Nikephoritzes ( Greek : Νικηφορίτζης ) was an influential Byzantine eunuch official, who served as chief minister and virtual ruler of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078). His actual name was Nikephoros ; he received the nickname "Nikephoritzes" ("little Nikephoros") as a result of his relative youth when he first entered service in the court. He became widely unpopular due to his harsh taxation and meddling with Constantinople 's grain supply, as well as for his neglect of Asia Minor in the face of Turkish encroachment. This resentment led to the outbreak of two major rebellions in 1077, and the eventual abdication of Michael VII. Nikephoritzes himself was captured and tortured to death.
25-556: Nikephoritzes was born in the Bucellarian Theme and entered service in the imperial secretariat under Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (r. 1042–1055). Under Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067), he was sent away from the court to assume the governorship of Antioch , because he allegedly slandered the Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa , accusing her of adultery . Following the emperor's death and her assumption of
50-456: A capable administrator, his financial measures and centralizing tendencies were generally resented. With the exception of Kekaumenos , who praises him as "an excellent man in everything, most reasonable, experienced in both military and administrative matters although a eunuch, generous, very clever, and capable of understanding and speaking properly", the other sources all relate stories of his greed and corruption. In this, they focus especially on
75-540: A full theme. The strategos of the Bucellarians is attested for the first time in 767, providing a terminus ante quem for its creation. His headquarters were at Ancyra , the former capital of Opsikion , and he belonged to the second tier of strategoi with an annual salary of 30 pounds of gold. According to Arab geographers, he commanded some 8,000 troops. The court ranks of the Bucellarian strategoi ranged from
100-456: A state monopoly. According to Michael Attaleiates , admittedly a hostile source, his policies resulted in shortages in grain and inflation of its price. By the winter of 1076/1077, Constantinople was experiencing famine . At the same time, a rebellion broke out in the Danubian province of Paristrion , because Nikephoritzes stopped payment of the annual subsidies to the local mixobarbaroi and
125-502: The Opsikion as formed part of the Emperor's policy to reduce the latter's power. The name of the theme derives from the late Roman Bucellarii , elite cavalry troops of Gothic or Roman origin, often found as privately recruited bodyguard troops. By the early 7th century, they formed an elite division in the Opsikion field force, coming under a domestikos before their elevation to
150-587: The Pechenegs . The vestarches Nestor, who was sent to settle things, joined the rebellion. Notably, the rebels demanded only one thing, the dismissal of Nikephoritzes, and when they took Rhaidestos, they burned down the corn warehouse. Michael VII prevaricated in his reply, whereupon Nestor with his Pecheneg allies withdrew north into the Paristrion, which hence and for the next two decades effectively passed out of imperial control. Nikephoritzes also tried to reform
175-571: The Bucellarians and the Paphlagonians", whose seal is attested in the 10th century, was the commander of this naval contingent. However, evidence points to the fact that the 10th-century fleet was composed of merchantmen and transport ships, not warships. Initially, the theme stretched from the Black Sea coast to the central Anatolian plateau , bordering the Optimatoi and the rump of the Opsikion in
200-675: The army, and revived the regiment of the Immortals . The military situation during his administration was particularly grave, with Serb attacks and the Bulgarian uprising of Constantine Bodin , while in Asia Minor the imperial government had to face the rebellion of Roussel de Bailleul , as well as the ever-increasing Turkish infiltration of Asia Minor in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert , to which it failed to respond adequately. Although undeniably
225-458: The forcible suppression of the opposition, but Michael VII eventually decided to abdicate in favour of Botaneiates, on March 31, 1078. Nikephoritzes fled the capital and sought refuge in Heraclea Pontica , where Roussel de Bailleul was encamped. Roussel, however, had him arrested and delivered to the new emperor. Nikephoritzes was then exiled to the island of Prote and then Oxeia , where he
250-475: The mid-level spatharios to the higher protospatharios , with a single occurrence of the more exalted patrikios in the 10th century. Claudiopolis is the only attested base of one of the theme's tourmai . Despite it being originally a cavalry theme ( thema kaballarikon ), the Bucellarians, as well as the later Paphlagonian theme, also included a small fleet, active in the Black Sea . The " katepano of
275-652: The monastery at Hebdomon , which he administrated, and where he gathered his personal fortune. Opposition coalesced around the Patriarch of Antioch Aemilian, an old enemy of Nikephoritzes from his time in Antioch, with support from several bishops and the capital's guilds. In addition, in the summer of 1077, Nikephoros Bryennios in the Balkans and Nikephoros Botaneiates in Asia Minor rebelled against Michael VII. Bryennios marched against Constantinople, hoping it would surrender, but
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#1733084903045300-507: The new themes of Cappadocia (around Lake Tatta ) and Charsianon (east of the Halys River ). In the 9th century, it comprised two towns and thirteen fortresses, while five towns are recorded in the 10th century. Following the Battle of Manzikert , the Norman rebel Roussel de Bailleul set up a splinter state in 1073. Ruling from Ancyra , he continued to expand in central Anatolia, until he
