International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

João Vicente de Medeiros Publio Dias 
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany; 
[e-mail]
The Insubordination of Gregorios Taronites: 
A Precedent for the Future Fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire?
The reign of Alexios Komnenos (1081-1118) put an end to the years of political turmoil 
that marked the 11
th
century in Byzantium as a result of the legitimacy crises caused by the fall 
of the Macedonian dynasty. His successful military campaigns and how he bestowed offices and 
titles upon his relatives, assured Alexios I a long reign and the establishment of his own dynasty. 
Nevertheless, this “unbalanced” generosity toward his relatives and allies was not widely applauded 
by the Byzantine aristocracy, but rather contested and a source of dissatisfaction and hostility. At the 
same time, the eminence granted to his family did not ensure loyalty of every relative, for many of 

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them participated and even lead conspiracies, murder attempts, betrayals and insubordination acts, 
which Alexios Komnenos overcame with a mix of wide amnesties, punctual violent repression and 
performative acts to conquer the favor of the general opinion. 
One of these rebels was Gregorios Taronites, nephew of Maria Komnena, Alexios’s sister, and 
Michael Taronites, who himself was involved in the plot of Nikephoros Diogenes in 1094. Between 
September 1103 and September 1104, the emperor Alexios I Komnenos summoned Gregorios to 
Trebizond, in the region of Pontos, to substitute Dabatenos as doux of the city. When Taronites 
reached Pontos, he decided to rebel and wrote a long letter in which he insulted the emperor, his 
relatives, the senators, and army officials, and requested the support of the Danishmends Turks. The 
emperor sent his nephew, John Taronites, cousin of Gregorios, to deal with him. Eventually, Gregorios 
Taronites was defeated and imprisoned for many years, being pardoned by the intervention of the 
kaisar Nikephoros Bryennios, the emperor’s son-in-law. This episode was only reported by Anna 
Komnena, who nevertheless said nothing about the reasons for this act. During the reign of Alexios 
Kommenos and after, Trebizond was a rebellious hot spot: first Theodore Gabras resisted to accept 
the authority of the emperor, then his son Gregorios Gabras planned to escape from Constantinople 
and from the emperor’s watching eyes. Since many other insubordinations followed, this presentation 
will investigate the rebellion of Gregorios Taronites within the framework of the other autonomous 
tendencies in the region of Pontos, which resulted in its autonomy in the late Byzantine period. This 
episode will also be analyzed within the framework of the oppositional movements against Alexios 
I as well as of his policy of power distribution.