Gabras or Gavras feminine form Gabraina (Γάβραινα), is the surname of an important Byzantine aristocratic family, which became especially prominent in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as the semi-independent and quasi-hereditary rulers of Chaldia. The Gabrades are attested for the first time in the late 10th century, when Constantine Gabras participated in the revolt of Bardas Skleros. The general Theodore Gabras captured Trebizond and ruled it and the theme of Chaldia as a virtually autonomous state (ca. 1081-1098). He was celebrated for his martial exploits, and was later venerated as a saint in the region. His son, Constantine Gabras, also became governor of Chaldia (ca. 1119-1140) and ended up ruling it as a quasi-independent prince. Several members of the family entered service with the Seljuk Turks in the 12th and 13th centuries, and in the 14th century, several Gabrades are attested in administrative positions in Byzantium, most notably the official and scholar Michael Gabras, known for his extensive correspondence with the main Byzantine literary and political figures of his day, and his brother John. A branch of the family also became rulers of the Principality of Theodoro in the Crimea.
The family first appears in the northeastern corner of the Byzantine world, the province of Chaldia, centred on Trebizond. The historian Anthony Bryer, however, considers more likely that the name is a cognate of the Arabic kafir, Persian gabr or Turkish gavur, terms meaning "infidel" or "unbeliever", which is appropriate for the Christian - Muslim borderlands where the Gabrades first appear. It seems that the Gabrades arose from the Inner Pontus, a region with its own distinct identity: a mountainous area, it was scarcely affected by Hellenization and preserved a traditional and archaic societal structure, with tiny lordships centred on mountain strong-holds. The first known member of the family, Constantine Gabras, participated in the 976-979 revolt of Bardas Skleros, and was killed in battle in 979. A patrikios Gabras appears in 1018, who was blinded for plotting along with the Bulgarian Elemag to restore the recently subdued Bulgarian Empire; it is unclear, however, what his relation with the Chaldian Gabrades is, or whether he might be a Bulgarian noble. In 1040, a Michael Gabras was one of the leaders of a failed aristocratic conspiracy against the Domestic of the Schools Constantine, a brother of Emperor Michael IV (r. 1034-1041). He too was blinded along with his fellow conspirators.
The first important member of the family was Theodore Gabras. A native of Chaldia, he was an energetic and valiant man. He recaptured Trebizond from the Turks in 1075, and was appointed governor (doux) of Chaldia by Alexios I Komnenos in 1081. Gabras ruled Chaldia as a virtually independent ruler, and until his death in battle in 1098, he fought with success against the Danishmend Turks and the Georgians. He became a heroic figure in both Pontic Greek and Turkoman poetry, and was recognized by the Orthodox Church as a martyr and saint. Theodore Gabras was a Byzantine governor in the Pontus who was involved in a minor unsuccessful rebellion against the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos around the year 1091. Theodore Gabras is an Eastern Orthodox martyr whose feast day is celebrated on October 2. Theodore originally hailed from the Theme of Chaldia, and spent most of his adult life serving in the Byzantine army. A violent and energetic man, he had gained considerable fame as a gifted soldier, both courageous and cunning, with an outstanding record of success. It was reported that he rarely failed in any military task, and invariably got the better of his enemies. Already by 1067, when he commissioned a gospel preserved in St Petersburg, he had risen to the ranks of patrikios, topoteretes and hypatos. His crowning glory was the recapture of Trebizond from the Seljuk Turks during the 1080s, which he ruled for a time as if it were his own personal fiefdom. By the late 1080s, Theodore was once again residing at Constantinople, where Alexios I was keeping a