| Doukas Δούκας Doukid dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Imperial dynasty | |
| Country | Byzantine Empire |
| Founded | 10th century, 1059(as imperial dynasty) |
| Founder | Andronikos Doukas(first known) Constantine X Doukas(first emperor) |
| Final ruler | Nikephoros III Botaneiates |
| Titles | Byzantine Emperor |
| Connected families | Komnenodoukas |
| Deposition | 1081 |
TheHouse of Doukas (pl.Doukai;Greek:Δούκας,pl.Δούκαι, feminine formDoukaina;Δούκαινα),Latinized asDucas,[a][b] was aByzantine Greeknoble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to theByzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded theDespotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling overThessaly.
The continuity of descent amongst the various branches of the original, middle Byzantine family is not clear, and historians generally recognize several distinct groups of Doukai based on their occurrence in the contemporary sources. Polemis, who compiled the only overview work on the bearers of the Doukas name, in view of this lack of genealogical continuity "it would be a mistake to view the groups of people designated by thecognomen of Doukas as forming one large family".[1]
Nothing is known for certain about the family's origin. Later tradition, mentioned by the historianNikephoros Bryennios, held that they descended from a paternal cousin of theRoman emperorConstantine I who had migrated toConstantinople in the 4th century and allegedly became the city's governor with the title ofdoux. This tradition is, however, evidently an invention meant to glorify the family, at the time the Empire's ruling dynasty, by 11th-century court chroniclers.[2][3] In fact, it is more likely that the surname derives from the relatively common military rank ofdoux.[4] Some authors have raised the possibility of anArmenian descent, but all evidence suggests that the Doukai were native-bornGreeks, probably fromPaphlagonia in north-centralAnatolia, where their estates were located.[3][5]
The first representative of the family appears in the mid-9th century, during the regency of EmpressTheodora (r. 842–855), when he was sent to forcibly convert thePaulicians to Orthodoxy. He is only known as "the son of Doux", althoughSkylitzes interpolates the name of Andronikos, probably in confusion with Andronikos Doukas (see next). This name is also used by some modern sources--e.g., in theProsopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit (Andronikos #433).[6][7]
The first branch of the family to achieve prominence was in the early 10th century (they are usually referred to with the archaic formDoux rather thanDoukas in the sources), withAndronikos Doukas and his sonConstantine Doukas. Both were senior generals during the reign of EmperorLeo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). In circa 904, Andronikos engaged in an unsuccessful rebellion and was forced to flee toBaghdad where he was killed circa 910. Constantine managed to escape and was restored to high office, becomingDomestic of the Schools. He was killed, however, along with his son Gregory and nephew Michael, in an unsuccessful coup in June 913.[8][9][10] These deaths, along with thecastration andexile of Constantine's younger son Stephen and the death of a Nicholas Doukas (of uncertain relation to the others) at theBattle of Katasyrtai in 917, mark the end of the first group of Doukai recorded in Byzantine sources. It is likely, as the 12th-century historianZonaras records, that the Doukai line died out, and that the later bearers of the name were descendants through the female line only.[6][8][11]
Towards the end of the 10th century, there appeared a second family, sometimes known asLydoi ("theLydians", likely indicating their origin). Its members were Andronikos Doux Lydos and his sons, Christopher and Bardas, the latter known by the sobriquetMongos ("hoarse"). It is unclear whether thedoux in Andronikos's name is a surname or a military rank; some scholars consider them as belonging to the Doukas clan, although the exact relation, if any, with the earlier Doukai is impossible to ascertain. The family was involved in the 976–979 rebellion ofBardas Skleros against EmperorBasil II (r. 976–1025), but the sons were later pardoned and resumed their careers. Bardas theMongos is attested as late as 1017, when he led a military expedition against theKhazars.[6][12][13]
The third group of the family, the Doukai of the 11th century, was the more numerous and distinguished one, providing several generals and governors, and founding the Doukid dynasty which ruled Byzantium from 1059 to 1081. These Doukai seem to have come fromPaphlagonia, and were exceedingly wealthy, possessing extensive estates inAnatolia. Again, the relationship of this group with the Doukai of the 9th and 10th centuries is unclear; the contemporary writersMichael Psellos andNicholas Kallikles affirm such a relationship, but Zonaras openly questioned it.[6][14][15]
The most famous members of this group were the dynasty's founder, EmperorConstantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067), his brotherJohn Doukas,katepano and laterCaesar, Constantine's sonMichael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078), Michael's younger brothers,Konstantios andAndronikos Doukas, Michael's son and co-emperorConstantine Doukas and John's son, the generalAndronikos Doukas.[6][14]