325-510: The pillaging of its suburbs by his troops deterred the capital's inhabitants, and he had to retreat. In turn, a group of bishops opposing Nikephoritzes gathered in Hagia Sophia on January 7, 1078, and proclaimed Botaneiates emperor. Nikephoritzes responded by forcibly removing them from the cathedral, for which he was excommunicated by the Patriarch of Constantinople . Alexios Komnenos , who had risen to high command under Nikephoritzes, suggested
350-649: The regency, he was imprisoned. He was released by the new emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071), and appointed as praetor (civil governor) of the combined themes of Hellas ( Central Greece ) and the Peloponnese . On the assumption of power by Michael VII in 1071, Nikephoritzes was recalled to serve in the imperial government by the new emperor's uncle, the Caesar John Doukas , who valued his administrative skills. Back in Constantinople , Nikephoritzes
375-461: The state, trying to restore its strength and re-establish central control. His first priority was to replenish the treasury. For this he resorted to brutal taxation, which caused major hardship both in the provinces and in Constantinople. He also established a central warehouse ( phoundax ) at Rhaidestos in an effort to centralize, regulate, and better tax the corn supply of Constantinople, forming
400-600: The title of Caesar if he would submit to him. Bryennios refused, and Botaneiates sent the young Alexios Komnenos against him with an army composed of native troops, Franks and Turkish cavalry. Despite possessing a significantly superior army, at the Battle of Kalavrye , near the river Halmyros, Bryennios was defeated and captured. He was subsequently blinded . As he no longer posed a threat, Nikephoros III allowed his estates and property to be returned to him, and gave Bryennios new honours. Bryennios apparently retired to his base at Adrianople . Despite his blindness, he led
425-478: The walls of Constantinople . Unconcerned about the inhabitants of Constantinople, he allowed his troops to plunder and burn the city's suburbs. The conduct of his troops produced so determined an opposition to his claims, that the detested Michael forced him to raise the siege and retreat into Thrace, using the excuse of a Pechenegs incursion into Thrace as cover. His political weakness allowed Nikephoros III Botaneiates to become emperor, who offered Bryennios
450-625: The west, the Anatolic theme in the south, and the Armeniac theme in the east. In the 9th century, however, probably c. 820, the northeastern half of the theme was detached and formed, perhaps with some territory from the Armeniac theme, the new theme of Paphlagonia . Its extent was further reduced under Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), when eight southern and southeastern banda were removed to form part of
475-458: Was a Byzantine Greek general who tried to establish himself as Emperor in the late eleventh century . His contemporaries considered him the best tactician in the empire. Nikephoros had steadily risen through the ranks of the military, to the point that he was given an important command by Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Commanding the left wing of the Byzantine forces, he
500-532: Was appointed logothetes tou dromou , and his power grew rapidly. Not only did he soon sideline the other ministers, including the hereto powerful Michael Psellos , but in autumn 1073, Nikephoritzes forced the Caesar himself to withdraw from active participation in the governance of the Byzantine Empire and retire to his estates. As the de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire, Nikephoritzes set about reorganizing
525-464: Was brutally tortured by the megas hetaireiarches Romanos Straboromanos and died as a result. Bucellarian Theme The Bucellarian Theme ( Greek : Βουκελλάριον θέμα , Boukellarion thema ), more properly known as the Theme of the Bucellarians ( Greek : θέμα Βουκελλαρίων , thema Boukellariōn ) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in northern Asia Minor (modern Turkey ). It
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#1733084903045550-618: Was created around the middle of the 8th century, comprising most of the ancient region of Paphlagonia and parts of Galatia and Phrygia . The theme was established sometime after 743 and before 767 by the Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775), following the suppression of the revolt of Artabasdos , the Count of the Opsikion . The new theme, along with that of the Optimatoi was split off from
575-505: Was ineffective and inept. The weakness of the emperor, the avarice of his chief ministers, and the discovery that Michael's chief minister, Nikephoritzes , had listed him for assassination, encouraged him to make an attempt on the throne. Assembling an army of Vlachs, Bulgarians, Sclavonians, Italians, Franks, Uzes and native troops from the Peloponnese, in November 1077 his forces reached
600-553: Was one of the very few generals who performed well at that battle. In 1072–1073, he served as doux of Bulgaria , where he reimposed Byzantine control after a series of uprisings, and was afterwards elevated to the important position of doux of Dyrrhachium . In about 1077 Nikephoros, by now the former governor of Dyrrhachium, became disgusted with Michael VII 's treaty with the Seljuk Turks , whereby large swathes of Anatolia were handed over to them, and decided that Michael
625-688: Was toppled by Alexios Komnenos and the land was ceded to the Seljuks in 1075. During the Komnenian restoration , the northern parts of the former theme were retaken but the theme itself wasn't reestablished. The name Boukellariōn , however, survived as a geographical designation in Byzantine sources up until 1263. Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder ( Greek : Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος ), Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius ,
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