Stephen Kontostephanos
Stephen Kontostephanos(Greek:Στέφανος Κοντοστέφανος,c. 1107– 1149) was aByzantinearistocrat and military commander.
Stephen was born inc. 1107,the son of thesebastosIsaac Kontostephanos,[1]a military commander for most of the reign ofAlexios I Komnenos(r. 1081–1118), culminating in his unsuccessful service as admiral (thalassokrator) against theItalo-Normansin 1107/8.[2][3]He was the third member of the family to bear the name "Stephen" after the family's progenitor and a rather obscure paternal uncle.[4]Inc. 1126,he married Anna, the second-born daughter of EmperorJohn II Komnenos(r. 1118–1143) andIrene of Hungary,and received the titlepanhypersebastos.[1]The couple had four children: the sonsJohn,Alexios, andAndronikos,as well as a daughter, Irene, who marriedNikephoros Bryennios.[5]
Stephen's career under John II is unknown, but he enjoyed the favour of John's youngest son and eventual successor,Manuel I Komnenos(r. 1143–1180) and is likely to have been among those who supported Manuel's accession over the rights of his elder brotherIsaac Komnenos.[6]Thus when Manuel I decided to remove thePatriarch of ConstantinopleCosmas II Atticusfor sympathizing with Isaac, Stephen was among the imperial relatives who participated in the synod that tried and deposed Cosmas in February 1147, with the pretext of his support for theBogomilmonk Nephon. When Cosmas, enraged at his dismissal, cursed the empress never to bear a male child, Stephen, a nervous and impetuous man, according toNiketas Choniates,tried to attack the patriarch, but at the last moment reined himself in. This made a bad impression among all the attendants, but Cosmas reportedly prophesied that Stephen would soon receive his due blow as punishment.[7]
In early 1148, Manuel launched a large campaign againstRoger II of Sicily,whose Normans had capturedCorfu.Themegas domestikosJohn Axouchassumed command of the land forces, and Stephen was entrusted with the fleet as themegas doux.The campaign was originally to have been led by Manuel in person, but the arrival of the German emperorConrad IIIinConstantinopleobliged Manuel to remain there. The Byzantine expedition reached Corfu in November 1148 and laid siege to the island'smain town.The siege went on for three months, when a stone thrown by a catapult hit Stephen while he was supervising the construction of a siege machine; mortally wounded, he was carried by his son Andronikos and a fewVarangian Guardsmento his flagship, where he died.[8]
The court poetTheodore Prodromosand the so-called "Manganeios Prodromos"both describe him as a giant, whose own grave was too small to fit him, and laud his bravery and warlike achievements against the Normans, theSeljuk Turks,theCumansandPechenegs,and the Slavs of the western Balkans ( "IllyriansandDalmatians").[9]His wife survived him for several years, but it is unknown when she died; certainly it was before 1176.[10]
References
[edit]- ^abVarzos 1984,p. 380.
- ^ODB,"Kontostephanos" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1148–49.
- ^Varzos 1984,pp. 380–381 (note 5).
- ^Varzos 1984,pp. 295, 380–381 (note 5).
- ^Varzos 1984,pp. 388–389.
- ^Varzos 1984,p. 382.
- ^Varzos 1984,pp. 382–385.
- ^Varzos 1984,pp. 385–387.
- ^Varzos 1984,p. 387.
- ^Varzos 1984,p. 388.
Sources
[edit]- Kazhdan, Alexander,ed. (1991).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-504652-8.
- Varzos, Konstantinos (1984).Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών[The Genealogy of the Komnenoi](PDF)(in Greek). Vol. A. Thessaloniki:Centre for Byzantine Studies, University of Thessaloniki.OCLC834784634.