Michael I Komnenos Doukas

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Michael I Komnenos Doukas
Greek Orthodoxy

Michael I Komnenos Doukas,

Latinized as Comnenus Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, romanized: Mikhaēl Komnēnos Doukas), and in modern sources often recorded as Michael I Angelos, a name he never used,[1] was the founder and first ruler of the Despotate of Epirus
from c. 1205 until his assassination in 1214/15.

Born c. 1170, Michael was a descendant of

Boniface of Montferrat. Soon, however, he abandoned the Crusader leader and went to Epirus
, where he established himself as ruler, apparently through marriage with the daughter or widow of a local magnate.

Michael's domain in Epirus became a refuge and centre of resistance of the Greeks against the

Latin Crusaders. At about the same time, according to some modern scholars, he may have led the abortive Greek resistance to the Crusaders in the Peloponnese, which was crushed at the Battle of the Olive Grove of Kountouras; according to other views, he may have led a campaign there between 1207 and 1209. In order to avoid invasion and buy time to consolidate his position in Epirus, Michael soon entered into negotiations with Pope Innocent III, and concluded treaties with the Latin Empire and the Republic of Venice
. In the meantime, his rule received a boost in legitimacy when he ransomed the deposed Alexios III from captivity. According to later chroniclers, Alexios III conferred the hereditary rule of Epirus to Michael and his descendants.

By 1210, Michael was secure enough to launch an attack against the Latin

Dyrrhachium and the island of Corfu from the Venetians in 1213–1214, but was thwarted in his attempt to push further north into Zeta. He was assassinated soon after in his sleep, and was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore Komnenos Doukas
.

Early life

Black-and-white sketch of a seal showing a winged archangel on the obverse, and a Greek inscription on the reverse
Seal of "Michael Doukas of the blossoming branch of the sebastokrator"

Michael was the illegitimate son of the

Angeloi. The only medieval sources to use the surname "Angelos" to refer to Michael were later pro-Palaiologos historians hostile to him and the Epirote state's rival claims to the Byzantine inheritance.[4][5]

It is unknown when Michael was born; the only relevant information is the statement of

Maeander River valley.[12][14]

Medieval miniature showing a fortress assaulted by riders on the right and a fleet of galleys on the left
Early 14th-century miniature depicting the Crusader attack on Constantinople

According to

division of the spoils among the Crusaders, and followed Boniface west as the latter went to take up his kingdom in September 1204. Villehardouin reports that Boniface trusted Michael, but the latter soon abandoned Boniface and went to Epirus, where he installed himself as the leader of the local Greeks against the Latin Crusaders.[14][16]

The process of Michael's establishment in Epirus is obscure. The

Theme of Nicopolis in Epirus. When the local inhabitants rose in revolt against him, Senachereim called upon Michael for aid. Michael rushed to Nicopolis, but not before the locals had killed Senachereim. After that, Michael, himself widowed, took Senachereim's widow as his wife and succeeded him as governor.[15][17] Although generally regarded as inaccurate due to the many errors it contains, this part of the hagiography is at least partially corroborated by Villehardouin's account that he married the daughter of a local magnate.[15][18] It is certain that Michael was never appointed governor of the Peloponnese, but the hagiography's reference to the peninsula has led to suggestions by modern scholars that he is to be identified with the Michael who led the Peloponnesian Greeks in the Battle of the Olive Grove of Kountouras against the Crusaders, in the summer of 1205. This commonly held identification has been questioned by more recent research by the historian Raymond-Joseph Loenertz, who suggests that Michael leaving Epirus, which still was not securely under his control, to go on campaign in the Peloponnese would have been extremely unlikely as it would leave Epirus open to attack by Boniface. Loenertz does however consider that Michael may indeed have led another expedition into the Peloponnese a few years later, in 1207–09 (see below).[19][20]

Ruler of Epirus

From his base at

Serbs to the north and east.[21] He maintained good relations with the Albanian and Vlach chieftains in the area, and their men provided able troops for his army.[22]

The state Michael established is commonly known in historiography as the "

despotes, it being surmised that he was granted the title by the deposed emperor Alexios III after his ransoming (see below).[23][24] In reality, as modern research has shown, neither Michael nor his half-brother and successor, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, bore the title. It was Michael's bastard son, Michael II Komnenos Doukas, who became the first ruler of Epirus to be titled a despotes in the 1230s, while the designation of the Epirote state as a "despotate" first appears in Western, rather than Byzantine, sources in the 14th century.[25][26]

