Manuel Maurozomes

1. Caesar Manuel Maurozomes

Manuel Maurozomes, offspring of the Maurozomes aristocratic family, was a dignitary of the court (he probably beared the title of caesar). Shortly before 1204 he was related by marriage to the deposed Seljuk sultan of Ikonion Kaykhusraw I, with whom afterwards he collaborated closely.1

2. Ruler Manuel Maurozomes

After the capture of Constantinople by the Latins (IV Crusade), Maurozomes attempted to establish an independent hegemony in the region of Phrygia. The same period, due to the alliance and family relationship with Kaykhusraw I, he went to Ikonion in order to help him regain his throne (1204/1205).

Shortly after, Maurozomes, reinforced by groups of Turcoman nomads and Seljuk mercenaries of Kaykhusraw, raided the valley of Meander in order to strengthen his position as independent ruler of Phrygia. His action ceased towards the end of 1204, when his forces were scattered by the troops of the emperor of Nicaea, Theodore I Laskaris (1204/1208-1222), whereas Maurozomes flew away.

3. Emir Manuel (pseudo) Comnenos Maurozomes

However, in February/March of 1206, in the context of a peace treaty signed between the emperor of Nicaea Theodoros I and the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I,2 the regions of Laodikeia and Chonai were placed under the authority of Maurozomes, who would nevertheless be a vassal of the sultan. Maurozomes offered his services to the successors of Kaykhusraw too, Kaykaus I (1211-1220) and Kaykobad I (1220-1237). During the period of his vassalage, he received the high title of the emir and the appellation Manuel (pseudo) Komnenos Maurozomes or emir (pseudo) Komnenos. He actively participated in the political and military events of the sultanate of Ikonion; he also took part in the invasion of the Seljuks in the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia (kingdom of Armenia Minor/Armenocilicia), whereas in 1220 he helped Kaykobad I to stabilize his authority after the death of his brother Kaykaus I.

He most probably died in 1230.



1. Manuel Maurozomes married in Constantinople his daughter to the deposed Seljuk sultan of Ikonion, Kaykhusraw I (1192-1197, 1204/5-1211). Α. Savvides argues that the marriage did not take place in Constantinople but in Phrygia. See Σαββίδης, Α., Βυζαντινά στασιαστικά και αυτονομιστικά κινήματα στα Δωδεκάνησα και τη Μικρά Ασία, 1189-1240 μ.Χ.: Συμβολή στη μελέτη της υστεροβυζαντινής προσωπογραφίας και τοπογραφίας την εποχή των Αγγέλων, των Λασκαρίδων της Νίκαιας και των Μεγαλοκομνηνών του Πόντου (Αθήνα 1987), pp. 232-233, n. 14.

2. Theodoros I Laskaris was forced to come into reconciliation with the sultan of Ikonion, in order to prevent the threat of a possible attack, given that he had to face the Latin raiders in the same time. See Σαββίδης, Α., Βυζαντινά στασιαστικά και αυτονομιστικά κινήματα στα Δωδεκάνησα και τη Μικρά Ασία, 1189-1240 μ.Χ.: Συμβολή στη μελέτη της υστεροβυζαντινής προσωπογραφίας και τοπογραφίας την εποχή των Αγγέλων, των Λασκαρίδων της Νίκαιας και των Μεγαλοκομνηνών του Πόντου (Αθήνα 1987), p. 235.