Byzantine family Skliros - The roots of our family (2)

Family tree of Skliros family in Byzantine times
In the fifth century, the seemingly invincible Roman Empire fell to hordes of invading barbarians, and most of Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages. Art, architecture, education and craftsmanship were lost as the common man struggled for survival in a world of anarchy, warring tribes and plundering invaders. And yet a small bastion of civilization survived midway between Europe and Asia. Some years earlier, the Roman Empire had split into two, with the eastern half taking Constantinople (previously named Byzantium) as its capital. This became the Byzantine Empire, the only surviving link with the old civilization.
Skleros Byzantine Genealogy - From BYZANTIUM 395-1057 by Charles Cowley
1. LEON Skleros (-after 811). The Historia Leone Bardæ Armenii filio ("Scriptor Incertus") names "Leonem Scleri cognominatum" who was expelled from the palace by Emperor Mikhael I (in [811]) and installed as "Peloponnesiaci tractus ducem"[1423].
1. PANTHERIOS [Photeinos] Skleros . He is named only in Arabic sources such as Munir[1424]. [Cedrenus records that Emperor Romanos appointed "Pantherius Romani imperatoris cognatus" as "domesticum scholarum" after dismissing "Joannem…Curcunam", dated to [943/44] from the context[1425]. It is not known whether "Pantherius" was Pantherios Skleros, although no other Pantherios has yet been identified in the primary sources. If this co-identity is correct, his relationship to the Lekapenos family has not been traced.] m GREGORIA, daughter of BARDAS & his wife ---. Her parentage is shown by Werner Seibt, citing the Chronicle of Theodore Skutariotes[1426]. Photeinos Skleros & his wife had three children:
a) BARDAS Skleros (-6 Mar 991). The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified. General of his brother-in-law Emperor Ioannes Tzimisces. Zonaras records that "Skleros" crushed the rebellion of "Bardas Phocas Leonis filius" at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Ioannes[1427]. He was promised the throne in 976 by his brother-in-law on his deathbed[1428]. Psellos records that "the notorious…Skleros" rebelled twice early in the reign of Emperor Basileios II, stating that he was "a competent planner…extremely clever…possessed of vast wealth…with the prestige of royal blood"[1429], the last point presumably being explained by his mother being a relative of Emperor Basileios I. He was defeated by Bardas Phokas 24 May 979 in the plain of Pankaleia near Amorium and fled to King Chosroes at Baghdad[1430]. Joining the rebellion of Bardas Phokas against Emperor Basileios II, Skleros and Phokas agreed to partition the empire between them, the agreement providing that Phokas would keep Constantinople and the European provinces while Skleros would take Asia Minor[1431]. Skleros rebelled against Phokas and proclaimed himself emperor at the same time, although he was captured by Phokas at Tyropaeum 14 Sep 987. After Phokas's death at the battle of Abydos 13 Apr 989, Bardas Skleros was released by Phokas's widow[1432]. Bardas Skleros rebelled again in 989, after which he was blinded, accepted the title curopalates, and died in retirement[1433]. m ---. The name of the wife of Bardas Skleros is not known. Bardas Skleros & his wife had one child:
i) ROMANOS Skleros . The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.
- see below.
b) KONSTANTINOS Skleros . His parentage is indicated by Leo Diaconus when he records the marriage of "Constantinus patricius Scleri frater"[1434]. m SOPHIA, daughter of LEON Phokas & his wife ---. Leo Diaconus records that "Constantinus patricius Scleri frater" was the husband of "sororem Phocæ"[1435]. Her name is confirmed by Cedrenus who records that "Sophia Phocæ soror" married "Constantino Duri fratri"[1436].
c) MARIA Skleraina . Leo Diaconus records that "Bardam cognomento Sclerum…cuius sororem Mariam" was previously the wife of "Ioannes"[1437]. m as his first wife, IOANNES Tzimisces, son of --- Tzimisces & his wife --- Kourkas (-10 Jan 976). He succeeded in 969 as Emperor IOANNES I .
ROMANOS Skleros, son of BARDAS Skleros & his wife --- . The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified.
m ([978]) [---, relative of ABU TAGHLIB Emir of Mosul, daughter of ---. Arabic sources mention a marriage alliance between the Skleros family and the family of the Emir of Mosul without specifying the parties. It seems unlikely that a Muslim would give a relative to a Christian Greek unless he converted to Islam, which Romanos did not. If the report is correct, she may have been a female relative married into the Emir's family[1438].]
