Asomatianos Tzamplakon was a Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 aristocrat and admiral during the Byzantine–Genoese War of 1348–1349

Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–1349)

The Byzantine–Genoese War of 1348–1349 was fought over control over custom dues through the Bosphorus. The Byzantines attempted to break Byzantium's dependence for food and maritime commerce on the Genoese merchants of Galata, and also to rebuild their own naval power...

.

The Tzamplakones were an important and wealthy aristocratic family attested since the mid-13th century, when one of its members achieved the high military rank of Domestic of the Schools

Domestic of the Schools

The Domestic of the Schools was a senior Byzantine military office, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the Scholai, the senior of the elite tagmata regiments, the Domestic quickly rose in prominence: by the mid-9th century, its...

. Alexios Tzamplakon

Alexios Tzamplakon

- Life :The Tzamplakones were an important and wealthy aristocratic family attested since the mid-13th century, when one of its members achieved the high military rank of Domestic of the Schools. Alexios was his son....

, Asomatianos' father, was this man's son. His brothers, Demetrios

Demetrios Tzamplakon

Demetrios Tzamplakon was a Byzantine aristocrat and senior military leader.The Tzamplakones were an important and wealthy aristocratic family attested since the mid-13th century, when one of its members achieved the high military rank of Domestic of the Schools. Alexios Tzamplakon, Demetrios'...

 and Arsenios, also achieved high offices during the same period.

Demetrios is first attested in 1348, as megas doux

Megas Doux

The megas doux was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of the later Byzantine Empire, denoting the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy. It is sometimes also given by the half-Latinizations megaduke or megadux...

(commander-in-chief of the Byzantine navy

Byzantine navy

The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defense and survival of the state then its earlier iterations...

). He was placed in charge of the Byzantine effort to construct a new fleet to use against the Genoese

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

 colony of Galata

Galata

Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...

 in the Byzantine–Genoese War of 1348–1349

Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–1349)

The Byzantine–Genoese War of 1348–1349 was fought over control over custom dues through the Bosphorus. The Byzantines attempted to break Byzantium's dependence for food and maritime commerce on the Genoese merchants of Galata, and also to rebuild their own naval power...

. His fleet's inexperience and incompetence led to its destruction or capture by the Genoese. Tzamplakon survived the debacle, and died sometime before 1356.

Sources