Sphrantzes Palaiologos

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Sphrantzes Palaiologos (Greek: Σφραντζῆς Παλαιολόγος) was a Byzantine aristocrat and commander active in the 1330s.

A member of the minor aristocracy and a Senator,[1] in 1334 he was promised great rank and wealth by Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos if he could capture or otherwise neutralise the renegade Syrgiannes Palaiologos.[1][2] He posed as a deserter and entered the Serbian camp and killed Syrgiannes, who had deserted to King Stefan Dušan, ending his advance and bringing the Serbian army into disarray.[3] Consequently, in August 1334, the king of Serbia made peace with Andronikos III Palaiologos and allowed his forces to retake control of captured parts of Macedonia.[4]

He was rewarded with the high court rank of megas stratopedarches, which he held until his death of typhus in 1339, leading a campaign in Acarnania.[1][2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c PLP, 27282. Σφραντζῆς Παλαιολόγος.
  2. ^ a b Guilland 1967, p. 508.
  3. ^ Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996) p. 283-284
  4. ^ Norwich. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall p. 284

Sources[edit]

  • Guilland, Rodolphe (1967). "Le Stratopédarque et le Grand statopédarque". Recherches sur les institutions byzantines [Studies on the Byzantine Institutions]. Berliner byzantinische Arbeiten 35 (in French). Vol. I. Berlin and Amsterdam: Akademie-Verlag & Adolf M. Hakkert. pp. 498–521. OCLC 878894516.
  • Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Walther, Rainer; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja; Kislinger, Ewald; Leontiadis, Ioannis; Kaplaneres, Sokrates (1976–1996). Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.
  • Verpeaux, Jean, ed. (1966). Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des Offices (in French). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.