Michael Doukas (protostrator)

Michael Doukas
Born	ca. 1061
Died	before 1117
Allegiance	Byzantine Empire
Rank	protostrator
Battles/wars	Byzantine–Norman wars, Battle of Levounion
Relations	John Doukas (brother)

Michael Doukas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Δούκας) was a member of the Doukas family, a relative of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and a senior military figure, with the rank of protostrator, during Alexios's reign. His life is only known through the Alexiad of Anna Komnene and the history of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios.

Michael Doukas was born circa 1061, the eldest son of the domestikos ton scholon Andronikos Doukas, son of the Caesar John Doukas, and his wife, Maria of Bulgaria, the granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria. Michael was thus the brother-in-law of Alexios I Komnenos, who had married his sister Irene Doukaina. In 1074, during the rebellion of the Norman mercenary Roussel de Bailleul, Michael and his younger brother John were at the estates of the Caesar John Doukas in Bithynia. Roussel demanded that the Caesar give up the two as hostages in return for releasing their wounded father, whom he held captive. The Caesar agreed, and the two were imprisoned by Roussel. The slave servants of the two boys managed to persuade a local peasant to help them escape and lead them to Nicomedia, but in the event, only Michael with his eunuch pedagogue Leontakios managed to escape and reach safety. His brother John remained behind, until he was liberated after Roussel's defeat later in the year.

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