Mauros
Encyclopedia
Mauros (fl.
686–711) was a Bulgar
leader, one of the chief subordinates and closest supporters of Kuber
, a 7th-century Bulgar ruler in Macedonia
. After orchestrating a foiled attempt to capture Thessaloniki
for Kuber, Mauros remained in the city and joined the ranks of the Byzantine
aristocracy. He was bestowed the noble title of patrikios and was deeply involved in the power struggle between Justinian II
and Philippikos Bardanes in the beginning of the 8th century. Mauros is the earliest attested leader, styled archon, to be placed by the Byzantine government in charge of a dependent people, in this case the Bulgars and Sermesianoi who had fled to Byzantium.
's plot to conquer Thessaloniki in c. 686–687. From the testaments of contemporaneous historians, it is apparent that Mauros was a well-respected figure among the population ruled by Kuber, which consisted of Bulgars and Sermesianoi (Byzantine refugees from Sirmium
on the Sava) who had settled in Macedonia. Bulgaria
n historian Plamen Pavlov conjectures that Mauros may have been the kavhan (first minister) or ichirgu-boil
(general of the highest rank) of Kuber. Regardless of whether he had an official title at all, Mauros was certainly among Kuber's most trusted associates. Prior to his mission in Byzantium, Mauros was polygamous
and a heathen.
Due to the increasing flight of Kuber's Byzantine subjects to Thessaloniki, he and Mauros hatched a plan to seize the city and use it as a base for future expansion. Mauros was seen as the ideal candidate to carry out the mission not only due to Kuber's trust in him, but also because Mauros was fluent in Slavic
and Greek
. In line with the plan, Mauros was sent by Kuber to Thessaloniki pretending to be a refugee in charge of a group of people fleeing from Kuber. Mauros was not only welcomed inside the city, but also put in charge of all Bulgar and Sermesianoi refugees and given the title of hypatos by Byzantine Emperor Justinian II
(r. 685–695, 705–711). Mauros appears to have commanded his own military force, consisting of former subjects of Kuber who were nominally part of the Byzantine army
. While many of Thessaloniki's notables were suspicious of Mauros, his significant power enabled him to effectively deal with anyone who was close to uncovering his plot.
Mauros intended to organize an uprising in Thessaloniki on Easter Saturday
, the night before Easter
, relying on the lack of preparedness among the city's defenders. However, his plan had perhaps been revealed to the Byzantines: the Byzantine navy
and its chief admiral Sisinnios arrived in the city, preventing Mauros from undertaking any military activity. When the navy anchored in Thessaloniki, Mauros appeared to fall ill and spent a long time in bed under the surveillance of Sisinnios. While the allegations against Mauros were never proven, he was nonetheless dispatched outside the city along with Sisinnios' men, hoping to attract new refugees from Kuber and the local Slavs.
Even as a member of the Byzantine nobility, Mauros made one more attempt to assist Kuber in an anti-Byzantine plot, this time threatening the life of the emperor. However, he was once again unsuccessful. The conspiracy was uncovered by his own son from a Byzantine woman, Mauros was imprisoned in a Constantinople
suburb and stripped of his noble titles.
Despite this episode, the next reference to Mauros describes him once again as a patrikios in service of Justinian towards the end of that emperor's second reign in 705–711. In 711, he was involved in Justinian's attempt to quell a rebellion in Chersonesos, the main Byzantine city in Crimea
. Mauros and another patrikios, Stephen, were dispatched to Chersonesos supported by the navy, where on the orders of the emperor they installed the spatharios Elias as governor. Even though their arrival was met with no apparent resistance, it was supervened by repressions and the torture of local leaders.
On the way back from Chersonesos, the navy was hit by a horrible storm which claimed thousands of victims, but Mauros survived. Not long after the first expedition, he had to return to Chersonesos because sedition in the city had begun anew, and the newly installed Elias had joined the insurgents. Prior to Mauros' arrival, a naval expedition had failed to crush the uprising and its leaders had been murdered. Assessing the size of the rebellion, Justinian dispatched Mauros in charge of a large force complete with siege engine
s. Mauros had some success with the siege of the city early on, but the arrival of Khazar
support for the insurgents caused Mauros to abandon Justinian and he too joined the ranks of his opponents, led by Philippikos Bardanes.
