John Doukas (megas hetaireiarches)

John Doukas (Greek: Ἰωάννης Δούκας, romanized: Iōannēs Doúkas; fl. 1155/6–1181) was a senior Byzantine military commander and diplomat under Manuel I Komnenos, serving in Italy, Hungary, Asia Minor, and the Holy Land. He rose to the rank of sebastos and the office of megas hetaireiarches.[1][2]

Demetrios Polemis erroneously identified him with his contemporary, the Eparch of the City John Kamateros, as "John Doukas Kamateros".[3] This has been corrected by other scholars since. Patricia Karlin-Hayter notably decomposed Polemis' composite figure into six or seven different people, of which John Doukas was assigned the bulk of the military and diplomatic career of Polemis' figure.[4][5]

The first activity which can be more or less securely attributed to John Doukas is an embassy to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1155/6, followed by his stay in Italy.[6] He then commanded an expedition in Dalmatia in 1164, and against the Hungarians in 1166.[7] In 1177, he led an embassy to Baldwin IV of Jerusalem.[6] The scholar and archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica further mentions unspecified campaigns in Asia Minor.[8]

References
  1. Karlin-Hayter 1972, pp. 260–266.
  2. Stone 1999, pp. 145–164.
  3. Polemis 1968, p. 128.
  4. Karlin-Hayter 1972, pp. 259–266.
  5. Kazhdan 1969, pp. 242–247.
  6. Karlin-Hayter 1972, p. 262.
  7. Karlin-Hayter 1972, pp. 262, 263.
  8. Karlin-Hayter 1972, p. 263.

Sources
  • Karlin-Hayter, Patricia (1972). "99. Jean Doukas". Byzantion (in French). 42 (1): 259–266. JSTOR 44170347.
  • Kazhdan, A. P. (1969). "John Doukas – an attempt at de-identification". Le parole e le idee. 11: 242–247.
  • Polemis, Demetrios I. (1968). The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography. London: The Athlone Press. OCLC 299868377.
  • Stone, Andrew F. (1999). "The 'Grand Hetaireiarch' John Doukas: The Career of a Twelfth-Century Soldier and Diplomat". Byzantion. 69 (1): 145–164. JSTOR 44172159.
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