Doukas (historian)
| Doukas | |
|---|---|
| Born |
c. 1400 somewhere in western Asia Minor |
| Died | after 1462 |
| Nationality | Byzantine, Ottoman |
| Occupation | historian |
| Known for | being one of the most important sources for the last decades and eventual fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans |
Doukas or Dukas (c. 1400 – after 1462) was a Byzantine historian who flourished under Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor. He is one of the most important sources for the last decades and eventual fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans.
The date of Doukas's birth is not recorded, nor is his first name or the names of his parents. He was born probably in the 1390s somewhere in western Asia Minor, where his paternal grandfather, Michael Doukas, had fled. Michael Doukas was eulogized by his grandson as a learned man, especially in matters of medicine. He had played a role in the Byzantine civil wars of the mid-14th century as a partisan of John VI Kantakouzenos. Michael Doukas had been arrested by Alexios Apokaukos, and was one of the prisoners at the palace where Apokavkos was murdered by some of the inmates. Michael Doukas narrowly avoided becoming one of the 200 prisoners murdered in retribution by hiding in the underground chamber of the Church of Nea. He and five others disguised themselves as monks and managed to escape Constantinople. Michael met Isa, the grandson of Aydin, who became his patron and established him at Ephesus. He remained there even after the end of the civil war, convinced that sooner or later all of the remnants of the Byzantine state would succumb to the Turkish onslaught. Although his grandson claims so, it is unknown how, if at all, Michael was related to the old Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Doukai.
All we know of the younger Doukas is what he reveals of himself in his history. His earliest autobiographical allusion is dated to 1421, when he lived in New Phocaea and served as the Genoese governor's secretary. From New Phocaea, Doukas found employment with the ruling Gattilusi family on Lesbos. They employed him in various diplomatic missions to the Ottoman court. In 1451 he was in Adrianople when Murad II died and Mehmed II first entered the capital. In 1452, when Mehmed's army was beginning the siege of Constantinople, he was in Dikymotaichos where he saw the corpses of the Venetian crew and their captain executed for failing to stop at the fortress of Rumeli Hizar. In 1455, Doukas twice acted on behalf of the Gattilusi to the Ottomans, first delivering gifts to Hamza the Ottoman admiral, then in August delivered the annual tribute to the Sultan, a visit that required Doukas to bring his new master, Domenico Gattilusio before the Sultan.
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