Macht und Ohnmacht der byzantinischen Aristokratie am Vorabend der lateinischen Eroberung Konstantinopels (1204). Das Schicksal der Familie Branas
Alexandra-Kyriaki Wassiliou-Seibt
Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki / Guest researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna)
Power and Weakness of the Byzantine Aristocracy on the Eve of the Latin Conquest of Constantinople (1204). The Fate of the Branas Family
A new aspect in the history of the military family Branas (originated from Adrianople) is provided by a seal of Theodoros Branas, which prompted us to trace the rise and subsequent fate of this military house especially between 1183 and 1204. A turning point in the family’s social prestige was the usurpation of the charismatic general Alexios Branas against Isaakios II, as expedition leader of the Byzantine army against the Bulgarovlachs (1187). His son, Theodoros Branas, was henceforth considered among the suspects, and seized the kairos to join the party of Alexios (III). Theodoros Branas probably demonstrated his pro-Latin orientation after the flight of Alexios III (18 July 1203) or at the latest shortly before the Latin siege of Constantinople (12 April 1204) by imaging a “foreign” to the contemporary Byzantines iconographic motif on his seal: an eagle with two heads. The metrical seals inscription reveals that his father, Alexios Branas, was honoured with the high title of καῖσαρ. This happened when he was appointed commander in chief of the Byzantine expedition against the Bulgarovlachs. According to this information, the seals from Bulgaria that mention him as panhypersebastos must be dated before his appointment as the leader of this expedition.
Keywords: Byzantine aristocracy; Branas family; Byzantine Sigillography; Byzantine Prosopography; Byzantium and the Crusaders; Medieval Balkan History
Schlüsselwörter: Byzantinische Aristokratie; Familie Branas; Byzantinische Siegelkunde; Byzantinische Prosopographie; Byzanz und die Kreuzfahrer; Mittelalterliche Balkangeschichte
