# Sgouros family

The Sgouros (Medieval Greek: Σγουρός), also known as Sgouropoulos (Σγουρόπουλος), Sgouromallaios (Σγουρομαλλαίος), Sgouranos (Σγουρανός), Sgouris (Σγουρής), Sgourismenos (Σγουρισμένος), Sgouritzis (Σγουρίτζης), and Sgourogiannis (Σγουρογιάννης), was a Byzantine Greek noble family – composed of multiple branches – that originated from Nafplio.

## Name

The name of the family derives from the Greek adjective sgourós (σγουρός), which is indicative of wavy hair. According to linguist and philologist Georgios Babiniotis, the adjective sgourós derives either from Ancient Greek gurós (γυρός) 'curved, round' with the introduction of the prefix σ-, or from the noun svoúros (σβούρος), which might have been detached from svouró-mallos (σβουρό-μαλλος).

## History

The Sgouros family was a rich and powerful family, which first appeared in the middle of the 11th c. in Nafplio. From the very beginning right until the 15th c., it was part of the Byzantine provincial middle class. Members of the family appear to hold both political and ecclesiastical positions, and they were also distinguished as scholars, scribes, orators, etc. The Byzantinist Alexander Kazhdan, who was a notable scholar of mid-Byzantine and late Byzantine society, identified twelve representatives of the family during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118). With the appearance of the most prominent Sgouroi at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries (Theodoros and Leon), the family arranged marriages with the noble family of Angeloi.
Although many Sgouroi were distinguished in public administrative positions from the time of Alexios I Komnenos, they never seem to have been members of the aristocratic court in Constantinople. Some of the most important positions held by the recorded members – mainly from 1086/1088 AD and thereafter – were those of the protospatharios, sebastos, chartoularios, proedros, domestikos, protostrator, logothetis, megas hetaireiarches, protonotarios, prokathimenos, protallagator, and sebastohypertatos (by Leon Sgouros).

