Stephen Hagiochristophorites

Stephanos Hagiochristophorites was a courtier of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus I, apparently his man for dirty affairs. It had been cut off because of him of trying to seduce a nobleman 's nose. Stephanos Hagiochristophorites, the Hetaireiarch Tripsychos Constantine, who had already killed the Empress Maria of Antioch ( Maria- Xene ), and Theodorus Dadibrenos slew the Emperor Alexios II on the instructions of his Mitherrschers Andronikos in 1183 with a bowstring. After Nicetas Choniates he was nicknamed Antichristophorites ( winner of the Antichrist instead of " carrier of Christos ' ), a reference to his evil reputation.

As 1185 Konstantinos Dukas macro and Andronikos Dukas were put on trial for violation of His Imperial Majesty and much people gathered, although false information about the location of the hearing had been sown, the court apparently fearing an acquittal. When the prisoners were brought from the prison to face the charges, Stephan Hagiochristophorites began to stone them with stones and forced others to follow him.

Hagiochristophorites led by the notorious water oracle, according to Nicetas Choniates tried with Andronikos, find out the name of his successor. The same should begin with an I, Andronikos Komnenos Isaac suspected of desires to the throne, but it should be Isaac II Angelos, who became his successor.

Swell

• J.-L. Van Dieten (ed.), Nicetas Choniates, Historia. Corpus Historiae Fontium Byzantinae 11 ( Berlin / New York, 1975).
• Vlachos, Th " O K I K ( 1184-1191 ). " Byzantina 6, 1974, 169-77.