208:, was a relative of Romanos IV and of whom he expected that he would open the gates of the city to him. However, when the pretender and the Cumans appeared before the walls of Adrianople, and the pretender called upon his "uncle" to surrender, the blind Bryennios said that he did not recognize his voice. The Cumans then laid siege to the city. The garrison and the citizens resisted with valour, launching sallies against the besiegers, and after 48 days launched a general sortie which drove back the Cumans. During this sortie, Pseudo-Diogenes received a whip cut to the face by a young Byzantine warrior, Marianos Mavrokatakalon.
193:
67:
239:
The historian Basile
Skoulatos remarks that the episode of Pseudo-Diogenes is a very peculiar one in Byzantine history. Anna Komnene denigrated him as base-born, wily and shameless man, prone to drink, but he nevertheless displayed extraordinary qualities: he was able to create a following within
144:
There, the pretender made contact with the Cumans who frequented the town. One night, he climbed over the walls and, escorted by Cumans, escaped his imprisonment. Seeking refuge among the Cumans, he soon gained their recognition as emperor and their support in his attempt to claim the throne,
188:
and other towns. Encouraged, the Cumans moved against
Alexios at Anchialos, but after three days of the two armies' massing against each other for battle, the Cumans departed, as the terrain did not favour their style of warfare, nor could the Byzantines be induced to attack them.
215:, decided upon a ruse: he shaved and disfigured himself, and went to meet the pretender, claiming to have been mistreated by Alexios. Calling upon his old friendship Romanos IV and his sufferings to prove his loyalty, he induced the pretender to enter the fortress of
137:). Alexios at first disregarded the pretender's agitations, but then his sister Theodora, the widow of the real Constantine Diogenes, who had retired to a monastery, protested the abuse of her husband's name, and the emperor had the pretender arrested and exiled to
145:
although, as Anna
Komnene reports, this was more a pretext for raiding and plundering the Byzantine provinces. With Pseudo-Diogenes at their head, the Cumans crossed the Danube and invaded imperial territory in 1095. The Cumans swiftly occupied the province of
219:, which he proposed to surrender to him. The pretender and his Cuman escorts were feted and dined at the governor's palace. After they fell asleep, however, the Byzantines killed the Cumans and took the pretender captive. At
240:
Constantinople itself, secure the support of the Cumans, and in his attempt to win over
Bryennios, he displayed accurate knowledge of the dynastic ties uniting the various members of the Byzantine upper aristocracy.
168:
The
Diogenes name retained its attraction among members of the imperial army and the populace, as evidenced in the foiled plot in the previous year under Romanos IV's third and youngest son,
248:
126:
from the East, "poor and wearing a goat's skin". Nevertheless, he soon gathered a group of supporters among the populace, and openly claimed his intention to claim the throne from
252:
115:
to this pretender, the French scholar Jean-Claude
Cheynet suggests that he did indeed claim to be Leo, who unlike his brother had been active on the Empire's
111:, the emperor's eldest son, scholars have traditionally emended Anna's reference accordingly. On the other hand, given the support provided by the
543:
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233:
55:
108:
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by a
Turkish servant. Following the capture of the pretender, Alexios defeated the Cumans and drove them back across the Danube.
634:
532:
259:
and weaken the
Byzantine Empire. In 1116, Monomakh started the last Rus' campaign against Byzantinum, which he lost.
205:
614:
572:] (in French). Louvain-la-Neuve and Louvain: Bureau du Recueil Collège Érasme and Éditions Nauwelaerts.
624:
619:
644:
629:
549:
255:. With the marriage, Vladimir II tried to take control at least over Byzantine towns along the
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50:. In 1095, he invaded the Byzantine Empire at the head of a Cuman host and advanced as far as
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guides the Cumans were able to bypass the
Byzantine forces and descend onto the plains of
8:
169:
93:
39:
127:
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35:
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his base of operations. The emperor placed detachments to guard the passes over the
570:
The
Byzantine Personalities of the Alexiad: Prosopographical Analysis and Synthesis
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522:
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a decade later. Thus the pretender's cause received a boost when the citizens of
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in 1073. Since the son of Romanos IV who died at Antioch was not Leo but rather
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Les personnages byzantins de l'Alexiade: Analyse prosopographique et synthèse
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near the river, and Alexios moved out with his army to confront them, making
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frontier and was known to the Cumans, dying in battle against them in 1087.