Justinian apparently sought to intercept the ships of the insurgents at Sinope
, on the Black Sea
coast of Asia Minor
, since he moved to that city. However, he arrived only to see the rebel navy pass Sinope en route to the capital Constantinople, where Philippikos (r. 711–713) was proclaimed emperor. As a close ally of the new ruler, Mauros was tasked with the arrest of Justinian's son Tiberios who had sought refuge inside the Church of St Mary
of Blachernae
. Mauros and another associate of Philippikos seized him and Tiberios was promptly executed. This is the last mention of Mauros in the sources, and his subsequent fate is unknown.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
686–711) was a Bulgar
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
leader, one of the chief subordinates and closest supporters of Kuber
Kuber
Khan Kuber was a Bulgar leader, brother of Khan Asparukh and member of the Dulo clan, who according to the Miracles of St Demetrius, in the 670s was the leader of a mixed Christian population of Bulgars, ‘Romans’, Slavs and Germanic people that had been transferred to the Syrmia region in Pannonia...
, a 7th-century Bulgar ruler in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. After orchestrating a foiled attempt to capture Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
for Kuber, Mauros remained in the city and joined the ranks of 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...
aristocracy. He was bestowed the noble title of patrikios and was deeply involved in the power struggle between Justinian II
Justinian II
Justinian II , surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
and Philippikos Bardanes in the beginning of the 8th century. Mauros is the earliest attested leader, styled archon, to be placed by the Byzantine government in charge of a dependent people, in this case the Bulgars and Sermesianoi who had fled to Byzantium.
Bulgar plot to capture Thessaloniki
Mauros first appears in the sources in relation to KuberKuber
Khan Kuber was a Bulgar leader, brother of Khan Asparukh and member of the Dulo clan, who according to the Miracles of St Demetrius, in the 670s was the leader of a mixed Christian population of Bulgars, ‘Romans’, Slavs and Germanic people that had been transferred to the Syrmia region in Pannonia...
's plot to conquer Thessaloniki in c. 686–687. From the testaments of contemporaneous historians, it is apparent that Mauros was a well-respected figure among the population ruled by Kuber, which consisted of Bulgars and Sermesianoi (Byzantine refugees from Sirmium
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in ancient Roman Pannonia. Firstly mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was...
on the Sava) who had settled in Macedonia. Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n historian Plamen Pavlov conjectures that Mauros may have been the kavhan (first minister) or ichirgu-boil
Ichirgu-boil
The Ichirgu-boil or Chargobilya was a high-ranking official in the First Bulgarian Empire. He was the commander of the garrison of the capital and was the third most important person in the state after the ruler and the Kavkhan. In peace-time the ichirgu-boil had diplomatic functions...
(general of the highest rank) of Kuber. Regardless of whether he had an official title at all, Mauros was certainly among Kuber's most trusted associates. Prior to his mission in Byzantium, Mauros was polygamous
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
and a heathen.
Due to the increasing flight of Kuber's Byzantine subjects to Thessaloniki, he and Mauros hatched a plan to seize the city and use it as a base for future expansion. Mauros was seen as the ideal candidate to carry out the mission not only due to Kuber's trust in him, but also because Mauros was fluent in Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
and Greek
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;...
. In line with the plan, Mauros was sent by Kuber to Thessaloniki pretending to be a refugee in charge of a group of people fleeing from Kuber. Mauros was not only welcomed inside the city, but also put in charge of all Bulgar and Sermesianoi refugees and given the title of hypatos by Byzantine Emperor Justinian II
Justinian II
Justinian II , surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus , was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711...
(r. 685–695, 705–711). Mauros appears to have commanded his own military force, consisting of former subjects of Kuber who were nominally part of the Byzantine army
Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...
. While many of Thessaloniki's notables were suspicious of Mauros, his significant power enabled him to effectively deal with anyone who was close to uncovering his plot.
