Manuel Boutoumites
| Manuel Boutoumites | |
|---|---|
| Born | mid-11th century |
| Died | after 1112 |
| Allegiance | Byzantine Empire |
| Battles/wars | Siege of Nicaea, Byzantine–Seljuk Wars, Byzantine–Latin Wars |
Manuel Boutoumites or Butumites (Greek: Μανουὴλ Βουτουμίτης, fl. 1086–1112) was a leading Byzantine general and diplomat during the reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118), and one of the emperor's most trusted aides. He was instrumental in the Byzantine recovery of Nicaea from the Seljuk Turks, in the reconquest of Cilicia, and acted as the emperor's envoy in several missions to Crusader princes.
Boutoumites appears in Anna Komnene's Alexiad in 1086, when he was appointed as the doux of the Byzantine fleet by Alexios, and sent against Abu'l Qasim, the semi-independent Seljuk Turkish governor of Nicaea. Abu'l Qasim was preparing to launch a fleet into the Sea of Marmara to challenge the Byzantine navy. Alexios, determined to prevent this, sent against him Boutoumites with the fleet, while Tatikios would move against his base by land. The two generals successfully destroyed the Seljuk fleet and forced Abu'l Qasim to withdraw to Nicaea, whence he concluded a truce with Byzantium.
Later, in 1092, after Alexios's megas doux, John Doukas, defeated the emir Tzachas of Smyrna, Boutoumites, along with Alexander Euphorbenos, were given as hostages to the emir to guarantee his peaceful evacuation of the island of Lesbos. Soon after, Doukas and Boutoumites were sent against the rebellions of Karykes at Crete and Rhapsomates at Cyprus. After subduing Karykes's revolt, they headed to Cyprus, where Kyrenia fell quickly. Rhapsomates came out to meet them and occupied the heights above the city, but Boutoumites enticed many of his men to desert, and the rebel had to flee the battle. Boutoumites pursued and caught up with him at the church of the Holy Cross, where the rebel had sought refuge. Promising to spare his life, he captured him and brought him back to Doukas. According to tradition, while in Cyprus, he founded the Kykkos Monastery there.
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