Dorgholel, king of the Alans

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Paul K Davis

Dorgholel, king of the Alans

Legg inn av Paul K Davis » 10 apr 2005 06:30:02

Since Don Stone has reminded us that Pierre Aronax has informed us that the
true father of Irene, wife of Isaac Komnenos the first sebastokrator, was
not Demetrius the anti-king of Georgia, but rather Dorgholel the king of
the Alans, I now inquire, does anyone know of a clue who Dorgholel's wife
or parents were?

(Thanks Don & thanks Pierre.)

-- PKD [Paul K Davis, pkd-gm@earthlink.net]

Francisco Antonio Doria

Re: Dorgholel, king of the Alans

Legg inn av Francisco Antonio Doria » 10 apr 2005 12:30:03

This reminds me of another unsolved puzzle in early
Portuguese genealogy. The original lords of Braganza
[Bragança, in Portuguese] appear out of the blue in
the early 11th century and reign there as powerful
overlords until the mid 13th century - they dare to
offend the King of Portugal, without any reaction.

They have a mysterious founding legend. One Alan, or
Mendo [Hermenegildo] Alan, or Mendo the Alan (the name
is ambiguous) raped a daughter of the King of Armenia
who was in a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
(close to their domains). The legend says that the
rape happened in the monastery of Castro de Avelãs.

I once suggested that this legend might reflect an
ancient memory of Mendo Guterres, the lord of Coimbra,
and his descent from Ardabasto the Greek/Artavazd. But
this is just a conjecture; the sobriquet ``the Alan''
might indicate Alan origins.

Narciso Binayan-Carmona also gave an interpretation -
a different one - for that legend, but never touched
the Alan question.

fa

--- Paul K Davis <pkd-gm@earthlink.net> wrote:
Since Don Stone has reminded us that Pierre Aronax
has informed us that the
true father of Irene, wife of Isaac Komnenos the
first sebastokrator, was
not Demetrius the anti-king of Georgia, but rather
Dorgholel the king of
the Alans, I now inquire, does anyone know of a clue
who Dorgholel's wife
or parents were?

(Thanks Don & thanks Pierre.)

-- PKD [Paul K Davis, pkd-gm@earthlink.net]





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Gjest

Re: Dorgholel, king of the Alans

Legg inn av Gjest » 10 apr 2005 22:40:27

More Alans...

In his Chronographia, Michael Psellos relates that Constantine IX
Monomachos had as his mistress a princess of the Alans (Alania). As
related by Psellos:

"The kingdom of Alania was not particularly distinguished in itself,
nor had it any great prestige, but it regularly supplied pledges of its
loyalty to the Roman Empire. This girl was the daughter of the king
there. She was not remarkable for beauty and few suitors sought her
hand in marriage. Only two attributes lent her especial charm -- the
whiteness of her skin, and the brilliance of her very beautiful eyes.
Yet when the emperor once came under her influence, he forsook all his
other paramours. He lived with this girl alone and conceived for her a
most violent passion... he wanted to crown her with the diadem of an
empress, but two things restrained him: the law limiting the number of
marriages, and the empress Theodora, who would neither tolerate his
insult, nor agree to be both ruler and ruled. So the lady was not
permitted to wear the imperial robes, but Constantine did allow her to
share his title, for he called her Augusta...Two or three times every
year envoys used to come from her father in Alania to this girl
Augusta, and Constantine would show her off to them proclaiming that
she was his consort and empress, and he actually called her by those
names."

Unfortunately, I've yet to find any mention of her name in Psellos'
work. This Alanian princess seems to have become Constantine's mistress
just prior to the Empress Zoe's death, or just after (in 1050). Has her
place in the royal family of the Alans ever been asertained?

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