## Members

There have been about 90 recorded members of the family and its branches between the 11th and 15th centuries. Of those, only four were women. Furthermore, 37 belonged to the branch of Sgourópouloi (one related through marriage to the Doukas family), 16 to Sgoúroi (one related through marriage to the Doukas family), 14 to Sgouroí, four to Sgouromállides (two related through marriage to the Palaiologoi family), two Sgourítzes, and one Sgouranós, Sgourogiánnis, and Sgourothomás respectively. The following table lists them chronologically.
| Names | Dates | Notes |
| Mihaíl Sgourós | 11th c. | protospatharios |
| N. Sgourós | 1086 | proedros and accountant |
| Léon Sgourós | 1088 | chartoularios tou sekretou |
| Mihaíl Sgourós | 1192, 1197 | grammarian |
| Ioánnis Sgourós | fl. 1195–1203 | notable grammarian and notary |
| Nikítas Sgourópoulos | 1193 | scribe |
| Theódoros Sgourós | 1180/1189 – c. 1200 | father of Leon Sgouros and archon of Nafplio |
| Léon Sgourós | c. 1200 – c. 1208 | despot of Argolid and Corinthia, sebastohypertatos |
| Evdokía Aggelína–Sgoúrena | fl. 1204–1208 | wife of Leon Sgouros |
| Gavriíl Sgourós | fl. 1200/1208–1211/1212 | brother of Leon Sgouros and garrison commander of Nafplio |
| Konstantínos Sgourítzis | before 1264 | reader or lector, husband of Sevastía (landholder of Cephalonia) |
| Vasílios Sgourós | 1279 | from Constantinople |
| Loscuro (Lo Sguro) | 1277 | prison guard in Licolourafo (maybe Salamis) |
| N. Sgoúros | c. 1277–1278 | follower of bishop from New Heraclea (western Minor Asia) |
| N. Sgoúros | fl. 1282–1298 | clergyman of the diocese of Varavlonia (Avlona) |
| Xénos Sgourítzis | 1283 | priest in Smyrna |
| Simeón Sgourópoulos | c. 1283–1289 | employee (?) of Gregory II of Constantinople |
| N. Sgourós | c. 1283–1289 | treasurer of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | fl. 1286–1293 | domestikos of eastern themata, landowner of Lembiotissa Monastery (near Smyrna), slave of Andronikos II Palaiologos, pansebastos sebastos |
| Geórgios Sgouromállis (Sguro-mally) | c. 1293 | protostrator, protallagator of Morea |
| Dimítrios Sgourópoulos | 1297 – c. 1299 | imperial envoy (correspondence with Maximus Planudes) |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | 1298 and after | landowner (?) |
| Ioánnis Sgourós | 13th c. | hymnographer (?) |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | beginning of 14th c. | wheat trader in Constantinople |
| N. Sgoúros | c. 1300 | paroikos in Vrasta, Chalkidiki |
| Geórgios Sgoúros | fl. c. 1300–1321 | paroikos in Selas, Chalkidiki |
| Kónstas Sgoúros | 1304 | paroikos in Lemnos |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | c. 1307–1308 | correspondence with Michael Gabras |
| Mihaíl Sgouranós | c. 1313–1316 | deacon and lector in Mamouderta, Bithynia |
| Nikólaos Sgourópoulos | 1314 | priest in the suburb of Mina, Constantinople |
| Christóforos Sgourópoulos | 1314 | cleric in Thessalonica |
| Aléxios Sgourópoulos | 1315 | dignitary (correspondence with Michael Gabras) |
| N. Sgouromállis | c. 1316 | sebastos in Laconia |
| Bezános Sgoúros | fl. 1316–1341 | paroikos in Rodolivos, Serres |
| N. Sgourópoulos | before 1318 | landowner in Psalida, Chalkidiki |
| N. Sgourópoulos | before 1319 | founder of St George's Monastery in Artaki (Cyzicus) |
| Sgoúrena N. | 1319 | paroikos in Malouka, Strymon |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | 1320 | paroikos in Melitziani, Strymon |
| Theódoros Sgoúros | before 1321 | resident in Pteleon, Chalkidiki |
| Mihaíl Sgoúros | 1320/1321 | witness of sale deed by Archistratigos' Monastery of Zichni |
| Ioánnis Sgoúros | 1321 | paroikos in Lorotos, Chalkidiki |
| N. Sgoúros | 1321 | sebastos, primate of Ioannina (in chrysobull by Andronikos II Palaiologos) |
| Nikólaos Sgourós | 1322 | from Thessalonica (?) |
| Iákovos Sgourópoulos | c. 1323 – c. 1340 | clerk of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople |
| Dimítrios Sgoúros | 1327 | archon of Thessalonica |
| N. Sgourópoulos | 1330 | brother-in-law of Ioannis Laskaris and Georgios Padiatis (?) |
| Ioánnis Sgourogiánnis | 1331/1332 | donor of the Theotokos' Monastery in Kakodiki, Chania |
| N. Sgourogiannoú | 1331/1332 | donoress of the Theotokos' Monastery in Kakodiki, Chania |
| N. Sgourós | 1331/1332 | donor of the Theotokos' Monastery in Kakodiki, Chania |
| N. Sgourós | 1334 | landowner in Katroula, Constantinople |
| N. Sgourópoulos | before 1338 | sebastos (?) |
| Dimítrios Sgourópoulos | 1341/1342 | servant of John VI Kantakouzenos |
| N. Sgourópoulos | fl. c. 1342 | broker in Constantinople, landowner of Great Lavra's Monastery, Mount Athos |
| N. Sgourópoulos | first half of 14th c. | correspondent (correspondence with Georgios Oinaiotis) |
| N. Sgourópoulos | c. 1353 – c. 1354 | merchant in Constantinople, originating from Piges, Mysia |
| Andréas Sgourópoulos | 1357 | priest in Constantinople |
| Geórgios Sgourópoulos | 1357 | priest in Constantinople |
| Mihaíl Sgourópoulos | 1357 | priest and taboularios in Constantinople |
| Mihaíl Sgoúros | 1357 | priest in Constantinople |
| Damiano Sgurothoma (Damianós Sgourothomás) | fl. 1360–1370 | cowherd in Nafplio |
| N. Sgourópoulos | 1361–1364 | judge (?) |
| N. Sgourópoulos Doúkas | fl. 1362 and prior | scribe (?) |
| N. Sgoúros | 1362, 1377 and prior | judge of military camp in Rafalion, Chalkidiki |
| N. Sgourópoulos | 1364 | donor of Kolyva, Constantinople; could be the same individual as N. Sgourópoulos(c. 1353 – c. 1354) |
| Ioánnis Sgourópoulos | 1373–1376 | cleric and editor of documents in Thessalonica |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | fl. 1372–1375 | interpreter in Constantinople (correspondence with Demetrios Kydones) |
| N. Sgoúros | c. 1381–1382 | soldier (travelled from Thessalonica to Constantinople) |
| N. Sgourópoulos | 1387 | priest and lawyer in Chrysoupoli, Strymon |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | fl. 1387 | deacon of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople |
| Mihaíl Sgourópoulos | fl. 1390–1400 | cleric and owner of house in Constantinople |
| Ioánnis Sgourópoulos | second half of 14th c. | scribe (?) |
| Stéphanos Sgourópoulos | second half of 14th c. – beginning of 15th c. | protonotarios at the court of Komnenoi in Trebizond, lyricist |
| N. Sgouropoulína | 1400 | landowner in Constantinople |
| Iákovos Sgourópoulos | 1400 | employee of Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople |
| Kóstas Sgourís | 1409 | paroikos in Pinsona, Chalkidiki |
| Theódoros Sgourís | 1415 | worker in the salt pans of Thessalonica |
| Dimítrios Sgourópoulos | 1415 | worker in the salt pans of Thessalonica |
| N. Sgourós | 1419 | cleric, chartoularios of Hagios Demetrios' Monastery in Thessalonica |
| N. Sgourós | 1422 | landowner in Meteora |
| Matthéos Paleológos Sgouromállis | 1426 | native of Sparta, Peloponnese |
| Geórgios Sgourópoulos | 1430 | domestikos and composer |
| Dimítrios Sgourópoulos | fl. 1443–1447, d. 1491 or later | scribe of Bessarion |
| Manouíl Sgourópoulos | 1446 | from Chios (?) |
| Ioánnis Sgourópoulos | first half of 15th c. | archon of the churches, deacon, composer, domestikos of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople |
| Petrus Sguro (Pétros Sgourós) | c. 1452–1453 | military captain in Heraklion, Crete |
| Sgouromállis Paleológos | c. 1460 | archon of Karytaina |
| Andrónikos Doúkas Sgoúros | 15th c. | orator and writer (against Latins) |
| Dimítrios Sgourópoulos | middle of 15th c. (?) | reader or lector (?) |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 3 Vlachopoulou 2001, p. 17
* ↑ Georgakas 1937, pp. 37–52
* ↑ Babiniotis 2010, p. 1252
* ↑ Vlachopoulou 2001, pp. 17–18
* ↑ Vlachopoulou 2001, p. 18
* ↑ Vlachopoulou 2001, pp. 98–102
* ↑ PLP10 1990, pp. 195–203