During this period, the family intermarried with other aristocratic clans: before becoming emperor, Constantine X had married into the powerfulDalassenoi family, and took as a second wifeEudokia Makrembolitissa, niece of thePatriarchMichael Keroularios. Further dynastic matches were made with the clans of the Anatolian military aristocracy, including thePalaiologoi and thePegonitai.[16] The most important connection, however, was to theKomnenoi: in 1077,Alexios Komnenos, then a general and later emperor (r. 1081–1118), marriedIrene Doukaina, the great-niece of Constantine X; thereafter, the family nameKomnenodoukas was often used.[6] This marriage alliance was crucial for Alexios's own rise to the purple: his marriage to a Doukaina made him senior to his elder brother Isaac, and it was Doukai financial and political support that largely facilitated the successful and bloodless coup that brought him to the throne.[17]
Their association with the Komnenoi helped ensure the continued prominence and prestige of the Doukas name at the apex of the Byzantine aristocracy into theKomnenian period, and the presence of the family's members amongst the higher officials of the Byzantine state.[18] During the reign of Alexios I, the Doukai continued to play an important role: Constantine Doukas was recognized as heir-apparent and affianced toAnna Komnene (although he lost his title when the futureJohn II Komnenos was born); and Irene Doukaina's brothers, theprotostratorMichael Doukas and themegas douxJohn Doukas were among the most prominent military leaders of the late 11th century.[19]
During the 12th century, the prestige of the Doukas name meant that it was often taken as a second surname by members of other families, even if remotely (and usuallymatrilineally) linked to the actual Doukai, who became relatively obscure after the turn of the century. It is hence impossible to clearly distinguish the numerous holders of the name or to discern their exact relationship with the 11th-century Doukid dynasty. The actual bloodline of Constantine X died out probably before 1100, and the last known descendants of his brother, theCaesar John, lived in the first half of the 12th century. The majority of the 12th-century bearers of the name were therefore most likely members of other families, linked through marriage with the Doukai, who chose to emphasize this relationship due to the prestige the name conferred.[6][20][21]
In this way, mingled with other noble families or adoptedde novo even by humble families unrelated to the original lineage,[22] the Doukas name survived into the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire.[23] A prominent example of the Late Byzantine period were the Komnenodoukai of theDespotate of Epirus in northwestern Greece, founded byMichael I Komnenos Doukas and other descendants ofJohn Doukas, a grandson of Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. From them the surname "Doukas" was used by the Greek, and later Serbian, rulers of Epirus andThessaly until the 15th century.[24] Other examples includeJohn III Doukas Vatatzes,Nicaean emperor (r. 1221–1254) and his relatives,[25] the late Byzantine historianDoukas,[26] and themegas papiasDemetrios Doukas Kabasilas in the mid-14th century.[27]
The name spread far and wide across the Greek-speaking world as well as inAlbania, and remains fairly common to this day. Among the more notable bearers of the Doukas name in the post-Byzantine period were the 16th-century Cretan scholarDemetrius Ducas, the 17th-century rulers ofMoldaviaGeorge Ducas andConstantine Ducas (their descent is variously given as Greek,Vlach orAlbanian) or the 19th-century scholar and educationalistNeophytos Doukas.[28] Several variations also developed, such asDoukakes (Δουκάκης) (cf. formerMassachusetts state governorMichael Dukakis),Doukopoulos (Δουκόπουλος),Doukatos (Δουκάτος),Makrodoukas orMakrydoukas (Μακροδούκας/Μακρυδούκας), etc. Other variants likeDoukaites (Δουκαΐτης) orDoukides (Δουκίδης) seem to derive not from the surname, but from a locality and a first name "Doukas" respectively.[29]
| Vasileios Argyros |  Romanos III Argyros Emperor of Romans (1028-34) | Zoë Empress of Romans (1042-1050) HOUSE OF MACEDONIAN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (daughter) ∞Constantine Diogenes | Andronikos Doukas HOUSE OF DOUKAS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Romanos IV Diogenes Emperor of Romans | Eudokia Makrembolitissa | Constantine X Emperor of Romans (1059-1067) | John caesar ∞ Irene Pegonitissa | Sophia | Manuel Erotikos from Comne HOUSE OF KOMNENOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nikephoros III Botaneiates Emperor of Romans (1078-1081) | Maria of Alania (daughterBagrat IV of Georgia) | Michael VII Emperor of Romans (1071-1076) | Andronikos co-emperor | Konstantios co-emperor | Theodora ∞Domenico Selvo dogue of Venice | Andronikos domestikos of Scholon of East ∞Maria of Bulgaria | Isaac I Komnenos Emperor of Romans (1057-1059) | John Komnenos domestikos ton Scholon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constantine co-emperor | Constantine sebastos | Michael protostrator | John megas doux | Anna ∞George Palaiologos general | Irene | Alexios I Komnenos Emperor of Romans (1081-1118) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Irene ∞Gregory Kamateros logothetes ton Sekreton | Alexios Palaiologos megas doux ∞ Anna Komnene Doukaina | Theodora Komnene ∞Constantine Angelos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgios Palaiologos megas eteriarhes | Andronikos Angelos general | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alexios despot ∞ Irene Angelina | Alexios III Angelos Emperor of Romans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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