Rapprochement with the Latin powers

Map of the Balkans and Asia Minor, with the Latin states in yellow, Venetian possessions in green, the Greek states in red, and the Seljuks and Bulgarians in brown
Map of the Latin principalities and the Greek successor states after the Fourth Crusade, ca. 1210

Along with the other major Greek successor state, the

Latin Archbishop of Dyrrhachium access to the estates owned by the archbishopric in Michael's domains—but it did serve for the moment to earn Michael the Pope's goodwill, as well as precious time.[29][28] According to Loenertz, it also appears that at some point Michael had paid homage to the Kingdom of Thessalonica as its vassal.[30]

Despite these diplomatic manoeuvrings, according to a series of letters of Innocent III dated to autumn 1210, Michael engaged in combat with the

Argos and Corinth, Leo Sgouros, who was being besieged by the Crusaders in his citadel on the Acrocorinth.[19][31] Traditionally, several scholars, such as Karl Hopf and Antoine Bon, have furthermore identified a certain Theodore, who appears as "lord of Argos" and Sgouros' successor in leading the resistance against the Crusaders, with Michael's half-brother Theodore Komnenos Doukas. Loenertz points out, however, that not only is there no evidence for such an assumption, but that Theodore Komnenos Doukas is known to have been in the service of the Nicaean emperor, Theodore I Laskaris (r. 1205–1222), at the time.[28][32]

In summer 1209, after the Latin Emperor

St. Mark's Basilica and one for the Doge.[30][34]

Ransoming of Alexios III

At about the same time, Michael's rule received a boost in legitimacy through his ransoming of emperor Alexios III. After his deposition by the Crusaders in July 1203, Alexios with his wife Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera had been roaming Greece seeking protection. A marriage alliance with Leo Sgouros failed due to the latter's hasty retreat before the advance of Boniface of Montferrat. Left stranded in Thessaly, Alexios was captured by Boniface. The former emperor was initially held in comfortable captivity, but at some point he fell foul of Boniface; sources differ on whether he tried to flee to Michael's domains and was captured by Boniface's knights en route or whether Boniface simply came to distrust him as a potential rival focal point for the loyalties of the Greek population. He and his wife were then imprisoned, either in Thessalonica or, according to other sources, in Montferrat.[35][36] Learning of their fate, Michael offered to ransom the former imperial couple and eventually secured their release, welcoming them at Salagora, the port of Arta, where they arrived by ship.[37]

Michael treated the couple with every courtesy, but Alexios did not remain long in Arta. The deposed emperor was eager to regain his throne by taking over the Empire of Nicaea with the aid of the Seljuk Sultan

Battle of Antioch on the Maeander in 1211, where Theodore I Laskaris killed Kaykhusraw and took Alexios prisoner.[38] The hagiography of St. Theodora of Arta claims that on his departure, Alexios granted Michael and his descendants hereditary possession of his domain, while the 14th-century Aragonese version of the Chronicle of the Morea claims that Alexios left Michael as his lieutenant in the west. From these references some earlier scholars erroneously inferred that Michael received the title of despotes from Alexios.[24][39] Lucien Stiernon,[40] followed by Varzos, places the ransoming of Alexios in 1206/7.[24] Loenertz on the other hand considers it a result of Michael's rapprochement with the Latins and places it in 1210, when the interests of the Latin Empire in curbing the growing power of Nicaea coincided with Michael's intention to ransom Alexios.[41]

Territorial expansion

Map of the Balkans, with the original core of Epirus and its conquered territories shown in various shades of orange
Expansion of the Epirote state during the reigns of Michael I and Theodore Komnenos Doukas

