Was Nikolaos Zounaras, the thematic judge of Thrake and Makedonia, active in the Rus’ after the council of Liubech (1097)
Was Nikolaos Zounaras, the thematic judge of Thrake and Makedonia, active in the Rus’ after the council of Liubech (1097)

Summary/Abstract: Nikolaos Zounaras / Zonaras served at the end of the eleventh century in the capacity of judge (κριτής) of the united themata of Thrake and Makedonia. There exist fi ve of his seals found in the Byzantine territory to guarantee the exact transcription of his seal’s legend. He was, from 1088 onward, protovestarches and grand chartoularios and later became droungarios tes viglas in the fi rst quarter of the twelfth century. It was an extraordinary surprise to fi nd extant (up to this point) some 15 (sic!) seal fragments of this seal type in the Old Rus’, especially in the knjažestvo of Chernigov / Chernihiv. The authors propose that Nikolaos was offi cially sent there by the Byzantine emperor to assist a fair division of Chernigov between the two brothers David and Oleg-Michael according to the agreement of the council of Liubech (1097). Zounaras’s activity throws new light on the Byzantine Rus’ian relations during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.

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