Phocas (family)

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Nikephorus II Phocas

Phokas ( Middle Greek Φωκᾶς , feminine form: Phokaina, Middle Greek Φώκαινα ) is a family whose members are generally referred to as "Phokadai", which appears in documents towards the end of the 9th century, owned extensive land in Cappadocia , was in the 10th century most powerful noble family in the Byzantine Empire , monopolized the function of Domestikos ton scholon (commander in chief of the Byzantine troops) and reached the height of their power with Nikephoros II. Phokas (* 912; † 969), Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (963-969). With the latter's death, a loss of power occurred, which the family countered through revolts and the proclamation of members to be anti-emperors, which was however final through expropriations during the reign of Emperor Basil II (976-1025). The family disappeared from the Byzantine chronicles after 1025. However, their prestige was so great that later rulers like to refer to their relationship with the Phokadai. Bearers of the name Phokas appeared in leading positions from the 12th century in Crete and in the 13th century in the Nikaia Empire . The genealogical connection with the parent company is unclear. However, descendants in the female line still exist today.

origin

Cappadocia in the Byzantine Empire

There have been numerous speculations about the origin of the Phocas family, which played a major role in Byzantium, but none of them is considered proven. The range of variation in these hypotheses is remarkable. For example, the Byzantine historian Michael Attaleiates (* 1020/30; † around 1085) reports that the Phokadai are of ancient Roman origin and members of the Gens Fabia , from which members on the occasion of the transfer of the capital and the leading Roman families under Emperor Constantine the Great around 330 had come to Constantinople . The Gens Fabia was one of the oldest patrician families in Rome, which held a leading position in the Roman Republic as early as the fifth century BC . Such an origin cannot be completely ruled out, because when the capital of the Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Byzantion (Constantinople) under Emperor Constantine the Great, many ancient Roman families moved to Constantinople. However, there is a lack of documentary evidence that could prove such ancestry.

Perhaps the most important Muslim historian of the High Middle Ages, Ali ibn al-Athir (* 1160; † 1233), points to a completely different origin , as he does not ascribe the Phokadai an ancient Roman but an Arabic origin from Tarsus . This at least shows that the Arab side was also impressed by the prestige of this sex and therefore wanted to reclaim it for the Arab world . The Arab ancestry of the Phokadai is very unlikely, but not entirely absurd, since there were at least two patrician families in Byzantium who were actually of Arab origin: On the one hand, it is the Gabalas family, which is different from the princes of the Arab tribal association derives from the Ghassanids , from which Gabala ibn Ayham (* around 585; † 640/41) commanded the Arab auxiliary troops of Emperor Herakleios I, was in exile in Cappadocia from 638 and received the title " Patrikios " from the emperor . The family converted to Christianity , prospered and assumed important functions in the empire, with a descendant of these Muslim Arabs, Nikephoros Gabalas (* approx. 760; † 811), when Nikephorus I even ruled the Byzantine Empire as emperor from 802 to 811.

Another Byzantine patrician family of Arab origin bore the name Menas, which were derived in the male line from the Muslim emirs of Crete. When Nikephoros Phokas (later Emperor Nikephoros II ) conquered Crete in 961, the son of the last Emir, Al-Numan ibn Abd al-Aziz - who was called "Menas" by the Greeks - was captured and brought to Constantinople in Triumphal procession of the emperor Nikephoros II. Phokas carried along, but later released at the request of the emperor, furnished by him with goods and deployed as a general. He fell in the service of the Christian Byzantine emperor Johannes Tzimiskes in 971 during the siege of Dorostolon by the Kievan Rus . His descendants also flourished and married, among others, with the imperial family of the Komnenen.

The Column of Phocas in the Roman Forum in Rome , the 608 in honor of the Emperor Phocas was built

A somewhat closer family relationship with Emperor Phokas , who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 602 to 610 and who also came from Cappadocia, cannot be ruled out. Although he had no male offspring, he did have two brothers, Domentiolos and Comentiolos, of whom the latter was the father of another Domentiolos , who was appointed " magister militum per Orientem" (Army Master of the East) and Kuropalates (for example: Hofpfalzgraf / Obersthofmeister) , had three children from his wife Irene, who lived around 610 and may have had offspring. However, there is no documentary evidence of a relationship. There is a greater likelihood of an Armenian or Georgian origin, which is supported by the frequent use of the Armenian first name Bardas. However, this thesis cannot be clearly proven either.

