Michael Monomachos
Byzantine general
Michael Senachereim Monomachos (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Σεναχηρείμ Μονομάχος; fl. 1315–1343/46) was a high-ranking Byzantine official, who served as governor of Thessalonica and Thessaly. He reached the high rank of megas konostaulos.
Life
Michael and his brother, George Atouemes Monomachos, were scions of the Monomachos family, an aristocratic lineage that stretched back to the 10th century. Their exact relation to other early 14th-century members of the family is unknown, and they are among the last attested members of the family in Byzantine times.
Michael is mentioned for the first time in 1315, when he served as governor (kephale) of Thessalonica. He continued in the same office in 1321, when he is recorded as tatas tes aules, and in 1327, when he was eparchos. In the civil war of 1321–28, he supported Andronikos II Palaiologos against his grandson, Andronikos III.
Monomachos remained in Thessalonica until 1332/3. In that year, Stephen Gabrielopoulos, the semi-independent ruler of western Thessaly and parts of southwestern Macedonia, died. Gabrielopoulos had been a Byzantine vassal, but the neighbouring ruler of Epirus, John II Orsini, quickly moved to take over his territories. In response, Andronikos III ordered Monomachos in Thessalonica to intervene, before coming himself to Thessaly at the head of an army.
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This entry incorporates text from “Michael Monomachos” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.