Andronikos Doukas (general under Leo VI)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Andronikos Doukas
Diedc. 910
Baghdad
AllegianceByzantine Empire
RankDomestic of the Schools
RelationsConstantine Doukas (son)

Andronikos Doukas or Doux (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Δούκας/Δούξ, died circa 910) was a Byzantine general and rebel in the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). The first member of the illustrious Doukas line to achieve prominence as a successful general, his rivalry with the powerful eunuch Samonas led to his revolt and eventual defection to the Arabs in 906–907. He died in exile in Baghdad.

Biography

Andronikos Doukas is the first prominent member of the

Germanikeia. Alexander Vasiliev suggested that this campaign was possibly waged in retaliation of the Arab sack of Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, a few months earlier.[3][4][5] Probably after his victory, he was raised to the rank of Domestic of the Schools, i.e. commander-in-chief of the Empire's army.[6]
In 906, he was ordered west to the

There he held out for some six months, while Leo sent the new Domestic of the Schools,

Romilly Jenkins, consider it evidence of a real plot against Leo, which included the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos and perhaps also the admiral Eustathios. Others, such as Demetrios Polemis and Shaun Tougher, reject this interpretation and explain the episode in terms of the rivalry with the powerful Samonas. They regard Andronikos's actions to have been purely defensive in character and mandated by his untenable position after his refusal to cooperate with Himerios.[3][12][13]

Despite Andronikos's defection – or because of it, considering that

poem in lamentation of his defection.[14] Consequently, the Emperor sent Andronikos a secret message guaranteeing a safe return, hidden inside a candle. Samonas, however, contrived for this to fall in the hands of the Caliph's vizier, discrediting the general in the Arabs' eyes. Andronikos was then imprisoned in Baghdad and forced to convert to Islam. He probably died there soon after.[15][16] His son Constantine, on the other hand, soon managed to escape Baghdad and return to Byzantium, where he was pardoned by Leo and entrusted with senior military commands.[3][17]

Legacy

The careers of both Andronikos and Constantine, who in 913 also mounted an unsuccessful bid for the throne that cost him his life, entered folk legend and partly inspired the epic poem Digenes Akritas.[18]

References

  1. ^ ODB, "Doukas" (A. Kazhdan, A. Cutler), pp. 655–656.
  2. ^ Polemis 1968, p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c d e ODB, "Doukas, Andronikos" (A. Kazhdan), p. 657.
  4. ^ Polemis 1968, p. 17.
  5. ^ Tougher 1997, p. 189.
  6. ^ Tougher 1997, p. 208.
  7. ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 17–18.
  8. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 208–209.
  9. ^ a b c Polemis 1968, p. 18.
  10. ^ a b Tougher 1997, p. 209.
  11. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 209, 213–216.
  12. ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 19–20.
  13. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 214–216.
  14. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 39, 216–217.
  15. ^ Polemis 1968, p. 19.
  16. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 209–210, 216.
  17. ^ Tougher 1997, p. 210.
  18. ^ ODB, "Doukas, Andronikos" (A. Kazhdan), p. 657; "Doukas, Constantine" (A. Kazhdan, A. Cutler), p. 657.

Sources

  • .
  • Polemis, Demetrios I. (1968). The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography. London: The Athlone Press.
    OCLC 299868377
    .
  • Tougher, Shaun (1997). The Reign of Leo VI (886-912): Politics and People. Leiden: Brill. .
Preceded by Domestic of the Schools
ca. 904–906
Succeeded by