Michael seized the opportunity of Henry's focus on his planned campaign against Nicaea to attack Thessalonica. At the head of Latin mercenaries, he captured the constable of the Kingdom of Thessalonica and baron of Domokos, the Lombard Amé Buffa, and a hundred of his companions. He is alleged to have been excessively cruel to his prisoners, killing or whipping many of them, while Buffa, his confessor, and three other nobles were crucified. Michael's army proceeded to capture several fortresses and kill the Latin garrisons, including priests.[42] Enraged, Henry sped to Thessalonica's aid, covering the distance from Constantinople in only twelve days. Michael in the meantime had allied himself with the Bulgarian ruler Strez, but they were defeated by Henry.[43] It is possible that during this campaign, Henry was assisted by his vassals from Achaea, thereby explaining the reference in the Pope's correspondence of Achaean barons fighting against Michael, rather than assuming an Epirote expedition to the Peloponnese.[28][44] The Latin Emperor wrested lands from both allies, but was forced to cut short his campaign and return to Constantinople, which was being threatened by the Bulgarian emperor Boril. Henry left Thessalonica in the charge of his brother Eustace and of Berthold of Katzenelnbogen, who then defeated another invasion by Strez, supported with troops from his brother Boril.[43] Disquieted by the Bulgarian attacks on Thessalonica, Michael switched sides and joined the Latins in defeating the Bulgarians at Pelagonia.[44][45] It is commonly assumed that during these conflicts, Michael terminated his vassalage to the Latin Empire; historian Philip Van Tricht however points out that there are no sources for this, and that this vassalage may have survived until 1217, when Michael's brother Theodore captured Latin Emperor Peter II of Courtenay near Dyrrhachium.[46]

Sometime between 1210 and 1214, according to the

local see to an Orthodox metropolitan, Velestino, the fief of Berthold of Katzenelnbogen, and reached the shores of the Pagasetic Gulf at Demetrias.[48][47] The newly gained Thessalian territories were entrusted to Michael's son-in-law Constantine Maliasenos as a hereditary appanage.[49]

Soon after, probably in 1213, he took Dyrrhachium from Venice, followed in 1214 by Corfu.

Skadar.[48]

Death and legacy

Photo of a hilltop fortress with the sea in the background
The castle of Angelokastro in Corfu, whose construction is sometimes attributed to Michael

Michael himself did not long outlive these successes: in late 1214 or in 1215, he was assassinated in his sleep at

Velegrada by a servant called Rhomaios. According to the historian John V. A Fine, "whether he was hired to do the act, and, if so, by whom is unknown".[51][52] As his only surviving son was illegitimate and underage, Michael was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore. Theodore had been in the service of Nicaea, and Michael had requested Laskaris to send him to Epirus because his own son's position was weak. In the event, Theodore not only sidelined the young Michael II, but according to the hagiography of St. Theodora of Arta, sent him and his mother to exile in the Peloponnese for the duration of his reign.[53] Theodore proved a powerful and warlike ruler, greatly expanding the Epirote state and capturing Thessalonica in 1224, where he was crowned emperor. The rise of Theodore's Empire of Thessalonica ended abruptly with his defeat and capture by the Bulgarians at the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230, that allowed the exiled Michael II to return to Epirus and recover his father's domain.[54]

Michael laid the foundations of the Epirote state,

Archangel Michael as its patron saint in his honour.[56][59]

Family

The exact identity of Michael's wife or wives is unknown. According to the hagiography of St. Theodora of Arta, he married twice. His first wife was a lady of the aristocratic Melissenos family, who died at an unknown time. Her first cousin, likewise a Melissenos, married the governor of Nicopolis, Senachereim (see above). After his murder by the locals, Michael avenged him, took his place and married his widow. Despite the unreliability of the hagiography, its account is partially confirmed by Villehardouin's reference to the daughter of an Epirote magnate.[60][61] Furthermore, as Michael's second wife was a first cousin of his first, their marriage was uncanonical in the eyes of the Church and of hostile historians; it is therefore likely that the "concubine" referenced by the latter as the mother of Michael II Komnenos Doukas was in reality Michael's second wife.[62]

Michael had five children, three by his (first) wife and two by his second wife or concubine:[62]

  • An unnamed daughter, who in 1209 married Eustace, brother of the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders.[62][63]
  • Theodora Komnene Doukaina, only mentioned briefly by Demetrios Chomatianos in 1216.[62][63]
  • Constantine Komnenos Doukas, mentioned only in the Latin text of the 1210 treaty with Venice, where he is designated as his father's successor. He must have died at a young age, before Michael's own death.[62][63]
  • Maria Komnene Doukaina, who married Constantine Maliasenos.[62][63]
  • Michael II Komnenos Doukas, an illegitimate son who succeeded as ruler of Epirus in 1230 until his death ca. 1268. He is the first Epirote ruler to have borne the title of despotes.[62][64]