concerned eye on him. In order to avoid any unnecessary temptations, he formally appointed Theodore Dux of Trebizond and ordered him to take up his post. Leaving his eldest son Gregory at the court with the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos, to whose daughter Gregory was engaged, he returned to Trebizond. Soon afterwards his first wife died, so Theodore married, apparently in 1091, a "most noble" lady from " Alania", and the first cousin of Isaac Komnenos's wife. According to Professor Cyril Toumanoff, the lady was the Georgian Bagratid princess Mariam , daughter of the Georgian king Bagrat IV and sister of the Byzantine princess Maria. When this became known the engagement between Gregory and the Komnenos daughter was broken off, as they were now considered close relatives and their marriage was prohibited by civil and ecclesiastic law. Alexios however was worried about Theodore’s reaction, so he kept Gregory at the court as a hostage in order to ensure Theodore’s continued good behavior. A man of Theodore’s military talents was too good to waste, and by 1097 he was once again at the front line, this time fighting the Turks as part of the initial alliance with the Crusaders. While the Franks were engaged at the Siege of Antioch, Theodore was marching with Alexios and helping him recapture towns in western Asia Minor. He was prominent in the capture of Bayburt, which was subsequently besieged by the Turks who hoped to reclaim it. Turning around, Theodore contemplated a night attack against the enemy, but changed his mind. In 1099 during a campaign in the region of Erzerum, he was captured by the Danishmends and martyred. His younger son Constantine Gabras succeeded him as Dux of Chaldia. The feast day of Saint Theodoros Gabras is on October 2.
By his first wife, Irene (possibly a Taronitissa), Theodore Gabras had a son, Gregory Gabras, who was kept as a hostage in Constantinople, where he was initially betrothed to one of the daughters of the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos and later to Maria Komnene, daughter of Alexios I. Theodore tried to kidnap him in 1091, but failed. Nothing further is known of Gregory Gabras, but he may be identical to Gregory Taronites, who as doux of Chaldia in 1103-1106 also led a rebellion against Alexios. Another member of the family, Constantine Gabras, whose exact relation to Theodore is unknown, was also appointed doux of Chaldia by John II Komnenos (r. 1118-1143) ca. 1119. He ruled it practically independently from 1126 until 1140, when John II subdued him. His exploits also formed part of an extensive oral tradition in the Pontus, but the so-called "Song of Gabras", written down ca. 1900, has been shown to be a modern work drawing from other medieval sources. The Gabrades' success in creating a more or less autonomous domain is not surprising: northeastern Asia Minor, including Chaldia, had had a long history of disaffection with the central Byzantine government in the 11th century, helped by its mixed Greek and Armenian population, the latter introduced in the early 11th century and quickly coming to dominate the Pontic hinterland. Already before the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the renegade Frankish mercenary Robert Crispin had made the fortress of Koloneia the centre of a separate domain, and was succeeded in 1073 by Roussel de Bailleul. Thus, when Theodore Gabras appeared at Trebizond in 1075 and again in 1081, he was seen as a native leader for the Pontic Greeks of the coastlands, and his regime relied on local forces, i.e. the old thematic levies of the province.The Gabrades' Turkish counterpart and main rivals were the Danishmendid emirs of Neokaisareia and Sebasteia. On the other hand, as Bryer comments, "although rivals, the Gabrades and the Danishmendids probably had more in common with each other than they had with the Komnenoi of Constantinople or the Seljuks of Konya"; the two often allied with each other, especially against efforts by their respective suzerains to bring them to heel, and the Gabrades are remembered as gallant foes in Turkoman heroic poetry.
