Maps of Power

Biliarsky 2011

Properties

ID 15306
System Class Bibliography
Bibliography Book
Case Study Historical Region of Macedonia TIB 16 , Byzantino-Serbian Border Zones in Transition (1282–1355)

Description

Ivan Biliarsky, Word and Power in Mediaeval Bulgaria (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages 14, Leiden/Boston 2011).

Relations

Actors (2)
Name Class Begin End Relation Type Description
Eltimeres Person He was probably killed in 1305. He held the title of Despot. The question, who bestowed him with the title of despot, remains unresolved. He ruled almost independently in the region of Krounos (Krŭn) in Rhodope (κατὰ τὸν Κρουνὸν ἐξάρχοντα). He received this territory probably as dowry. He was the brother of the Bulgarian Tsar George Terter I. He was the son-in-law of the Bulgarian Tsar Smilets and his wife Smiltsena Palaiologina (γαμβρόν γε ὄντα Σμιλτζαίνης), since he married their daughter Maria (Marina). His nephew was Theodor Svetoslav. He was the father or the father-in-law of Ioannes Dragusinos (ΕΚΟΙΜΙΘΕΙ Ο ΔΟΥΛΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ Ο ΔΡΑΓΟΥΣΙΝΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΔΕΣΠΟΤΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΛΔΙΜΙΡΟΥ). He was apparently of Cuman origin. He acted as a loyal supporter of Smiltsena after the death of her husband. He offered her a place of refuge in the region of Krounos (Krŭn). The Bulgarian Tsar Theodor Svetoslav gained his trust after he donated the fortresses Diampolis (Jambol) and Lardaia to him. Eltimeres defeated and blinded sebastokrator Radoslav, the brother of the Bulgarian Tsar Smilets, who aspired to the Bulgarian throne with the aid of the Byzantines. He handed over Radoslav and the captured byzantine noblemen to the Bulgarian Tsar Theodor Svetoslav. He marched in 1304 with Theodor Svetoslav against the Byzantines, although his mother-in-law and a byzantine embassy tried to dissuade him with gifts and pronoia promises from joining the alliance with the Bulgarian Tsar. Another intercesssion of his mother-in-law ended with success. He switched the sides and fought with the Byzantines against the Bulgarian Tsar. The hostilities led to the reconcquest of the fortresses Diampolis and Lardaia and the capture of the territory of Krounos by the Bulgarian Tsar Theodor Svetoslav.
Isaakios Nikephoros Person A short notice of the capture of Berat in 1342/1343 by the sebastokrator of Serbia Isaakios Nikephoros is inserted in the colophon of the manuscript (Dionys. 216/3750) written by the scribe Iakobos, kept in the library of the monastery of Dionysiu (ἐπόνησα πρὸς ταῦτα τῷ ἑξακισχιλιοστῷ αὖθις ὀκτακοσιοστῷ πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑνὶ ἔτη ἰνδικτηώνος δὲ ἐνδεκάτης. Ἰστέον ὅτι τὸ παρὸν βιβλίον ἐγράφη ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτω τῆς εἰς τὰ Βελλάγραδα εἰσελεύσεως τοῦ σεβαστοκράτωρος Σερβείας κῦρ Νικηφόρω τὸ Ἰσαακίω, χειρὶ δὲ Ἰακώβῳ ἱεροθύτῳ). Isaakios Nikephoros is with all probability identical with the ambassador Chiersacchio mentioned in a document from 25.05.1344 preserved in the archives of the city Dubrovnik (In consilio rogatorum captum fuit "de mittendo unum ambassiatorem Chiersacchio ad honorandum ipsum et presentandum et recommandandum mereatores in partibus illis conversantes". Item "de mittendo dona eidem Chiersacchio, cuidam alii baroni Suberto de yperferis CC"; et alia fuit de perperis CL que vicit".) The sebastokrator Kerьsakь also appears as a donator of the village of Rodokali with hamlets and all rights to the Church of Holy Mother of God Peribleptos in Ōhrid, which was confirmed by the Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan. (I kako prihodi vseōsvešteni jepiskopь Děvolьski kirь Gligori i uspomenu mi kako jestь priložilь prěljubovni vlastelinь kraljevstva mi sevastokratorь Kerьsakь selo Rodokali, i sь zaselьci i sь vsěmi pravinami sela toga crьkvi Periblepьtu, monastiru kralevstva mi i kraličinu. I kralevstvo mi zapisa i utvrьdi, jako da jestь tvrьdo i nerazorimo do věka i da jestь otь crьkve neotiemlemo do dni i do věka). The Serbian King names him in the same charter as the brother of his kingdom and as the Sebastokrator of the town Ōhrid. The Serbian king mentions his help in the conquest of the region (i sь Hristovomь pomoštiju i prědanijemь brata kraljevstva mi, sebastokratora grada Ōhrid). He is attested together with the archbishop Nikolaos as donor of the large mid-14th century icons of Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin Psychosostria destined for the templon of the Cathedral of St. Sophia at Ōhrid. An inscription is attached to the lower rim of the revetment of the Icon with Christ Pantokrator, which describes him as the sebastokrator Isaakios Dukas (ΥΜΝΟΝ ΕΠΙΝΙΚΟΝ ΩΣ ΘΕΩ ΦΕΡΕΙ ΑΥΤΟΣ Δ· ΕΝΥΛΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΧΟΙΚΟΣ ΤΥΓΧΑΝΩΝ ΔΟΥΚΑΣ ΙΣΑΑΚΙΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ ΙΛΑΣΤΗ ΕΙΚΟΝΑ ΗΡΥΣΟΥ ΑΡΓΥΡΟΥ ΤΕ ΤΕΧΝΟΥΡΓΗΜΕΝΗΝ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΔΕΧΟΙΟ ΠΑΜΜΕΔΟΝ ΘΕΟΥ [ΚΡΑΤΟΣ...ΕΙΣ] ΕΞΙΛΑΣΜΑ ΤΩΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΗΜΑΤΟΝ). It is not clear whether the sebastocrator Isaakios is the same person as the Caesar Dukas portrayed together with his prematurely deceased son Demetrios in the ruins of St. Panteleimon in Ōhrid, which is dated 1321 or 1331, shortly before the conquest of Ōhrid by the Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan.