Manuel Kamytzes
Manuel Kamytzes | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1150 |
Died | after 1202 |
Allegiance | Byzantine Empire |
Years of service | 1185/86–1199 |
Rank | protostrator |
Battles/wars |
|
Manuel Kamytzes Komnenos Doukas Angelos (
A member of the Byzantine high nobility and cousin of emperors
Under Alexios III, Kamytzes campaigned unsuccessfully against the Bulgarian rebel leader
Origin
Born around 1150, Manuel Kamytzes was the son of Constantine Kamytzes[a] and Maria Angelina Komnene.[1][3] From his mother, Manuel inherited the prestigious surnames of "Angelos", "Doukas", and "Komnenos", linking him to three Byzantine imperial dynasties. In his only surviving lead seal, Manuel himself uses only the surnames of Kamytzes and "Komnenodoukas".[4]
Manuel's father is only known from funeral
Career
Manuel Kamytzes is first mentioned in 1185, during the reign of Andronikos I Komnenos (r. 1183–1185), Kamytzes' first cousin, once removed. According to a brief notice by Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica, Kamytzes participated as a commander in the campaign against the Italo-Normans who were besieging Thessalonica, but no details are given.[3]
Under Isaac II
In 1185, Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204), a first cousin on his mother's side, took the throne, and Kamytzes received the title of protostrator.[8] By this time, this rank was reserved for very prominent aristocrats with close family ties to the reigning dynasty.[9] Kamytzes played an important role in the suppression of the revolt of the general Alexios Branas,[8] which broke out during the summer of 1186, or, more likely, in 1187.[10] Kamytzes and Branas were bitter enemies at court, so Kamytzes made his entire fortune available to the Emperor for use against the rebel, and himself commanded the left wing of the Imperial army under Conrad of Montferrat that defeated and killed the rebel before the Walls of Constantinople.[8][11]
In September 1187, Isaac II marched out to campaign against the Vlach–Bulgarian uprising of Asen and Peter, that had been gaining ground in the northern Balkans with the aid of Cuman mercenaries.[12] At Lardeas, the Byzantines came upon a Cuman raiding force of 6,000 men. In the ensuing battle, in which Kamytzes commanded one of the Imperial army's detachments, the Cuman raiders were routed and their prisoners, some 12,000, were liberated.[13]
In 1189, when the army of
In 1190 Kamytzes participated in yet another campaign against the Bulgarian rebels in the area of the Balkan Mountains. Along with Isaac Komnenos, he commanded the Imperial army's vanguard, while Isaac II and his brother Alexios (the future Alexios III Angelos, r. 1195–1203) commanded the main body and the sebastokrator[b] John Doukas (an uncle of Kamytzes) was in command of the rear guard. During their retreat through a narrow pass, the Bulgarians allowed the vanguard to pass, but then fell on the rest of the army, which panicked and fled.[22][23]
Under Alexios III
Kamytzes' life during the remainder of the reign of Isaac II is unknown, as is his role in, or opinion of, Isaac's overthrow by his own brother Alexios III, although he was most likely not involved in it.[24] Kamytzes apparently preserved his post and participated in Alexios' coronation ceremonies in the capital: Choniates records that, after the coronation in the Hagia Sophia, according to protocol, the protostrator held the reins of the new emperor's horse.[23][25]
In 1196, the Bulgarian
In spring 1197, Alexios III campaigned against the Bulgarian leader Dobromir Chrysos, a nephew of Peter and Asen who had founded his own, independent domain around the fortresses of Strumica and Prosek. After failing to capture Prosek by force of arms, the Emperor came to terms with Chrysos, who acknowledged Imperial suzerainty in exchange for a new wife: Kamytzes' daughter, who was forced to divorce her first husband to become Chrysos' bride.[32][failed verification][33]
In 1199, Alexios III fell gravely ill, leading to a dispute about the succession. The Emperor had only daughters, and although two of them had been wed to Byzantine aristocrats—Andronikos Kontostephanos and Isaac Vatatzes—who were thus heirs-apparent, both of them had died shortly before.[34] Various contenders for the throne put themselves forward among the wider imperial family: Kamytzes himself clashed with the elderly John Doukas, while the Emperor's three brothers—Constantine, John, and Theodore—who had been blinded by Andronikos I and were thus themselves ineligible, jockeyed for their own sons, as did their brother-in-law, the Caesar[c] John Kantakouzenos, who had also been blinded.[36][37] In the end their scheming, angrily denounced by the disgusted Choniates,[38] came to naught: in February 1199, the Emperor married his widowed daughters to another pair of Byzantine aristocrats, Alexios Palaiologos (who became despot and heir-apparent) and Theodore Laskaris, the future founder of the Empire of Nicaea.[36][39]
Later in 1199, Ivanko rebelled against Byzantine authority. Against him Alexios sent his new sons-in-law and Kamytzes. Ivanko managed to evade the three Byzantine commanders and flee to the mountains. Reluctant to engage in a possibly hopeless pursuit in the mountain fastnesses, the Byzantines instead decided to subdue the fortresses of the Philippopolis region, starting with
Imprisonment and rebellion
While Kamytzes languished in prison, writes Choniates, "the emperor, as his actions demonstrated, reckoned the protostrator's capture a godsend, a delightful and excellent piece of good luck. Making a diligent search of all his assets, he laid his hands on the man's immense riches that befitted a monarch; he also sentenced his wife and son to prison, on what grounds I know not."[46][47] Kamytzes sent letters to Alexios pleading to be ransomed, but the Emperor refused. In desperation, after about a year of captivity, Kamytzes turned to his son-in-law, Dobromir Chrysos. The latter agreed, and paid the sum—200 pounds (about 64 kg) of gold, according to Choniates.[d] Kamytzes was released and conveyed to Prosek, from where he again wrote to the Emperor, asking that Chrysos be repaid from his own confiscated fortune, which, as he reminded the Emperor, was many times the sum in question. Alexios, however, "placed his relationship with the protostrator on one scale of the balance and his wealth on the other and weighed both; he found that the second was by far the heavier", and again refused Kamytzes' pleas.[50][51]