Following the collapse of their independent power, many of the Gabrades came to serve under the new Seljuk Sultanate at Konya, while others went to serve the Komnenoi emperors at Constantinople and mostly lost their ties to the Pontus. Already in the 1140s, a nameless member of the family fought on the side of the Seljuks and was captured and executed by Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143-1180) in 1146. Another Gabras, possibly the son of the former, defected from Byzantium to Kilij Arslan II (r. 1155-1192) and became one of his leading advisors. He may be identical with, or the father of, Kilij Arslan's vizier during the last part of his reign (ca. 1180–1192), Ikhtiyar al-Din Hasan ibn Ghafras. Other members of the family in Seljuk service include Constantine Gabras, possibly the son of the doux Constantine, who "betrayed" the emperor while on a diplomatic mission in 1162/3; an unnamed Gabras who was accused of poisoning Kilij Arslan II in 1192; John Gabras ("Giovanni de Gabra"), who was sent to a diplomatic mission in Europe on behalf of Sultan Kayqubad I in 1234-1236; and a Michael ("Mikhail bar Gavras") who was a physician at Malatya ca. 1256. On the other hand, the pansebastos sebastos Michael Gabras was a general of Manuel I Komnenos, fighting against the Hungarians and the Seljuks, and became related to the imperial dynasty as a son-in-law of Andronikos Komnenos.
The surname of Gabras is still attested in the Byzantine world during the 13th and 14th centuries, but the family had lost its prestige. Some of the Gabrades of this period were peasants who adopted the surname of their masters, and most of the family members attested in government service were lowly officials. Under the Empire of Nicaea, the Gabrades appear in Macedonia and western Asia Minor. A pansebastos sebastos Ioannakios or Ioannikios Gabras is mentioned in the ca. 1216; a megaloepiphanestatos Gregory Gabras is mentioned as governor of a village near Prilep in the 1220s, and the latter's relative, the pansebastos sebastos Stephen Gabras, was active near Ohrid; a John Gabras sold land near Miletus in 1236; and a Constantine Gabras was protopapas ("senior priest") of the Metropolis of Miletus ca. 1250. In the Palaiologan period, the pansebastos sebastos Christopher Gabras died as a monk ca. 1264/5; Manuel Doukas Komnenos Gavras is attested as benefactor of a monastery in 1300/1; other members of the family are occasionally mentioned in legal documents, epigrams or correspondence as active in Constantinople and Macedonian cities like Serres or Veroia. Gabras Komnenos, of unknown first name, held the post of "judge of the army" (krites tou phossatou) and is recorded by Manuel Philes as a "slayer of the barbarians"; a John Gabras Kaballarios was hetaireiarches at Serres ca. 1348; another family member held a pronoia estate at Kalamaria before 1347. Other Gabrades were serfs (paroikoi), attached to large estates: Michael Gabras at Leros ca. 1263; Demetrios and his sons Michael and Philotheos, as well as a probably related Basil Gabras, as paroikoi of the Esphigmenou monastery at Rentina ca. 1300; finally, Demetrios Gabras Chrito[u]s and George Gabras were paroikoi of the Xeropotamou monastery at Rebenikeia in the early 14th century. The most famous of the Palaiologan-era Gabrades, however, is Michael Gabras, a sakellarios of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and "the most prolific of all Byzantine letter writers" (A. Bryer), whose correspondence spans the period 1305-1341 and includes most of the major political and literary figures of his day. He also had a brother John, who wrote a theological treatise against the doctrines of Gregory Palamas. A few Gabrades also remained in the Pontus, where they entered the service of the Empire of Trebizond , established by the exiled Komnenoi shortly before the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204: most notably, a member of the family was governor of Sinope during the brief period when it was reclaimed from the Turks by Trebizond (ca. 1254 or 1258/9-1265 or 1267/8). Other family members are mentioned as landholders, mostly in the bandon (province) of Matzouka, south of Trebizond: Andronikos Gavras, probably in the 13th century; a George Gabras ca. 1344/5; Kosmas, a military leader (polemarchos) in the bandon of Matzouka ca. 1378; and Theodore Gabras in Gemora in the early 15th century.
