Michael Doukas (protostrator)
Michael Doukas | |
---|---|
Born | ca. 1061 |
Died | before 1117 |
Allegiance | Byzantine Empire |
Rank | protostrator |
Battles/wars | Byzantine–Norman wars, Battle of Levounion |
Relations | John Doukas (brother) |
Michael Doukas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Δούκας, c.1061 – after 1117) was a member of the Doukas family, a relative of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and a senior military figure, with the rank of protostrator, during Alexios's reign. His life is only known through the Alexiad of Anna Komnene and the history of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios.
Biography
Michael Doukas was born circa 1061, the eldest son of the
In 1078, he played a crucial role in the marriage of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r. 1078–1081) to the Empress Maria of Alania. The marriage was against canon law, as she was still married to the recently deposed emperor Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), but on the instructions of his grandfather the Caesar, Michael procured a priest willing to conduct the ceremony.[3] In 1081, when Alexios Komnenos rebelled against Botaneiates, Michael accompanied the Caesar to Alexios's camp at Schiza. There, they supported Alexios's candidacy for the Byzantine throne against his elder brother Isaac Komnenos.[4] After Alexios's successful accession to the throne, Michael was rewarded with the title of sebastos and the office of protostrator, one of the Byzantine Empire's highest military positions.[3]
In 1083, he participated in the campaign in
After that, he is recorded as having attended the synod of 1094 that condemned Leo of Chalcedon, and in a letter during the Norman invasion of 1107–1108, according to which Michael was dispatched to Epirus to raise troops. He died after a prolonged illness on a 9 January. The year is unknown, however it was sometime before 1117 when he is listed as dead in the typikon of the Kecharitomene Monastery.[6]
Family
Through his marriage to an unnamed woman, he had several children. Only one is attested with certainty, Constantine Doukas, a
References
- ^ ODB, "Doukas" (A. Kazhdan, A. Cutler), pp. 655–656; Polemis 1968, pp. 63–64.; Skoulatos 1980, pp. 203.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 64, 66; Skoulatos 1980, pp. 146, 203.
- ^ a b Polemis 1968, p. 64; Skoulatos 1980, p. 203.
- ^ Polemis 1968, p. 64; Skoulatos 1980, pp. 127, 203.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 64–65; Skoulatos 1980, p. 203.
- ^ Polemis 1968, p. 65; Skoulatos 1980, p. 204.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 65–66, 76; Skoulatos 1980, p. 204.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 66, 77; Skoulatos 1980, p. 204.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 66, 78–79; Skoulatos 1980, pp. 110–111.
- ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 66, 77.
Sources
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Polemis, Demetrios I. (1968). The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography. London: The Athlone Press. OCLC 299868377.
- Skoulatos, Basile (1980). Les personnages byzantins de l'Alexiade: Analyse prosopographique et synthèse [The Byzantine Personalities of the Alexiad: Prosopographical Analysis and Synthesis] (in French). Louvain-la-Neuve and Louvain: Bureau du Recueil Collège Érasme and Éditions Nauwelaerts. OCLC 8468871.