Stephanos Hagiochristophorites

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Killing Stephanos Hagiochristophorites, c. 1473, book illumination by Jean Colombe in Passages d'outremer , Sébastien Mamerot , BNF .

Stephanos Hagiochristophorites was a courtier of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos I , apparently his man for dirty affairs. His nose had been cut off in an attempt to seduce a noblewoman. Stephanos Hagiochristophorites, the Hetaireiarch Konstantinus Tripsychos , who had already killed the Empress Maria of Antioch (Maria-Xene), and Theodorus Dadibrenos strangled the Emperor Alexios II with a bowstring on the instructions of his co-ruler Andronikos in 1183 . After Niketas Choniates he was nicknamed Antichristophorites (bearer of the Antichrist instead of "bearer of Christ"), an indication of his evil reputation.

When Konstantinos Makrodukas and Andronikos Dukas were tried in 1185 for violating the imperial majesty and a large crowd gathered, even though false information about the place of the hearing had been spread, the court apparently feared an acquittal. When the prisoners were being taken out of prison to face the charges, Stephan Hagiochristophorites began to stone them and forced others to follow him.

Stephanos also performed the notorious water oracle with which Andronikos tried to find out the name of his successor according to Niketas Choniates . The same should begin with an I, Andronikos suspected Isaac Comnenus of the lust for the throne, but it should be Isaac II Angelus who became his successor. Stephanos Hagiochristophorites died in 1185 when he tried to arrest him.

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literature

  • Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 3: Faber Felix - Juwayni, Al- . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2012, ISBN 978-2-503-53243-1 , pp. 194-195.
  • Vlachos, Th. "OKIK (1184-1191)." Byzantina 6, 1974, 169-77.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Stephanos Hagiochristophorites
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine courtier of Emperor Andronikos I.
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH 12th century or 13th century