John Melissenos (Sebastokrator)

John Melissenos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Μελισσηνός, Iōannēs Melissenos, c. 1241, Philadelphia – c. 1298, Thessalonica) was a thirteenth-century Byzantine aristocrat who served as joint military governor (diplodoux) of the themes of Thessalonica and Strymon and held the high-ranking title of Sebastokrator. He was the second son of emperor Romanos V Melissenos.
John was firstly raised at Philadelphia and then sent to be educated by the great master George Akropolites at Constantinople in his adolescene, with no extraordinary results. He remains obscure for most of his life, constantly overshadowed by his father, elder brother and nephew, and even other generals in the Eastern army as the Synadenoi and Alexios Raoul. He rose to prominence upon his father's ascension to the purple as sole Emperor in 1285, upon which he was created a Sebastokrator (though significantly not a despot). A year later, Emperor Romanos V appointed him as Diplodoux of Thessalonica and Styrmon, a grand honor which made John into one of the most powerful men in the Roman Empire. However, in spite of the Emperor's favor, it can be said that father and son enjoyed a strained relationship. The death of John's infant first-born Romanos Melissenos in 1270 foreshadowed increased distance in the future, as a consequence of Basil Melissenos' death in the Battle of Seleucia. Rather than binding the family tighter together, the elderly Emperor could not stand to look at his second son's face and not see Basil's. Hence John's elevation to the rank of Sebastokrator and his luxurious exile from court as doux of two themes. He died in 1298 at Thessalonica and was buried at the local basilica church of St. Demetrius. 
== Family ==
John Melissenos was married to the Byzantine noblewoman Theophano Kontostephana, who outlived him. They had five known children:
* Romanos, who died in infancy. 
* Romane, who married Hulegu Khan and was later canonized as St. Romane of the Parthians. 
* Theognosia, who married Theodore Branas, protosebastos.
* Eudokia, a nun at Constantinople under the name Eulogia.
* Theodore, who obtained the rank of panhypersebastos following his father’s death.
Category:Byzantine people