John Chryselios ( Greek: Ἰωάννης Χρυσήλιος) was a provincial magnate in late 10th-century Dyrrhachium, and the father-in-law of Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria ( r. 997–1014).
Biography
Bulgarian in origin, Chryselios was the "leading man" (proteuon) of Dyrrhachium. [1] According to another opinion, his name is not Bulgarian and there is no evidence that Chryselios was Bulgarian; it is suggested that he was of Armenian Paulician or Bogomil origin. [2]
According to a note on the history of John Skylitzes, the Bulgarian tsar Samuel married Chryselios's daughter Agatha, who was taken captive after Samuel sacked the city of Larissa. [1] It is possible that thereby Samuel managed to acquire control over the strategically important Adriatic port city. [3]
After the Battle of Spercheios in 997, Samuel made his son-in-law Ashot Taronites, a Byzantine captive who had married his daughter Miroslava, governor of the city. In circa 1005, however, Ashot and Miroslava, with the connivance of Chryselios, fled on a Byzantine ship to Constantinople, bearing a letter by Chryselios that promised to hand over the city to the Byzantine emperor, Basil II ( r. 976–1025), in exchange for the rank of patrikios for himself and his two sons. Soon, a Byzantine squadron appeared off the city under Eustathios Daphnomeles, and the city returned to Byzantine rule, but Chryselios had died in the meantime. [1] [3] [4] It is, however, possible that this episode actually took place as late as 1018, at the end of the Bulgarian war, since the chronology of the war's primary source, John Skylitzes, is unclear; [5] while the Italian chronicle of Lupus Protospatharius gives a completely different date for the recovery of Dyrrhachium, 1004/5, and does not mention Chryselios at all. [1]
Family
Apart from his daughter Agatha, modern Bulgarian scholars equate a patrikios Nicholas Chryselios or Nicholas the Bulgarian, recorded by Skylitzes as being active under Romanos III Argyros ( r. 1028–1034), with one of John Chryselios' sons. [1] A certain Theodoretos, who was the father of Kosara, the wife of Prince Jovan Vladimir of Duklja, has also been suggested by modern scholarship as one of Chryselios' sons. [1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f PmbZ, Ioannes Chryselios (#23183).
- ^ Nicholas Adontz. Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares. In: Etudes Armeno-Byzantines. Publisher: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Lisbon, 1965, p. 395, 396.
- ^ a b Stephenson 2003, pp. 17–18, 34–35.
- ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 103–104.
- ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 104–105, 497–498.
Sources
- Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927968-5.
- Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Zielke, Beate; Pratsch, Thomas, eds. (2013). "Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online". Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). De Gruyter.
- Stephenson, Paul (2003). The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81530-7.
John Chryselios ( Greek: Ἰωάννης Χρυσήλιος) was a provincial magnate in late 10th-century Dyrrhachium, and the father-in-law of Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria ( r. 997–1014).
Biography
Bulgarian in origin, Chryselios was the "leading man" (proteuon) of Dyrrhachium. [1] According to another opinion, his name is not Bulgarian and there is no evidence that Chryselios was Bulgarian; it is suggested that he was of Armenian Paulician or Bogomil origin. [2]
According to a note on the history of John Skylitzes, the Bulgarian tsar Samuel married Chryselios's daughter Agatha, who was taken captive after Samuel sacked the city of Larissa. [1] It is possible that thereby Samuel managed to acquire control over the strategically important Adriatic port city. [3]
After the Battle of Spercheios in 997, Samuel made his son-in-law Ashot Taronites, a Byzantine captive who had married his daughter Miroslava, governor of the city. In circa 1005, however, Ashot and Miroslava, with the connivance of Chryselios, fled on a Byzantine ship to Constantinople, bearing a letter by Chryselios that promised to hand over the city to the Byzantine emperor, Basil II ( r. 976–1025), in exchange for the rank of patrikios for himself and his two sons. Soon, a Byzantine squadron appeared off the city under Eustathios Daphnomeles, and the city returned to Byzantine rule, but Chryselios had died in the meantime. [1] [3] [4] It is, however, possible that this episode actually took place as late as 1018, at the end of the Bulgarian war, since the chronology of the war's primary source, John Skylitzes, is unclear; [5] while the Italian chronicle of Lupus Protospatharius gives a completely different date for the recovery of Dyrrhachium, 1004/5, and does not mention Chryselios at all. [1]
Family
Apart from his daughter Agatha, modern Bulgarian scholars equate a patrikios Nicholas Chryselios or Nicholas the Bulgarian, recorded by Skylitzes as being active under Romanos III Argyros ( r. 1028–1034), with one of John Chryselios' sons. [1] A certain Theodoretos, who was the father of Kosara, the wife of Prince Jovan Vladimir of Duklja, has also been suggested by modern scholarship as one of Chryselios' sons. [1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f PmbZ, Ioannes Chryselios (#23183).
- ^ Nicholas Adontz. Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares. In: Etudes Armeno-Byzantines. Publisher: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Lisbon, 1965, p. 395, 396.
- ^ a b Stephenson 2003, pp. 17–18, 34–35.
- ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 103–104.
- ^ Holmes 2005, pp. 104–105, 497–498.
Sources
- Holmes, Catherine (2005). Basil II and the Governance of Empire (976–1025). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927968-5.
- Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Zielke, Beate; Pratsch, Thomas, eds. (2013). "Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online". Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). De Gruyter.
- Stephenson, Paul (2003). The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81530-7.