Romanos Skleros & his wife had [two] children:
1. BASILEIOS Skleros (-after 1033). Cedrenus records that Emperor Konstantinos VIII, after his accession (in 1025), sent "Romani Sclyri filio, patricio Basilio" against "Prusianum Bulgarorum magistrum ac bucellariorum præfectum"[1439]. A seal dated to [1025] names "Basileios Skleros patrikios"[1440]. A seal dated to [1025/55] names "Basileios Skleros, magistros vestes and strategos of Anatolikon"[1441]. Cedrenus records that Emperor Romanos Argyros installed "Romanum Sclerum" (presumably an error for "Basilium"), blinded by Emperor Konstantinos VIII, as magister[1442]. Psellos records that he was blinded[1443]. Cedrenus records that "Basileus…Skleros…sororis imperatoris maritus…magister" was sent into exile "cum uxore", dated to [1033][1444]. m PULCHERIA Argyre, sister of Emperor ROMANOS III, daughter of --- Argyros & his wife --- (-[1033/34]). Cedrenus records that "Romanum Sclerum" was "sororis suæ maritum" (referring to Emperor Romanos Argyros)[1445]. Psellos names "Pulcheria, the emperor's sister, a woman of great spirit…who contributed not a little to her brother's success", when recording that she controlled the over-spending of her brother's second wife[1446]. Psellos records that "his sister Pulcheria" was enraged by Empress Zoe's love affair with Mikhael, but that she "died not long after"[1447]. Her husband's name is confirmed by Psellos when he records the second marriage of Konstantinos Monomakhos, arranged by Romanos Argyros before he became emperor, to "the daughter of his sister Pulcheria, who in the past had been married to Basil Sclerus"[1448]. This text implies that the marriage was terminated. Basileios Skleros & his wife had one child:
a) daughter (-before 1034). Psellos records the second marriage of Konstantinos, arranged by Romanos Argyros before he became emperor, to "the daughter of his sister Pulcheria, who in the past had been married to Basil Sclerus", stating that she was her parents' only child[1449]. Zonaras records that, after the death of his first wife, Konstantinos married "imperatoris Romani nepte ex fratre"[1450]. According to Psellos, she died before her husband's exile to Lesbos[1451]. m (before 1025) as his second wife, KONSTANTINOS Monomachos, son of THEODOSIUS Monomachos & his wife --- ([1005/10]-11 Jan 1055, bur Monastery of Mangana). He succeeded in 1042 as Emperor KONSTANTINOS IX.
2. [--- Skleros . m ---.]
a) [ROMANOS Skleros (-after 1057). Zonaras names "Sclerus Romanus, adamatæ mulieris frater" (referring to "Monomachum"), stating that the emperor had awarded him "magistri et protostratoris honorem"[1452]. Skylitzes names Romanos as brother of Maria[1453]. Emperor Konstantinos IX chose him as one of his personal advisers after his accession in 1042[1454]. Cedrenus names "Romanus Sclerus, Burtza, Botaneiates, Basilii Argyrii filii" among the supporters of Isaakios Komnenos, in 1057[1455].] m ---. The name of Romanos's wife is not known. Romanos & his wife had one child:
i) --- Skleros . m ---. One child:
(a) --- Skleros . Psellos refers to Skleros, a grandson of Romanos Skleros in a letter[1456].
b) [MARIA [Skleraina] (-[1044], bur Monastery of Mangana[1457]). Zonaras records that, after the death of his second wife, Konstantinos was unable to marry a third time but took as his mistress "consobrina uxoris suæ…adulescentula…et nobili Sclerorum familia orta"[1458]. Psellos records that "the niece of his late wife" became mistress of Konstantinos Monomakhos, the future Emperor Konstantinos IX, after the death of his second wife, being unable to marry her because of the Orthodox church's prohibition of third marriages[1459]. As Psellos, in an earlier passage, records that the second wife of Konstantinos was her parents' only child[1460], the word "niece" cannot be interpreted in its strict sense in this text. The editor of the edition of Psellos which has been consulted states that she was the sister of Romanos Skleros and granddaughter of Bardas (children of an otherwise unrecorded brother of Basileios Skleros), but the primary source on which this is based has not so far been identified[1461]. If this is correct, she and her brother must have been born from an otherwise second marriage of Basileios Skleros. Psellos hints that this might be correct when he refers to her in later passages as "Sclerena"[1462]. Another possibility is that one of Maria's parents was the daughter or son of either Pulcheria Argyre or Basileios Skleros (the parents of Konstantinos's first wife) by a second marriage: Psellos does suggest that Pulcheria and Basileios's marriage terminated early when he states that "…Pulcheria…in the past had been married to Basil Sclerus"[1463]. The primary source which confirms her name has not so far been identified. She followed Konstantinos Monomachos into exile on Lesbos in 1034. She was recalled to Constantinople after her husband's accession, but was unpopular, her presence causing a riot 9 Mar 1044. Eventually, she was introduced openly to the Palace as her husband's mistress, acting as a junior consort and granted the title Augusta[1464]. Psellos records the death of "Sclerena" and the emperor's grief[1465]. Mistress: (before 1034-[1044]) of KONSTANTINOS Monomachos, son of THEODOSIUS Monomachos & his wife --- (-11 Jan 1055, bur Monastery of Mangana). He succeeded in 1042 as Emperor KONSTANTINOS IX. He was unable to marry Maria as the Orthodox church prohibited third marriages[1466].]
