JOHN ASEN ZACCARIA, THE STORY OF THE LAST PRINCE OF ACHAEA!

We are taken to the shores of the medieval Peloponnese, to the 15th century and the last suffering days of Christian Morea1 before the subjugation of the area by the rising Ottoman Sultanate. The Romans of the Despotate of Morea under the leadership of the Palaiologoi are trying to eradicate the last Latin strongholds of …

THE TALE OF THE SCYTHIAN WOMAN, A STORY OF INGRATITUDE FROM 14TH CENTURY BYZANTIUM.

During the years when Andronikos III Palaiologos, grandson of Andronikos II (also known as the Elder Basileus), ruled the empire of the Romans (1328-1341), a Scythian woman appeared in the lands of Romaniae (the contemporary name for the Roman empire in the East) and her story would leave a great impact on the contemporaries that …

THE GREEK HOHENSTAUFEN QUEEN: PHILIP OF SWABIA AND IRENE OF BYZANTIUM

Philip of Swabia (1177-1208) was the last son of the German King Frederick Hohenstaufen «Barbarossa» and his darling spouse Beatrice, Countess of Burgundy. Philip had four elder brothers and was never destined to hold the German imperial regalia as he came last in the line of succession. Thus in his early years, he devoted himself …

The Story of Mitso and Maria Asenina of Bulgaria (1257-1263): TSARS of the Black Sea.

MARIA ASENINA DOUKAINA, TSARITSA OF THE BULGARS 1256-1263 Profile of this article:1. Protagonists of the story: Tsar Mitso-Micco, Tsaritsa Maria Asenina Doukaina, Tsar Konstantin Tikh, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.2. Country of action: Second Bulgarian Tsardom - eastern Roman Empire. 3. Examined period: 1256-12634. Other historical figures mentioned: Kaliman Asen, Michael II Asen, Kaliman II, Sevastokrator …

Irene Doukaina of Epirus: the controversial tsaritsa of Bulgaria.

IRENE DOUKAINA KOMNENE OF EPIRUS (TSARITSA: 1238-1241) The "Era of the Greek tsaritsai" of medieval Bulgaria starts with Irene, a woman from the Roman state of Epirus, which was established after the Fourth Crusade next to the Bulgarian borders by Michael Doukas, the uncle of Irene and brother of her father. Irene was one of …

Alexios the Just: the firstborn son of Anna Kommene.

You certainly are familiar with the name Anna Komnene, the no-other Roman princess of the great imperial family of Komnenoi that lived in the Romanìae of the 11th and 12th century. Anna authored Alexiad, an epic biography -inspired by the Homeric episodes of old- about the deeds of her father and basileus Alexios I Komnenos …

Αλέξιος ο Δίκαιος: ο πρωτότοκος γιος της Άννας της Κομνηνής.

Σίγουρα έχετε ακούσει πολλές φορές το όνομα της Άννας Κομνηνής, της Ρωμιάς πριγκίπισσας του 11ου και 12ου αι, από τη μεγάλη αυτοκρατορική οικογένεια των Κομνηνών η οποία συνέγραψε την 'Αλεξιάδα', την επική βιογραφία για τη βασιλεία του πατέρα και αυτοκράτορα της Αλέξιου Κομνηνού (1081-1118). Η Άννα παντρεύτηκε τον λόγιο-στρατηγό Νικηφόρο Βρυέννιο που αργότερα κατείχε το …

Δοξαπατρής Βουτσαράς: ένας άγνωστος ήρωας του μεσαιωνικού Ελληνισμού.

Είναι 1205, η Κωνσταντινούπολη έχει πέσει στους Σταυροφόρους αλλά και στους Ενετούς, η κατανομή και κατάκτηση της εύφορης Ρωμανίας από τους Λατίνους συμμάχους έχει ξεκινήσει.  Ο Μοριάς,  η σημερινή Πελοπόννησος,  αυτή η μοναδική χερσόνησος του ελληνικού χώρου, δέχεται μια πραγματική πλήρης εισβολή από τους Δυτικούς. Ο Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός,  ο βόρειο-ιταλός Κύρης της Λατινοκρατούμενης Θεσσαλονίκης,  φτάνει …

A tale from the Fourth Crusade: Abbot Marten and the holy desecration. A story from Gunther of Pairis.

Usually, when we read about the adventures of the Fourth Crusade in Romaniae, the notorious conquest of New Rome that is the City of Constantine and the Great Sack of Constantinople that followed, we have in mind two important primary sources: first the history of Niketas Choniates from the Greek side and the account of …

Comments on a Church letter to Theodore I Laskaris of Nicaea.

Theodore Laskaris was one of the first byzantine nobles to demonstrate a strong resistance in front of the Fourth Crusade. After 1203 Theodore moved to Asia Minor and established his power-base in Prousa and later moved his military seat in Nicaea. He gradually became the dominant ruler in Western Asia Minor and subdued all the …

Θεόδωρος Α’ Λάσκαρης: το λιοντάρι της Νίκαιας! Μία βιογραφία.

Ο αυτοκράτορας Θεόδωρος Α' Λάσκαρης (1205-1222) απεικονίζεται σε τοιχογραφία εκκλησίας στη Καππαδοκία ως Άγιος Θεόδωρος ο Στρατηλάτης να εξουδετερώνει ένα θηρίο. Ο Θεόδωρος Λάσκαρης ήταν υιός του Μανουήλ Λάσκαρη (γενάρχη της οικογένειας των Λασκαριδών) και της Ιωάννας Καράτζαινας. Οι πρώτες αναφορές στις πηγές για τον Θεόδωρο ξεκινούν κατά τη διάρκεια της βασιλείας του Ρωμαίου αυτοκράτορα …

Theodore I Laskaris: the Lion of Nicaea! A BIOGRAPHY.

Emperor Theodore I Laskaris (1205-1222) depicted as Saint Theodore the Stratelates/General (Theodore of Heraclea) slaying a beast. The historian Niketas Choniates, in his first mention about Laskaris, calls Theodore “a daring youth and a fierce warrior”. When the Fourth Crusade made its appearance outside the walls of Constantinople, Theodore lived true to those words and …