Komnenid Dynasty

The modelling and visualisation of networks is based on the material in: M. Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid. Reading the Letters of a Byzantine Archbishop. Birmingham 1997.

The first graph is a visualisation of the connections between letters in localities between which these letters were exchanged (" 2mode network").

The second graph is a visualisation of the weighted network of localities on the basis of Theophylact´s correspondence; two localities are connected if letters of Theophylact were exchanged between them. Links are scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

The third graph visualises these connections between localities on a map. Links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them. The size of nodes is scaled according to their number of connections within the network ("degree").

The fourth graph is a "zoom" into these geographical visualisation of the network for the Western Balkans; links are again scaled according to the number of letters within Theophylact´s collection documenting exchanges between them.

For the localisation of sites within the historical region of Macedonia cf. also the upcoming volumes on Macedonia (Southern Part) by Peter Soustal and on Macedonia (Northern Part) by Mihailo Popovic within the series "Tabula Imperii Byzantini" (http://www.oeaw.ac.at/imafo/die-abteilungen/byzanzforschung/communities-landscapes/historische-geographie/)

For any further questions, please contact Johannes.Preiser-Kapeller@oeaw.ac.at.

Eius uxor matrona singularis, Helena dicta est, quam perhibent neptem ex sorore fuisse Constantinapolitaneo Imperatori – as can be read in Epithoma rerum Hungaricarum by Petrus Ransanus. The Italian author provides unique information about the maternal descent of Béla II. King of Hungary’s wife, Queen Helena. This information cannot be found in the other medieval Hungarian chronicles, only in Ransanus’ Epithoma. Every source mentions the name of Helena’s father, who was Uros, the grandzupan of Serbia, but the mother’s identity is unknown. Queen Helena's kinship with the Comneni is yet unclear in historiography. In our thesis we try to examine the authenticity of the Epithome, after this we attempt to revise the genealogy of the Byzantine emperors (Alexios I and Ioannes II) and try to place Queen consort Helena on the Comneni’s genealogical tree. In the last decades historiography has identified Helena’s mother to be Anna Diogenissa, who was the niece of emperor Alexios I, but with the source, on which this theory is based on, we could not identify her. In our thesis we try to search for answers about Anna Diogenissa’s identity. There are many unanswered questions regarding Anna Diogenissa that can cause problems if we want to examine the kinship between the Hungarian Queen consort and the Comneni Dinasty. We try to define the time of the marriage of prince Béla and Helena of Serbia and how it influenced Helena’s kinship with the Comneni. The problem with Helena’s maternal descent is an unanswered question in medieval Hungarian history. First of all, the only source, the Epithoma was composed in the end of the 15th century, secondly there are genealogical antagonisms in the family tree of the Arpads and Comneni. Moreover, we experienced that the 18-19th century literature seems to avoid this topic.

Alexius I Comnenus issued coins with a cross-on-crescent design that has been described as symbolizing the First Crusade or, alternatively, having "no satisfactory explanation." This paper employs historical and numismatic information to interpret the design. The result highlights a dramatic turnabout in Christian-Islamic symbolism.

La llegada de la facción de los Comnenos-Ducas al trono imperial con la coronación de Alejo Comneno en 1081 representó un fuerte cambio en el discurso y reparto del poder en Bizancio. Pero mientras que las obras de propaganda de los reinados de su hijo y su nieto son mejor conocidas, los círculos literarios relacionados con el propio Alejo son casi desconocidos. En este artículo proponemos que el Poema de Diyenís Acrita fue una construcción literaria para legitimar las reivindicaciones de Alejo I Comneno en relación con la Anatolia tomada por los turcos. Basamos nuestra hipótesis en varias construcciones, materiales y discursivas: el palacio de Blaquernas en Constantinopla, el tratado impuesto por Alejo I al sultán sedjulcida Malik-Shah en 1116 y  el palacio de Diyenís en el Éufrates.

in: H. Grieser/H. Frielinghaus/S. Graetz/L. Körntgen/J. Pahlitzsch/D. Prechel, Der Herrscher als Versager?! Göttingen:  V&R Unipress, 2019 (Kraftprobe Herrschaft Band 1), pp. 297-320

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Aufsatz wird die Entstehung der Darstellung des byzantinischen Kaisers Nikephoros III. (reg. 1078-1081) als gescheiterten Kaisers schlechthin durch die byzantinischen Historiographen analysisiert und die diesem Bild zugrunde liegenden politischen Interessen identifiziert, die kritiklos durch die moderne Historiographie übernommen wurde. Es wird hier gefolgert, dass die Darstellung des Nikephoros und seiner Herrschaft durch die Geschichtsschreibung vor allem dem Bedarf der neuen Dynastie der Komnenoi (1081-1185) entsprach, durch die er abgelöst wurde. Die Komnenoi präsentierten sich als Erneuer des Römischen Reiches, als neue Konstantine. Die Regierung des Nikephoros III. sei infolgedessen zum Symbol des Verfalls und von allem, was in Byzanz falsch gelaufen sei, geworden.

Summary:

The present chapter analyses the emergence of the portrayal of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III (1078-1081) as the epitome of the failed ruler by the Byzantine history-writing and identifies the political interests underlying this characterization, which was adopted by the modern historiography without proper criticism. The conclusions were that the portrayal of Nikephoros and his rule by the history-writing corresponded above all the needs of the new dynasty of the Komnenoi (1081-1185), which replaced this emperor. The Komnenoi presented themselves as being those that renewed the Roman Empire, as New Constantines. The rule of Nikephoros III became, accordingly, a symbol of decay and of everything that went wrong in Byzantium.

Kastamonu, bir şekilde herkesin dimağındaki bir imge olsa da haritadaki yeri nedense tam koordinatlarına yerleşmeyen bir coğrafyadır. Ya bozkırın kahverengi tonu, ya da tarihteki puslu bir havanın gri tabakası gibi algılanır.
Belleklerdeki yeri gibi Kastamonu tarihi de Pandora’nın Kutusu’ndan çıkmayı bekleyen bir gizler yumağıdır.
İşte bu çalışma ilin yarattığı kültür tarihinin okunur kılınmasını amaçlamaktadır. 
Bu amaç doğrultusunda insansız zamanlara kadar geri gidip ili şekillendiren coğrafyanın oluşumundan başlayarak, insanın ilk adımlarını takip edip ürettiği ilk taş aletin izini sürerek günümüze kadar gelen süreçte her bir çağın, kültürün adımlarını takip edip, bilimsel verilerin ışığında uzun ama bir solukta okunabilecek bir yolculuğa çıktık.
“Kastamonu Tarihi” üzerine bir çalışma yapmak çok kapsamlı bir süreci içermektedir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, Kastamonu’nun tarihine sadece bir giriş niteliği taşıdığından dolayı bir tarihçeden çok “tarih önsözü” olarak kabul edilmelidir.