Family table of the Phokadai

According to Christian Settipani (partly supplemented by Charles Chawley "Medieval Lands") the following family line results, into which the most important relatives were added: Phokas (* around 830; † after 873), Byzantine officer from Cappadocia, 872 Turmarch (Commander of a tower, part of a Byzantine military province), later Strategos (military governor) of the subject of the Anatolics

  • Nikephoros Phocas the Elder (* around 855, † 886/896), Domestikos ton scholon, Dux of the theme of Thrakesion by Emperor Leo VI.
    • Leon Phokas the Elder (* 875/79; † after 919), 917 Domestikos ton scholon
    • Bardas Phokas the Elder (* around 879; † 969), 945–955 Domestikos ton scholon des Orient, 963 "Caesar", ⚭ Ne Maleina, sister of Michael Maleïnos , monk and saint of the Orthodox Church
      • Nikephoros Phokas the Younger (* 912; † murdered December 10/11, 969), Emperor of Byzantium (963–969), 955 Domestikos ton Scholon, ⚭ 1.) Ne, ⚭ 2.) on September 20, 963 Theophano ( * around 941; † 976), Empress widow after Emperor Romanos II. (from the Macedonian dynasty ), daughter of Krateros, a wine merchant. She was later the mistress of the emperor Johannes Tzimiskes . Children from 1st marriage:
        • Ne Phokaina (* around 945) ⚭ Michael Botaneiates (* around 940), Protonotarios, great-grandfather of Nikephorus III. Botaneiates (* around 1020; † 1081), Emperor of Byzantium (1078-1081)
        • Bardas Phokas († fell in battle before 963)
      • Leon Phokas the Younger (* around 915; † blinded after 970), 969 Domestikos ton scholon of the Occident, 963 Kuropalates , then exile in Lesbos, ⚭ Ne
        • Nikephoros Phokas (3rd) (* around 940; † blinded after 989), Patrikios , Vestes,
        • Bardas Phokas the Younger (* around 940; † April 13, 989 in Abydos), 987 anti-emperor, 978 Domestikos ton scholon ⚭ Ne Adralestina
          • Leon Phokas (3rd) (* around 965; † 989) 989 Dux (Duke) of Antioch on the Orontes
          • Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos (* 965/70; † fell in battle 1022), general of the emperor Basil II. "Bulgaroktónos" (the Bulgar killer) (976-1025) ⚭ Ne
            • Bardas Phokas (3rd) (* around 985; † after 1025), Patrikios, blinded in 1025. Possible descendants: The Phokadai who appeared in Crete in the 12th century .
          • ? Ne Phokaina (* 960/65) ⚭ Johannes Dermokaites (* around 955)
            • Ne Dermokaitissa (* around 980) ⚭ Ruben / Rupen (* around 975, † after 1018), Strategos in Larisa (Thessaly) and Hellados (from the house of the Bagratids)
              • ? Torosak / Thoros ⚭ Ne daughter of Senekerim king of Sebaste (1003-1021)
        • Sophia Phokaina (* around 945) ⚭ Konstantinos Skleros (* 935; † 991), brother of Bardas Scleros , 976 - 979 and 987 - 989 (counter) emperor of Byzantium and brother of Maria Skleraina, wife of Johannes Tzimiskes , emperor of Byzantium (969-976)
        • Petros Phokas, eunuch (out of wedlock)
        • Manuel Phokas (out of wedlock), fought against the Saracens in Sicily in 963/64 . He is mentioned by Luitprand of Cremona in his legation report and by Leo Diaconus .
      • Konstantinos Phokas (* 915/20; † murdered 969), 945 Strategos of the Seleukia province
      • Ne Phokaina ⚭ Theodulos Parsakuntenos
      • Ne Phokaina ⚭ Romanos Tzimiskes
        • Johannes Tzimiskes (* 925; † 976), ruled as Johannes I, Emperor of Byzantium (969–976), ⚭ 1.) Maria Skleraina, ⚭ 2.) 971 Theodora, daughter of Emperor Constantine VII. Porphyrogennetus and Helene Lekapene (no children from both marriages)
        • Ne Tzimiskaina (* around 920) ⚭ Romanos Abalantes (* 910/15; † 956), around 940 Strategos of Cappadocia
          • Ne Abalantina (* around 945) ⚭ Stephanos Kontostephanos (* around 990), Patrikios,
      • Ne Phokaina ⚭ N Diogenes (* 900; † after 944), 944 Strategos
        • Diogenes Adralestus (* 930; † after 970), a direct ancestor of Romanus IV. Diogenes, Emperor of Byzantium (1068-1071)

Continuation of the family

With the blindness of Bardas Phokas (III.) In 1025, the dynasty disappears from the Byzantine written sources, which shows that it had lost its historical role. The family, albeit largely disempowered, probably continued to live on branch lines. In the 13th century, for example, theodotos Phokas, Megas Dux (“Grand Duke”) and uncle of the emperor Theodor I. Laskaris (1205–1222) appear in the empire of Nikaia . A little later you can find bearers of this name in Crete. However, it must be taken into account that it was entirely in accordance with the Byzantine tradition to add the surnames of female ancestors who came from more distinguished families to one's own, or to adopt them instead of one's own, which probably even applies to the imperial ducas, which is in the male line should actually be called "Lydos".

The fame of the extinct main line lived on, as in later generations many people boasted of being descended from the Phokadai in the female line, such as Nikephorus III. Botaneiates, Emperor of Byzantium (1078-1081), the wife of Andronikos Dukas, co-emperor of Byzantium (1067-1070), Maria of Bulgaria († after 1089), who was a daughter of Prince Trajan from the House of Komitopuli , Leo II . , King of ( Little ) Armenia in Cilicia (1188–1219) and Princess Maria of Kars (in Anatolia), (cl. 1077), from the house of the Bagratids .

