Tornikes

Tornikes (Greek: Τορνίκιος, Tornikios) is the name of a Byzantine Empire aristocratic family dedicated to the civil service at Constantinople. The feminine form of the name is Tornikissa.
==History==
The family's origins lie in the Caucasus, although it is unknown whether Georgian and Armenian blood flows in their veins. The original Tornikioi came to Constantinople in the tenth century, and they claim that St. John Tornikes, a monk of Mount Athos, was one of its early members. The family first rose to prominence under Alexios III Angelos, who had Demetrios Tornikes appointed as the Logothete of the Course and his son Constantine the Eparch of Constantinople, and later his father's successor to his office. However, it would be Constantine's own son, Demetrios Tornikes, who would truly shine in service of John III Doukas Vatatzes, who had him named as his chief minister, effectively the head of the imperial bureaucracy.
The family declined in influence after Theodore II Laskaris came to the throne, but retained their importance. Demetrios' youngest son Niketas Tornikes served Theodora of Antioch, Queen of Armenia and Syria, as her master of ceremonies.
Category:Byzantine families