Nicholas (komes)

Inscription in the National Historical Museum of Bulgaria citing Nicholas and Ripsime as grandparents of Ivan Vladislav, the son of Aron.

The komes ("count") Nicholas Bulgarian: Никола was a local ruler in Bulgaria, probably of Armenian origin, and progenitor of the Cometopuli ("the sons of the count") dynasty.

Life

According to the Armenian chronicler Stephen of Taron, the family originated in the Armenian region of Derdjan.[1][2] He was married to Ripsime or Hripsime, possibly a daughter of King Ashot II of Armenia.[3][4][5] The couple had four sons, David, Moses and Aron, and Samuel, who are collectively known as the Cometopuli (from Greek Kometopouloi, "sons of the komes"; Armenian կոմսաձագ Komsajagk).[1][2] Sometime in the 970s—the exact date is unclear and disputed—the brothers launched a successful rebellion against the Byzantine Empire, that had recently subdued Bulgaria; after the early death of his brothers, Samuel remained as the undisputed leader of Bulgaria, ruling as Tsar from 996 until his death in 1014.[6]

Other than that, nothing is known of Nicholas.[1] He may have ruled Serdica[7] or, according to other sources, was a local count in the region of the modern Republic of Macedonia.[8]

In 992/3, Samuel erected at German, near Lake Prespa, an inscription commemorating his parents and his brother David.[1]

Family tree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Count
Nicholas
 
 
 
Ripsime
of Armenia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
David
 
Moses
 
Aron
 
Samuel
of Bulgaria

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 PmbZ, Nikolaos (#26038.
  2. 1 2 ODB, "Kometopouloi" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1140–1141.
  3. ↑ Adontz, Nicholas (1938). "Samuel l'Armenien, roi des Bulgares". MAR Bclsmp (in French) (39): 37.
  4. ↑ David Marshall Lang, The Bulgarians: from pagan times to the Ottoman conquest, Westview Press, 1976, p. 67.
  5. ↑ Tom Winnifrith, Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania, Duckworth, 2002, p. 83.
  6. ↑ ODB, "Kometopouloi" (A. Kazhdan), pp. 1140–1141; "Samuel of Bulgaria" (A. Kazhdan & C. M. Brand), p. 1838.
  7. ↑ Prokić, Božidar (1906). Die Zusätze in der Handschrift des Johannes Scylitzes. Codex Vindobonensis hist. graec. LXXIV (in German). München. p. 28. OCLC 11193528.
  8. ↑ Southeastern Europe in the early Middle Ages. Florin Curta. page 241

Sources

  • Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
  • Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Zielke, Beate; Pratsch, Thomas, eds. (2013). Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). De Gruyter.

See also

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