Enraged at his treatment by the Emperor,
While Spyridonakes was swiftly defeated by the despot Alexios Palaiologos,[51] the revolt of Kamytzes proved a more difficult affair for the Byzantines. The Imperial troops under the eunuch parakoimomenos (chamberlain) John Oinopolites appear to have had some success. In autumn 1201, Alexios III took the field himself, but in the end it was diplomacy that proved most effective. The Emperor offered the hand of his granddaughter, Theodora, the former betrothed of Ivanko. Chrysos accepted—presumably he divorced Kamytzes' daughter[54]—and surrendered Pelagonia and Prilep to the Emperor.[55][56]
At the same time, Oinopolites was sent into Thessaly to offer Kamytzes a pardon and full restoration to his rank. Kamytzes refused, and the Imperial army under Alexios III invaded Thessaly. In the ensuing battle, Kamytzes' army was defeated and he himself wounded in the leg. Fleeing the battlefield, he abandoned Thessaly and fled to the fortress of Stanos (likely
Nothing further is known of Kamytzes after this point,[18][52] but he likely found refuge under Kaloyan in Bulgaria, as Spyridonakes before him, and died sometime shortly after.[54]
Family
Manuel married around 1170, but his wife's name is unknown.
Notes
- ^ The Kamytzes family name is first attested in the sources in the late 11th century. The family name has been suggested by Nikos A. Bees to be of Greek origin, but other scholars believe that the family originates with the Turkish mercenary commander Kamyres, who entered Byzantine service in 1083.[1][2]
- ^ The third-highest title in the imperial hierarchy after despot and co-emperor.[21]
- ^ The next rank after sebastokrator.[35]
- ^ Notably, Choniates also composed a victory oration to Alexios III after the suppression of Kamytzes' rebellion, where he presents a completely different picture of events than in his History, likening Kamytzes' revolt against Alexios to that of Absalom against his father, David, and castigating Kamytzes for not waiting for the Emperor to ransom him, but preferring to sell himself to the barbarian Chrysos.[48][49]
- ^ As the historian Jean-Claude Cheynet notes, the motivation of Kamytzes' rebellion was "revenge rather than a true attempt to seize imperial power", since no source claims that he ever adopted the imperial insignia.[52]
References
- ^ a b c d e ODB, "Kamytzes" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1099–1100.
- ^ Varzos 1984a, p. 650 (note 4).
- ^ a b Varzos 1984b, p. 690.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, p. 690 (note 2).
- ^ Varzos 1984a, pp. 650–651 (esp. note 5).
- ^ Varzos 1984a, pp. 650–651.
- ^ Varzos 1984a, pp. 652–653.
- ^ a b c d Varzos 1984b, p. 691.
- ^ Guilland 1967, pp. 480–481.
- ^ ODB, "Branas, Alexios" (A. Kazhdan), p. 320.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 212–213.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 217.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 692–693.
- ^ a b Varzos 1984b, p. 693.
- ^ Guilland 1967, p. 483.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 221.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 222.
- ^ a b Simpson 2013, p. 213.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 695–696.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 224–225.
- ^ ODB, "Sebastokrator" (A. Kazhdan), p. 1862.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 236.
- ^ a b c Guilland 1967, p. 482.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, p. 696.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 251.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 696–697.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 257–258.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 697–698.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 258.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, p. 698.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 259.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 702–704.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 277–280.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 699–700.
- ^ ODB, "Caesar" (A. Kazhdan), p. 363.
- ^ a b Varzos 1984b, p. 700.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 273–274.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 280.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 704–705.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 281–282.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, p. 705.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 282.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 705–706.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, p. 706.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 283.
- ^ Simpson 2013, pp. 62, 63.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 709–710.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 706–707, 709.
- ^ a b c Choniates 1984, p. 293.
- ^ a b Cheynet 1990, p. 137.
- ^ a b Varzos 1984b, p. 710.
- ^ a b c Varzos 1984b, p. 712.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 711–712.
- ^ Choniates 1984, pp. 293–294.
- ^ Choniates 1984, p. 294.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 691–692, 703.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 691–692.
- ^ Varzos 1984b, pp. 712–713.
Sources
- Cheynet, Jean-Claude (1990). Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance (963–1210) [Power and Contestations in Byzantium (963–1210)] (in French). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. ISBN 978-2-85944-168-5.
- ISBN 0-8143-1764-2.
- OCLC 878894516.
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Simpson, Alicia (2013). Niketas Choniates: A Historiographical Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967071-0.
- Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. A. Thessaloniki: OCLC 834784634.
- Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. B. Thessaloniki: OCLC 834784665.