A branch of the Gabras family is commonly identified by scholars with the family known from Russian sources as "Khovra". This family ruled the small Principality of Theodoro, which was founded in the mid-14th century in the southwestern
Crimea (in the area of "Gothia ") and survived until conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1475. The southern Crimea had been part of the Byzantine Empire until the late 12th century, and then came under the control of the Empire of Trebizond for a generation, but retained close links with the Pontic coast long after. While several hypotheses have been put forward as to how, when, and which branch of the Gabrades relocated there, none can be conclusively proven. The first Gabras of Theodoro to be mentioned is Stephen ("Stepan Vasilyevich Khovra"), prince of Gothia, who emigrated to Moscow in 1391 or 1402 along with his son Gregory. The two became monks, and Gregory later founded the Simonov Monastery there. The Russian noble families of Khovrin and Golovin claimed descent from them. Stephen's son, Alexios I, ruled Gothia after his father's departure until 1444/5 or 1447. He was succeeded briefly by John, possibly his son. John's son Alexios died young ca. 1446/7, and his epitaph was composed by John Eugenikos . Another son of Alexios, Olubei, succeeded as prince ca. 1447 and ruled until ca. 1458, while a daughter of Alexios, Maria of Gothia , became in 1426 the first wife of the last Trebizondian emperor, David. After the disappearance of Olubei from the scene ca. 1458, no princes are known by name until Isaac in 1465, possibly Olubei's son. Isaac was overthrown in 1475 by his brother Alexander due to his pro-Ottoman stance. His reign was brief, as the Ottoman Empire laid siege and conquered Theodoro itself in December. Alexander and his family were taken captive to Constantinople, where the prince was beheaded, his son was forcibly converted to Islam, and his wife and daughters became part of the Sultan's harem. The Principality of Theodoro, also known as Gothia or Gotho-Byzantine principality of Theodoro-Mangup, was a small principality in the south-west of Crimea and both the final rump state of the Roman Empire and vestige of the Crimean Goths until its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1475. Its capital was Doros, which was also sometimes called Theodoro and is now known as Mangup. The state was closely allied with the Empire of Trebizond and was distinctive for its East Germanic Hellenized population. Its population was a mixture of Greeks, Crimean Goths, Alans, Bulgars, Cumans, Kipchaks and other ethnic groups, which confessed Orthodox Christianity. The principality's official language was Greek. The territory was initially under the control of Trebizond as part of its Crimean possessions, the Gazarian Perateia. The Principality of Gothia is first mentioned in the early 14th century, with the earliest date offered by the post-Byzantine historian Theodore Spandounes, who records the existence of a "Prince of Gothia" in the reign of Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328-1341). In ca. 1223, the towns of Gothia may have been tributary to the Empire of Trebizond, and in the late 13th/early 14th century Mangup became the centre of the Principality of Theodoro, whose ruling elite maintained Byzantine traditions and the use of the Greek language. The ruling dynasty, stemming from the area of Trebizond, was called Gabras or Chowra. In the late 14th century, one branch of the dynasty emigrated to Moscow, where they established the Simonov Monastery. The Khovrins, as they came to be known, were hereditary treasurers of Muscovy. In the 16th century, they changed their name to Golovin. The principality had peaceful relations with the Golden Horde to its north, paying an annual tribute as vassals, but was in constant strife with Genoese Gazaria colonies to the south over access to the coasts and the trade that went through the Crimean harbours. A narrow strip of the coastal land from Yamboli (Balaklava) in the west to Aluston (Alushta) in the east initially part of the principality soon fell under Genoese control. Local Greeks called this region Parathalassia ("sea shore"), while under Genoese rule it was known as Captainship of Gothia. After they had lost harbours on the southern coast Theodorites built a new port called Avlita at the mouth of the Chernaya River and fortified it with the fortress of Kalamita (Inkerman). On 6 June 1475, the Ottoman commander Gedik Ahmet Pasha conquered Caffa and at the end of the year, after six months of besieging Mangup, the city fell to the assailants. While much of the rest of Crimea remained part of the Crimean Khanate, now an Ottoman vassal, the former lands of Theodoro and southern Crimea were administered directly by the Sublime Porte. The last notable members of the family are mentioned in Constantinople during the early centuries of the Ottoman Empire, as with Michael or Mozalos Gabras, active ca. 1555-65, or Cyril Gabras, megas skeuophylax of the Patriarchate in 1604. Other family members are attested in Crete and the Aegean islands. Thus an unnamed Gabras held lands in Santorini in the early 17th century; and numerous Gabrades are to be found at Chios and in Crete, especially around Siteia, until the early 19th century. For Crete in particular, it has been often supposed, although with no definitive evidence, that the local Gabrades came directly from the Pontus.