Mauros intended to organize an uprising in Thessaloniki on Easter Saturday
Easter Saturday
Easter Saturday, or Bright Saturday, is the Saturday following the Christian festival of Easter. In the liturgy of Western Christianity it is the last day of Easter Week, sometimes referred to as the Saturday of Easter Week or Saturday in Easter Week. In the liturgy of Eastern Christianity it is...
, the night before Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, relying on the lack of preparedness among the city's defenders. However, his plan had perhaps been revealed to the Byzantines: the Byzantine navy
Byzantine navy
The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defense and survival of the state then its earlier iterations...
and its chief admiral Sisinnios arrived in the city, preventing Mauros from undertaking any military activity. When the navy anchored in Thessaloniki, Mauros appeared to fall ill and spent a long time in bed under the surveillance of Sisinnios. While the allegations against Mauros were never proven, he was nonetheless dispatched outside the city along with Sisinnios' men, hoping to attract new refugees from Kuber and the local Slavs.
Byzantine patrikios
Though Mauros did not sever his ties with Kuber, at the same time he continued his rise in the Byzantine hierarchy. Three preserved seals, the earliest from the late 7th century, testify to Mauros' elevation to the status of "patrikios and archon of the Sermesianoi and the Bulgars". In fact, Mauros appears to have been the first attested case in a long Byzantine tradition of granting rulers of unassimilated but pro-imperial populations the title of archon. Some researchers assert the identification of Kuber's associate with Mauros of the seals; others do not exclude the possibility that the Mauros of the seals was the former's son. Historian Daniel Ziemann even suggests that Mauros the Bulgar may or may not be a different person from Mauros the patrikios.Even as a member of the Byzantine nobility, Mauros made one more attempt to assist Kuber in an anti-Byzantine plot, this time threatening the life of the emperor. However, he was once again unsuccessful. The conspiracy was uncovered by his own son from a Byzantine woman, Mauros was imprisoned in a 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:...
suburb and stripped of his noble titles.
Despite this episode, the next reference to Mauros describes him once again as a patrikios in service of Justinian towards the end of that emperor's second reign in 705–711. In 711, he was involved in Justinian's attempt to quell a rebellion in Chersonesos, the main Byzantine city in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. Mauros and another patrikios, Stephen, were dispatched to Chersonesos supported by the navy, where on the orders of the emperor they installed the spatharios Elias as governor. Even though their arrival was met with no apparent resistance, it was supervened by repressions and the torture of local leaders.
On the way back from Chersonesos, the navy was hit by a horrible storm which claimed thousands of victims, but Mauros survived. Not long after the first expedition, he had to return to Chersonesos because sedition in the city had begun anew, and the newly installed Elias had joined the insurgents. Prior to Mauros' arrival, a naval expedition had failed to crush the uprising and its leaders had been murdered. Assessing the size of the rebellion, Justinian dispatched Mauros in charge of a large force complete with siege engine
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s. Mauros had some success with the siege of the city early on, but the arrival of Khazar
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
support for the insurgents caused Mauros to abandon Justinian and he too joined the ranks of his opponents, led by Philippikos Bardanes.
Justinian apparently sought to intercept the ships of the insurgents at Sinope
Sinope
Sinope may refer to:*Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea, historically known as Sinope** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port*Sinope , in Greek mythology, daughter of Asopus*Sinope , a moon of the planet Jupiter...
, on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast 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...
, since he moved to that city. However, he arrived only to see the rebel navy pass Sinope en route to the capital Constantinople, where Philippikos (r. 711–713) was proclaimed emperor. As a close ally of the new ruler, Mauros was tasked with the arrest of Justinian's son Tiberios who had sought refuge inside the Church of St Mary
Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (Istanbul)
Saint Mary of Blachernae is an Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul...
of Blachernae
Blachernae
Blachernae was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It was the site of a spring and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great Church of St. Mary of Blachernae , built by Empress Pulcheria in circa 450,...
. Mauros and another associate of Philippikos seized him and Tiberios was promptly executed. This is the last mention of Mauros in the sources, and his subsequent fate is unknown.