Bryennios
Encyclopedia
Bryennios or Bryennius feminine form Bryennissa (Βρυέννισσα), was the name of a noble Byzantine
family which rose to prominence in the 11th and 12th centuries, mostly as military commanders. The etymology of the name is uncertain. The first members of the family appear in the 9th century. None are known for the 10th, but they reappear in the latter half of the 11th century, when they rose to high military commands and became associated with the Komnenian dynasty. Members of the family retained high positions through the 12th century, and are documented up to the 15th century.
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
family which rose to prominence in the 11th and 12th centuries, mostly as military commanders. The etymology of the name is uncertain. The first members of the family appear in the 9th century. None are known for the 10th, but they reappear in the latter half of the 11th century, when they rose to high military commands and became associated with the Komnenian dynasty. Members of the family retained high positions through the 12th century, and are documented up to the 15th century.
Notable members
- Alexios Bryennios, megas douxMegas DouxThe megas doux was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the later Byzantine Empire, denoting the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy. It is sometimes also given by the half-Latinizations megaduke or megadux...
in 1156 - Joseph Bryennios (ca. 1350 – 1430), Byzantine monk and writer
- Manuel Bryennios (fl. 1300), Byzantine scholar
- Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch)Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch)Nikephoros Bryennios , Latinized as Nicephorus Bryennius, was an important Byzantine general who was involved in rebellions against the empress Theodora and later the emperor Michael VI Stratiotikos.- Career :...
(fl. 1050s), Byzantine general - Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder (fl. 1070s), Byzantine general, son of the ethnarch, who made an attempt on the throne of Michael VII Doukas in 1077-1078
- Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger (1062–1137), son or grandson of the preceding, Byzantine general, statesman and historian, husband of Anna KomneneAnna KomneneAnna Komnene, Latinized as Comnena was a Greek princess and scholar and the daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos of Byzantium and Irene Doukaina...