Costa-Gavras (Konstantinos Gavras 1933) is a Greek -French film director and producer, who lives and works in France. He is known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller Z (1969), but he has also made comedies. Most of his movies have been made in French ; however, six were made in English : Missing (1982), Hanna K. (1983), Betrayed (1988), Music Box (1989), Mad City (1997) and Amen. (2002). He produces most of his films himself, through his production company K.G. Productions. Costa-Gavras was born in Loutra Iraias, Arcadia. His family spent the Second World War in a village in the Peloponnese, and moved to Athens after the war. His father had been a member of the Pro-Soviet branch of the Greek Resistance, and was imprisoned during the Greek Civil War. His father's Communist Party membership made it impossible for Costa-Gavras to attend university in Greece or to be granted a visa to the United States, so after high school he went to France, where he began studying law in 1951. In 1956, he left his university studies to study film at the French national film school, IDHEC. After film school, he apprenticed under Yves Allégret, and became an assistant director for Jean Giono and René Clair . After several further positions as first assistant director, he directed his first feature film, Compartiment Tueurs, in 1965. Costa-Gavras is known for merging controversial political issues with the entertainment value of commercial cinema. Law and justice, oppression, legal/illegal violence, and torture are common subjects in his work, especially relevant to his earlier films. Costa-Gavras is an expert of the “statement” picture. In most cases, the targets of Costa-Gavras's work have been right-of-center movements and regimes, including Greek conservatives in and out of the military in Z, and right-wing dictatorships that ruled much of Latin America during the height of the Cold War, as in State of Siege and Missing. In a broader sense, this emphasis continues with Amen. given its focus on the conservative leadership of the Catholic Church during the 1940s. In this political context, L'Aveu (The Confession) provides the exception, dealing as it does with oppression on the part of a Communist regime during the Stalinist period. Costa-Gavras has brought attention to international issues, some urgent, others merely problematic, and he has done this in the tradition of cinematic story-telling. Z (1969), one of his most well-known works, is an account of the undermining in the 1960s of democratic government in Greece, his homeland and place of birth. The format, however, is a mystery-thriller combination that transforms an uncomfortable history into a fast-paced story. This is a clear example of how he pours politics into plot, "bringing epic conflicts into the sort of personal conflicts we are accustomed to seeing on screen." His accounts of corruption propagated, in their essence, by European and American powers (Z, State of Siege and Missing) highlight problems buried deep in the structures of these societies, problems which he deems not everyone is comfortable addressing. The approach he adopted in L'Aveu also "subtly invited the audience to a critical look focused on structural issues, delving this time into the opposite Communist bloc." Costa Gavras never worked in Greece and never made a film in Greek language. Costa-Gavras has received an honorary doctorate from the Film School of the Aristotle University in 2013. He was president of the Cinémathèque Française from 1982 to 1987, and again since 2007. He was interviewed extensively by The Times cultural correspondent Melinda Camber Porter and was featured prominently in her book Through Parisian Eyes: Reflections on Contemporary French Arts and Culture (1993, Da Capo Press). He received the Magritte Honorary Award at the 3rd Magritte Awards. He is a first cousin of recording artist Jimmie Spheeris, filmmaker Penelope Spheeris, and musician Chris Spheeris. His daughter Julie Gavras and his son Romain Gavras are also filmmakers.
Πηγή: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa-Gavras
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabras
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Gabras
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Theodoro
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