Mouzalon

The Mouzalon (Greek: Μουζάλων) family was one of the most prominent families of the Byzantine Empire in the 13th century, which produced a considerable number of high civilian and military officials. They achieved their peak in the reign of Theodore II Laskaris, when George Mouzalon acted as his chief minister. The feminine form of the name is Mouzalonissa, and its plural form is Mouzalones.
==History and members==
The family is first attested in the 11th century, when they appear to have been noteworthy Byzantine officials in the Crimea and in the ecclesiastical bureaucracy. Indeed, in the late 11th century Nicholas Mouzalon rose to the position of Archbishop of Cyprus and was later elevated to Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Nicholas IV, a seat he controversially occupied from 1147 to 1151.
The most prominent branch of the family was undoubtedly the Mouzalones of Adramyttion throughout the 13th century. Under the patronage of Theodore II Laskaris, the brothers Theodore, George and Andronikos Mouzalon became important officials in the Byzantine bureaucracy and army. The eldest, Theodore, took office as Eparch of Constantinople. The youngest, Andronikos, was intimate to Theodore II Laskaris' inner circle and acted as his protospatharios (captain of guards) and later archon tou athanatou, the commander of the Athanatoi (Immortals), the principal imperial bodyguard. Meanwhile, George Mouzalon is recorded as the emperor's closest friend and adviser. He effectively ruled the Byzantine Empire in his capacity as megas domestikos (Grand Domestic) whilst the emperor was campaigning in the field.
The family's political hegemony came to a brutal and abrupt end in 1281, when their long time rival Michael Palaiologos staged a violent palace coup to overthrow John IV Laskaris in anticipation of Skantarios Laskaris' entrance to Constantinople. The brothers Theodore and George were executed by Palaiologan men-at-arms alongside most male members of the family, in spite of Michael's niece being George Mouzalon's wife. The only male survivors of the purge were George Mouzalon's grandsons George and Demetrios, who were infants at the time and had been hidden away by their paternal grandmother in the church of St. Mary of Blachernae until Skantarios Laskaris entered the city and had Michael Palaiologos executed for his crimes.
Throughout the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the Mouzalones lost much of their political protagonism, although the brothers George and Demetrios remained important civilian officials at Constantinople. However, most of their influence stemmed from the family matriarch, George Mouzalon's widow Theodora Palaiologina Kantakouzene, who was zostē patrikia (chief lady) to the empresses Theodora and Eudoxia, and their youngest daughter Antonina, who succeeded her mother as the zostē after her death.
Category:Byzantine families