Descendants of this important Byzantine noble family can also be found in Western Europe. For example about a daughter of Bardas Phokas the Elder , who married a member of the noble family Diogenes, from whom Anna Diogene - a granddaughter of the Emperor Romanos IV - Uroš I. Nemanjić , Groß-Zupan von Raszien (Serbia) (1118–1149) married, whose daughter Helena of Serbia married Béla II "the blind" King of Hungary (1131–1141) from the family Árpáden in 1127 , whose descendants spread across Europe.

Emperor Otto III. Miniature from the Gospel Book of Otto III.

Another line of descent exists through Sophia Phokaina, a daughter of Leo Phokas the Younger (* around 915, † 970), who was married to Konstantinos Scleros. Their daughter Theophano Skleraina was married to the Roman-German Emperor Otto II (973-983) from the house of Liudolfinger . Your son, Emperor Otto III. (996–1002), died without offspring, but her daughter Mathilde von Sachsen (* 979; † 1025), who married Count Palatine Ezzo of Lorraine from the house of the Ezzonen , left a female line that still exists today.

Another connection exists through the descendants of the mentioned Stephanos Kontostephanos (* around 990), Patrikios , whose great-granddaughter Ne Kontostephaina married the Bulgarian prince Trajan (* around 1005) a younger son of Ivan Wladislaw , Tsar of the Bulgarians (1015-1018) was, whose descendants included the bearers of the names Dukas, Komnenos, Angelos and Palaiologos and their descendants living today.

Queen Melisende of Jerusalem marries Fulk of Anjou. Miniature from an edition of the Chronica of William of Tire.

Another connection exists through a daughter of the opposing emperor Bardas Phokas the Younger († 989), who was married to Johannes Dermokaites. One of his daughters married into the Armenian house of the Rubenids , from which a daughter of Constantine I, Prince of Armenia in Cilicia (1095–1100 / 02) married Gabriel von Melitene , the Armenian ruler of the city of Melitene (now Malatya in Eastern Anatolia ) has been. His daughter Morphia von Melitene († 1126/27) was the wife of Balduin II von Bourcq, from the house of the Counts of Rethel , King of Jerusalem (1118–1131), who, through his daughters Melisende , Queen of Jerusalem (1131– 1161) ⚭ Fulko V. Count of Anjou , King of Jerusalem (1131–1144) and Alice Princess of Jerusalem (* around 1110, † after 1136) ⚭ Bohemond II , Prince of Antioch left behind a female line that is still flourishing today.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Christian Settipani : Nos Ancêtres de l´Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 , p. 87, note 1.
  2. ↑ Michael Attaleiates: "Historia". Edited by I. Bekker, in the “Corpus Script. Byz. ”(Bonn, 1853); or In a new translation into Spanish by I. Pérez Martín: Miguel Ataliates, Historia, (Nueva Roma 15) Madrid 2002.
  3. ↑ Ovid , Fasti ii. 237 and ex Ponto iii. 3. 99.
  4. ↑ Plutarch , Parallel Biographies , Fabius Maximus 1.
  5. ↑ Ali ibn al Athir: The Complete Story.
  6. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. 1991, p. 72.
  7. ↑ A. Kazhdan: Anemas. In: Alexander Kazhdan (Ed.): Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , p. 96.
  8. ↑ Detlev Schwennike: European family tables. Verlag JA Stargardt, Marburg 1984 New Series, Volume II, Plate 174
  9. ^ Christian Settipani in commentary in [1] on Phokas family - from the beginning
  10. ↑ Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , p. 1666.
  11. ↑ Bojana Krsmanović: Φωκάδες. (Greek) In: Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World. Asia Minor. Foundation of the Hellenic World, Athens November 28, 2003 (online)
  12. ^ A b Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l´Antiquité. 1991, p. 87.
  13. ↑ BYZANTIUM 395-1057. on: fmg.ac
  14. ^ Theophanes Continuatus, VI. Imperium Leonis Imperatoris, 10, p. 360.
  15. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. 1991, p. 86.
  16. ↑ Vahan Kurkjian: History of Armenia. Cape. 27, The Barony of Cilician Armenia (Kurkjian's History of Armenia, Ch. 27)
  17. ↑ Luitprandi Legatio ad Nicephorum Phocam imperatorem Constantinopolitanum (after Leo Diaconus), p. 346.
  18. ↑ Leo Diaconus: Leonis Diaconi Caloënsis historiae libri decem. Edited by Charles Benoît Hase ( Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 3). Bonn 1828. Volume IV. 8, p. 67.
  19. ↑ Anders by Charles Cawley ( BYZANTIUM 1057-1204. On: fmg.ac ): According to him, Theodora Theophilos Kurukas, Dux married by Chaldia . His daughter Ne Kurukaina ⚭ N Tzimiskes, and became the mother of Johannes Tzimiskes, who as Johannes I was Emperor of Byzantium (969–976).
  20. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. 1991, p. 285.

literature

See also

Web links

Genealogy of the Phokadai after Charles Cawley: [2]