Basil Boioannes
Encyclopedia
Basil III, called Boioannes (Βασίλειος Βοϊωάννης) in Greek
and Bugiano in Italian
, was the Byzantine
catapan of Italy
(1017 - 1027) and one of the greatest Byzantine generals of his time. His accomplishments enabled the Empire to reestablish itself as a major force in southern Italy after centuries of decline. Yet, the Norman
adventurers introduced into the power structure of the Mezzogiorno
would be the eventual beneficiaries.
in December 1017, he immediately requested reinforcements from Constantinople
to fight the insurgency of the Lombard
general Melus of Bari
and his Norman soldiery. The request was granted: a detachment of the elite Varangian Guard
was sent. The two forces met on the river Ofanto
near Cannae
, the site of Hannibal's victory over the Romans in 216 BC. In the second Battle of Cannae
, Boioannes achieved an equally decisive victory.
Boioannes protected his gains by immediately building a great fortress at the Apennine
pass guarding the entrance to the Apulia
n plain. Troia, named after the ancient city of Asia Minor
, was garrisoned by Boioannes' own contingent of Norman troops in 1019. Soon, all the Mezzogiorno had submitted to Byzantine authority, with the exception of the Duchy of Benevento
, which remained faithful to the Papacy.
Frightened by the shift in momentum in the south, Pope Benedict VIII
went north in 1020 to Bamberg
to confer with the Holy Roman Emperor
, Henry II
. The Emperor took no immediate action, but events of the next year convinced him to intervene. Boioannes and his new ally Prince Pandulf IV of Capua
marched on Melus' brother-in-law Dattus
and captured his tower on the Garigliano. On 15 June, Dattus was tied up in a sack with a monkey, a rooster, and a snake and thrown into the sea. The next year, in response, a huge imperial army marched south to attack the new fortress of Troia. The garrison held out and never fell. Boioannes granted the town privileges for its loyalty.
In 1025, Boioannes was preparing to lead a Sicilian expedition with Basil II when the great emperor died. Constantine VIII
, his co-ruler and successor, cancelled the expedition, and the catapan went north to aid Pandulf in retaking Capua, which Henry II had captured three years earlier. Boioannes offered the new prince of Capua, Pandulf of Teano
, safe passage to Naples
and accepted his surrender in May 1026. This was to be his last major campaign. In 1027, he was recalled. His replacements hardly lived up to the standard of military effectiveness he set. During the next century, Byzantine influence in Italy steadily declined to nil.
In 1041, Boioannes' son Exaugustus
was named catapan, but he did not last a year in that post.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Bugiano in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, was the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
catapan of Italy
Catapanate of Italy
The Catepanate of Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. Amalfi and Naples, although north of that line, maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan...
(1017 - 1027) and one of the greatest Byzantine generals of his time. His accomplishments enabled the Empire to reestablish itself as a major force in southern Italy after centuries of decline. Yet, the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
adventurers introduced into the power structure of the Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...
would be the eventual beneficiaries.
Life
Upon his appointment by Emperor Basil IIBasil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
in December 1017, he immediately requested reinforcements from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to fight the insurgency of the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
general Melus of Bari
Melus of Bari
Melus was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early 11th century inadvertently sparked the Norman presence in southern Italy.Melus and his brother-in-law Dattus rebelled in 1009...
and his Norman soldiery. The request was granted: a detachment of the elite Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
was sent. The two forces met on the river Ofanto
Ofanto
The Ofanto, known in ancient times as Aufidus, from the Greek Ophidus, Ωφιδους, meaning snake, is a 170 km river in southern Italy...
near Cannae
Cannae
Cannae is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Barletta.-Geography:It is situated near the river Aufidus , on a hill on the right Cannae (mod. Canne della Battaglia) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a...
, the site of Hannibal's victory over the Romans in 216 BC. In the second Battle of Cannae
Battle of Cannae (1018)
The second Battle of Cannae took place in 1018 between the Byzantines under the Catepan of Italy Basil Boioannes and the Lombards under Melus of Bari. The Lombards had also hired some Norman mercenaries under their leader Gilbert Buatère...
, Boioannes achieved an equally decisive victory.
Boioannes protected his gains by immediately building a great fortress at the Apennine
Apennine
-Other places on Earth:*The Apennine or Italian peninsula*Apennins, a department of the first French Empire-Plants and animals:*The Apennine , a modern breed of domestic sheep.*Apennine Shrew, an insectivore endemic to Italy...
pass guarding the entrance to the Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
n plain. Troia, named after the ancient city of Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, was garrisoned by Boioannes' own contingent of Norman troops in 1019. Soon, all the Mezzogiorno had submitted to Byzantine authority, with the exception of the Duchy of Benevento
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy and later Principality of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy, centred on Benevento, a city central in the Mezzogiorno. Owing to the Ducatus Romanus of the popes, which cut it off from the rest of Lombard Italy, Benevento was from the first practically...
, which remained faithful to the Papacy.
Frightened by the shift in momentum in the south, Pope Benedict VIII
Pope Benedict VIII
Pope Benedict VIII , born Theophylactus, Pope from 1012 to 1024, of the noble family of the counts of Tusculum , descended from Theophylact, Count of Tusculum like his predecessor Pope Benedict VI .Benedict VIII was opposed by an antipope, Gregory...
went north in 1020 to Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
to confer with the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
. The Emperor took no immediate action, but events of the next year convinced him to intervene. Boioannes and his new ally Prince Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II. In 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae...
marched on Melus' brother-in-law Dattus
Dattus
Dattus was a Lombard leader from Bari, the brother-in-law of Melus of Bari. He joined his brother-in-law in a 1009 revolt against Byzantine authority in southern Italy.In 1010, the rebels took Ascoli and Troina...
and captured his tower on the Garigliano. On 15 June, Dattus was tied up in a sack with a monkey, a rooster, and a snake and thrown into the sea. The next year, in response, a huge imperial army marched south to attack the new fortress of Troia. The garrison held out and never fell. Boioannes granted the town privileges for its loyalty.
In 1025, Boioannes was preparing to lead a Sicilian expedition with Basil II when the great emperor died. Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII was reigning Byzantine emperor from December 15, 1025 until his death. He was the son of the Emperor Romanos II and Theophano, and the younger brother of the eminent Basil II, who died childless and thus left the rule of the Byzantine Empire in his hands.-Family:As...
, his co-ruler and successor, cancelled the expedition, and the catapan went north to aid Pandulf in retaking Capua, which Henry II had captured three years earlier. Boioannes offered the new prince of Capua, Pandulf of Teano
Pandulf V of Capua
Pandulf V was the count of Teano and prince of Capua . That he was related to the ruling dynasty of Capua seems likely, but is uncertain. He was installed at Capua by Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, who besieged Capua and deposed the current prince, Pandulf IV was imprisoned in Germany...
, safe passage to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and accepted his surrender in May 1026. This was to be his last major campaign. In 1027, he was recalled. His replacements hardly lived up to the standard of military effectiveness he set. During the next century, Byzantine influence in Italy steadily declined to nil.
In 1041, Boioannes' son Exaugustus
Exaugustus Boioannes
Exaugustus Boiοannes , son of the famous Basil Boioannes, was also a catepan of Italy, from 1041 to 1042. He replaced Michael Doukeianos after the latter's disgrace in defeat at Montemaggiore on May 4. Boioannes did not have the levies and reinforcements that Doukeianos had had at his command. He...
was named catapan, but he did not last a year in that post.
Sources
- Norwich, John JuliusJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1967.