatened by the Seljuks , he decided to Michael VI. to fall. He could count on the support of other prominent generals from the East, including Isaak Komnenus , who were dissatisfied with their treatment by the emperor. Upon arriving in Cappadocia, Bryennios mistreated an imperial official who had defied his orders and had him jailed. The officers involved refused to follow him after a dispute over their fair payment, took him prisoner, blinded him and transferred him to Constantinople. This approach caused the co-conspirator Isaak Komnenos to usurpation , who on August 30, 1057 for the deposition of Michael VI. led.

Nikephoros Bryennios' son of the same name , also a prominent general, rose up in 1077 as anti-emperor against Michael VII. His grandson (or great-grandson), the historian Nikephoros Bryennios , was emperor under Alexios I and John II.

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literature

  • 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. 66 No. 76.
  • Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 2: Baanes-Eznik of Kolb . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2008, ISBN 978-2-503-52377-4 , p. 162.
  • Warren Treadgold : A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 , pp. 594-597.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Nikephoros Bryennios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος (Middle Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine ethnarch and rebel against Emperor Michael VI.
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century or 11th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Adrianople
DATE OF DEATH after 1057