References

  1. ^ a b c Talbot 1991, p. 1362.
  2. ^ a b Polemis 1968, p. 91.
  3. ^ Loenertz 1973, p. 362.
  4. ^ Polemis 1968, p. 91 (notes 8, 9), 92.
  5. ^ a b Nicol 1984, p. 3.
  6. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 669.
  7. ^ Loenertz 1973, p. 363.
  8. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 670.
  9. ^ a b Polemis 1968, p. 92.
  10. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 670–671.
  11. ^ Stiernon 1963, p. 293.
  12. ^ a b Varzos 1984, p. 671.
  13. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 673 (note 20).
  14. ^ a b Loenertz 1973, p. 364.
  15. ^ a b c Varzos 1984, pp. 673–674.
  16. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 673.
  17. ^ Loenertz 1973, pp. 365–366.
  18. ^ Loenertz 1973, p. 367.
  19. ^ a b Loenertz 1973, pp. 377–381, 388–391.
  20. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 66–67, 69–70.
  21. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 674, 679.
  22. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 66.
  23. ^ Nicol 1984, p. 2.
  24. ^ a b c Varzos 1984, p. 676.
  25. ^ Stiernon 1959, pp. 122–126.
  26. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 68–69.
  27. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 679.
  28. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 67.
  29. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 680.
  30. ^ a b c Loenertz 1973, p. 375.
  31. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 679–680.
  32. ^ Loenertz 1973, pp. 374, 390–391.
  33. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 681.
  34. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 681–682.
  35. ^ Loenertz 1973, pp. 370–374.
  36. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 674–675.
  37. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 675.
  38. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 678–679.
  39. ^ Loenertz 1973, p. 376.
  40. ^ Stiernon 1959, p. 122.
  41. ^ Loenertz 1973, pp. 374–376.
  42. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 682–683.
  43. ^ a b Varzos 1984, p. 683.
  44. ^ a b Loenertz 1973, p. 392.
  45. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 683–684.
  46. ^ Van Tricht 2011, pp. 242–244.
  47. ^ a b Varzos 1984, p. 684.
  48. ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 68.
  49. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 684–685.
  50. ^ a b Varzos 1984, pp. 685–686.
  51. ^ a b Varzos 1984, p. 686.
  52. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 68, 112.
  53. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 552, 553.
  54. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 112–128.
  55. ^ Talbot & Kazhdan 1991, pp. 716–717.
  56. ^ a b c Varzos 1984, p. 688.
  57. ^ Nicol 1976, p. 11.
  58. ^ Nicol 1976, pp. 17–19.
  59. ^ Nicol 1976, pp. 20–21.
  60. ^ Varzos 1984, pp. 673–674, 689.
  61. ^ Loenertz 1973, pp. 366–367.
  62. ^ a b c d e f g Varzos 1984, p. 689.
  63. ^ a b c d Polemis 1968, pp. 92–93 (note 10).
  64. ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 92, 93–94.

Sources

  • ISBN 0-472-08260-4
    .
  • Loenertz, Raymond-Joseph (1973). "Aux origines du despotat d'Épire et de la principauté d'Achaïe" [On the origins of the Despotate of Epirus and the Principality of Achaea]. Byzantion (in French). 43: 360–394.
  • Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1976). "Refugees, Mixed Population and Local Patriotism in Epiros and Western Macedonia after the Fourth Crusade". XVe Congrès international d'études byzantines (Athènes, 1976), Rapports et corapports I. Athens. pp. 3–33.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9
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  • Polemis, Demetrios I. (1968). The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography. London: The Athlone Press.
    OCLC 299868377
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  • Stiernon, Lucien (1959). "Les origines du despotat d'Épire. À propos d'un livre récent" [The origins of the Despotate of Epirus. On the occasion of a recent book].
    ISSN 0766-5598
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  • Stiernon, Lucien (1963). "Ferjančić (Božidar), Despoti a Vižantiji i juznoslovenskim Zemljama".
    ISSN 0766-5598
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  • ISBN 0-19-504652-8
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  • ISBN 0-19-504652-8
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  • Van Tricht, Filip (2011). The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228). Leiden: Brill.
    ISBN 978-90-04-20323-5
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  • Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. B. Thessaloniki:
    OCLC 834784665
    .

Further reading
Regnal titles
New title
Epirote state established
following the Fourth Crusade
 Ruler of Epirus
1205 – 1214/15 		Succeeded by
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