1. THEODOTOS Skleros (-after [1000]). A seal dated to [1000] names "Theodotos Skleros patrikios"[1467].
2. PANTHERIOS Skleros . A seal dated to [1048] names "Pantherios Skleros"[1468]. A seal dated to [1052] names "Pantherios Skleros, anthypatos and patrikios"[1469].
3. IOANNES Skleros (-after [1050]). A seal dated to [1050] names "Ioannes Skleros, patrikios anthypatos and strategos of Peloponnesos"[1470].
Two siblings, parents not known:
4. NIKOLAOS Skleros . A seal dated to [1060] names "Nikolaos Skleros, magistros and epi ton deeseon"[1471]. A seal dated to [1063] names "Nikolaos Skleros, vestes and krites of Boukellarion"[1472]. A seal dated to [1075] names "Nikolaos Skleros, magistros vestes and epi ton deeseon"[1473].
5. --- . m ---. One child:
a) ANASTASIOS Lisikos . Psellos refers to Anastasios as a?e???? of Nikolaos Skleros in a letter[1474], naming him Anastasios Lisikos in other letters[1475], and giving him the titles krites, patrikios and vestarches in others[1476].
6. KONSTANTINOS Skleros (-after [1088]). A seal dated to [1050] names "Konstantinos Skleros, protospatharios krites of the hippodrone and…Moglena"[1477]. A seal dated to [1070] names "Konstantinos Skleros, magistros and vestes"[1478]. A seal dated to [1075] names "Konstantinos Skleros, vestarches and krites of Thrace and Macedonia"[1479]. A seal dated to [1088] names "Konstantinos Skleros, protoproedros and krites of Thrace and Macedonia"[1480].
7. LEON Skleros (-after [1085]). Three seals dated to [1065] name "Leon Skleros, vestarches and krites of Anatolikon" (two) and "Leon Sk leros, vestarches and krites of Opsikion"[1481]. Two seals dated to [1070] name "Leon Skleros, magistros and praetor of Opsikion"[1482]. A seal dated to [1073] names "Leon Skleros, magistros and praetor of Boukellarion"[1483]. A seal dated to [1080] names "Leon Skleros, magistros and epi tou vestiariou"[1484]. A seal dated to [1085] names "Leon Skleros, magistros vestes vestarches and krites of Aegean Sea"[1485].
8. THEODOROS Skleros (-after [1084]). A seal dated to [1084] names "Theodoros Skleros vestes and oikistikos"[1486].
9. ANDRONIKOS Skleros (-after 1094). A seal dated to [1084] names "Andronikos Skleros"[1487]. The synod of 1094 names Andronikos Skleros, logothetis tou dromou, protonobelissimos[1488].
10. MIKHAEL Skleros [I] (-after 1094). Two seals dated to [1080] and [1083] name "Michael Skleros, protoproedros, krites and exisotes of the West"[1489]. Two seals dated to [1050] and [1085] name "Michael Skleros protoproedros and anagrapheus of Drogoubiteia"[1490]. The synod of 1094 names Mikhael Skleros, kouropalates[1491].
11. MIKHAEL Skleros [II] (-after [1120]). From a chronological point of view, it is likely that this Mikhael Skleros was a different person from the preceding Mikhael Skleros. A seal dated to [1100] names "Michael Skleros nobelissimos"[1492]. A seal dated to [1100] names "Michael Skleros protoproedros"[1493]. A seal dated to [1120] names "Michael Skleros proedros and doux of Bodena and Sthlanitza"[1494].
12. [IGNATIOS] Skleros (-after [1100]). A seal dated to [1100] names "Ignatios Skleros monk"[1495]. It is possible that Ignatios was his monastic name and he is the same person as one of the other individuals named Skleros who are shown in this document.
13. ROMANOS Skleros (-after [1133]). Two seals dated to [1133] name "Romanos Skleros"[1496].
14. THEODORA (-after [1133]). A seal dated to [1133] names "Theodora Skleraina"[1497].
15. NIKOLAOS Skleros (-after [1178]). A seal dated to [1178] names "Nikolaos Skleros, protoproedros megas skeuophylax of Blachernai and protos tes presbeias"[1498].
16. ROMANOS Skleros (-after [1200]). A seal dated to [1200] names "commander…Romanos Skleros"[1499].
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