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opened their gates and acclaimed him emperor, followed soon after by
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The pretender now persuaded the Cumans to push further south on
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38:. Of lowly origin, he pretended to be a son of Emperor
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According to Anna's account, Pseudo-Diogenes came to
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548:. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Archived from
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341:
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592:Mathieu, Marguerite (1952). "Les faux Diogènes".
527:(in French). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
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524:Pouvoir et Contestations à Byzance (963–1210)
211:At this point, one of Alexios' commanders,
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46:, he escaped and took refuge among the
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26:(died after 1095) was an unsuccessful
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196:Route of the Cumans' invasion of 1095
243:By supporting Constantine Diogenes,
54:before being captured by a ruse and
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585:
14:
661:
640:Byzantine prisoners and detainees
542:Dawes, Elizabeth A., ed. (1928).
500:
132:
98:
650:Military history of the Cumans
206:Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder
1:
635:1090s in the Byzantine Empire
521:Cheynet, Jean-Claude (1996).
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7:
20:Pseudo-Constantine Diogenes
10:
666:
564:Skoulatos, Basile (1980).
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251:to him. She gave birth to
223:, he was delivered to the
247:married off his daughter
103:), and who had died near
101: 1068–1071–
61:
34:throne against Emperor
230:Eustathios Kymineianos
197:
75:
195:
178:Bohemond I of Antioch
69:
615:Byzantine pretenders
245:Vladimir II Monomakh
109:Constantine Diogenes
58:by loyalist forces.
625:Impostor pretenders
485:, pp. 245–247.
473:, pp. 99, 366.
461:, pp. 243–245.
449:, pp. 241–243.
437:, pp. 241–242.
413:, pp. 240–241.
389:, pp. 365–366.
377:, pp. 239–240.
365:, pp. 238–239.
301:, pp. 175–176.
170:Nikephoros Diogenes
94:Romanos IV Diogenes
40:Romanos IV Diogenes
24:Pseudo-Leo Diogenes
16:Byzantine pretender
620:Alexios I Komnenos
204:, whose governor,
198:
157:, but using local
128:Alexios I Komnenos
76:
72:Alexios I Komnenos
36:Alexios I Komnenos
534:978-2-85944-168-5
497:, pp. 76–77.
253:Vasilko Leonovich
92:, son of emperor
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155:Balkan Mountains
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135: 1081–1118
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507:Лев Девгеневич
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495:Skoulatos 1980
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425:, p. 241.
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403:
401:, p. 240.
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379:
367:
355:
353:, p. 238.
340:
336:Skoulatos 1980
315:
313:, p. 237.
303:
299:Skoulatos 1980
291:
289:, p. 100.
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275:Skoulatos 1980
266:
264:
261:
124:Constantinople
74:(r. 1081-1118)
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60:
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2:
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596:(in French).
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552:on 2014-08-14
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554:. Retrieved
550:the original
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176:invasion of
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90:Leo Diogenes
83:
80:Anna Komnene
77:
70:Portrait of
42:. Exiled to
23:
19:
18:
545:The Alexiad
226:droungarios
609:Categories
600:: 134–148.
556:2014-11-29
483:Dawes 1928
459:Dawes 1928
447:Dawes 1928
435:Dawes 1928
423:Dawes 1928
411:Dawes 1928
399:Dawes 1928
375:Dawes 1928
363:Dawes 1928
351:Dawes 1928
311:Dawes 1928
263:References
221:Tzouroulos
202:Adrianople
147:Paristrion
52:Adrianople
594:Byzantion
213:Alakaseus
151:Anchialos
32:Byzantine
28:pretender
186:Diabolis
578:8468871
515:Sources
234:blinded
139:Cherson
105:Antioch
85:Alexiad
56:blinded
44:Cherson
30:to the
576:
531:
257:Danube
232:, and
217:Poutza
174:Norman
163:Thrace
117:Danube
113:Cumans
48:Cumans
568:[
182:Goloe
159:Vlach
574:OCLC
529:ISBN
62:Life
82:'s
22:or
611::
598:22
343:^
318:^
165:.
141:.
133:r.
99:r.
580:.
559:.
537:.
130:(
96:(
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