John Axuch

John Axoukh or Axoukhos, also transliterated as Axuch ( _el. polytonic|Ἰωάννης Ἀξούχ [ος] , flourished circa 1087 - circa 1150) was the commander-in-chief ("megas domestikos") of the Byzantine Army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos, and the early part of the reign of his son Manuel I Komnenos.

Life

John was a Turk by birth (referred to anachronistically as a "Persian" by John Kinnamos).John Kinnamos, 5.21-22] As an infant he had been captured by Crusaders at Nicaea. He had been given to Alexios I Komnenos as a present and had been raised in the imperial household. [Axuch is sometimes referred to as a slave. According to the laws compiled by the emperor Justinian I a war captive was automatically given slave status, though this could, and often was, reversed. Unlike under the Ottoman system soldiers could not have any form of slave status in Byzantine forces. A slave would not have been considered as a fit companion for a young prince, therefore Axuch's "de jure" slave status must have been quickly disposed of.] Growing up he was a constant companion of John Komnenos. When the latter ascended the throne as John II in 1118, he appointed John Axuch as "megas domestikos". He was the emperor's only close personal friend and confidant, and all members of the imperial family were required to make obeisance to him. [Choniates, p. 7] After foiling a plot against his life and throne by his sister Anna and her husband Nikephoros Bryennios (who betrayed the plot), John II tried to give his sister's confiscated property to Axuch. Axuch wisely refused as he realised that it would have further soured his relations with the imperial family and made him unpopular with the higher aristocracy. Axuch also asked the emperor for clemency for Anna, and the two siblings were reconciled, at least to a degree. [Choniates, pp. 8-9]

The Emperor was an active soldier and often went on campaign, therefore he and Axuch often collaborated in their efforts. In the taking of Laodicea from the Seljuk Turks in 1119, Axuch conducted the siege, which then allowed John II a swift victory when he arrived on the scene. This campaign opened up the land route across Anatolia to Antalya and Cilicia.

When fighting the Pechenegs (Patzinaks) in the Balkans in 1122, Axuch was wounded in the leg or foot (see the Battle of Beroia). [Brand, p. 5] Axuch was also active during the campaigns of 1137-1138 in Cilicia, Antioch and Northern Syria, where he was also wounded. [Brand, p. 5] In 1143, on the death of John II following a hunting accident in Cilicia, John Axuch was instrumental in securing Constantinople for John's chosen successor, his younger surviving son Manuel I Komnenos, against the possible candidacies of his elder brother and uncle, both named Isaac. [Treadgold (1997), pp. 638-639] [Choniates, p. 29] Once in power, Manuel confirmed Axuch's position as "megas domestikos". [Choniates, p. 46]

John Axuch commanded the forces acting against the Normans of Sicily in Corfu (1148-1149), following the death in battle of the previous Byzantine commander, the "megas doux" Stephanos Kontostephanos. When rioting broke out between the Byzantine soldiery and the allied Venetians Axuch tried to mediate. However, he was eventually forced to send his bodyguard to quell the disturbance by force. [Brand, p. 5] The Normans eventually withdrew in 1149, surrendering their fortifications, when their provisions ran low. [Choniates, p. 48]

Unsurprisingly for someone raised by Alexios I, Axuch appears to have been very well educated. He had a lively interest in theology, and is known to have asked searching questions of the theologian Nicholas of Methone concerning the nature of the 'indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the apostles'. [Brand, p. 6]

Legacy

John II led virtually all of the important campaigns conducted during his reign personally; as a result of this circumstance Axuch is one of the few Byzantine commanders of this period to receive the notice of contemporary historians and chroniclers.

The Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates gave the following description of John Axuch's qualities:“Not only were his hands skilled in war but they were also quick and agile in performing good works. Furthermore, the nobility and liberality of his mind quite overshadowed his humble origins and made Axuch beloved by all.” [Choniates, pp. 7-8]

Family

John had a son, Alexios, [John Kinnamos, 227.17] who married Maria Komnene the daughter of John II's eldest son and co-emperor Alexios (died 1142). [Choniates p.59] Alexios Axuch was made "protostrator," the second-in-command of the Byzantine army. [John Kinnamos, 129.16-19] He was later accused of treason and in 1167 was forced to enter a monastery. [John Kinnamos, 267.16-269.23] John Axuch's daughter Eudokia married Stephanos Komnenos, a great-nephew of Alexios I Komnenos.

It is highly probable that John Axuch was the ancestor of Theodora Axuchina, wife of Alexios I, Emperor of Trebizond. Their eldest son bore the name John I Megas Komnenos Axouchos.

References

ources

Primary

*cite book|last=Choniates |first=Niketas |authorlink=Niketas Choniates |others=transl. by H. Magoulias |title=O City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniates |year=1984 |location=Detroit |isbn=0-814-31764-2 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O8arrZPM8moC
*cite book|last=Kinammos |first=John |authorlink=John Kinnamos |others=transl. by Charles M. Brand |title=Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus |year=1976 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=

Secondary

*Brand, Charles M., The Turkish Element in Byzantium, Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 43, (1989), pp. 1-25.
* Norwich, John Julius. "Byzantium: The Decline and Fall". (New York: Alfred P. Knopf, 1996) p. 66, 68.
*cite book|last=Treadgold |first=Warren |title=A History of the Byzantine State and Society |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC |year=1997 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804726302

ee also

* Komnenian army