Loukas Notaras
Encyclopedia
Loukas Notaras (executed June 3-4, 1453) was the last Megas Doux
of the Byzantine Empire
. This position (literally Grand Duke
, but more appropriately Lord High Admiral
) had been expanded under the late Palaiologid
emperors and functioned as an unofficial Prime Minister, overseeing the Imperial Bureaucracy
in place of the Megas Logothetes
who had previously exercised this function.
Because of his famous phrase "I would rather see a Muslim turban
in the midst of the City (i.e., Constantinople
) than the Latin mitre
," he is often thought to have been in league with the Synaxis
and the Orthodox
resistance to the Union of Churches established by the Council of Florence
. This is in fact not the case, as he worked with his emperor Constantine XI Paleologus
to secure Western aid by whatever avenues they could find while simultaneously attempting to avoid riots by the Orthodox faithful. Unfortunately for his memory, this pragmatic middle course led to his vilification by both sides of the debate, attacks which were not lessened by the intense politicking going on among the late Imperial hierarchy. Konstantinos's close friend and personal secretary Georgios Sphrantzes, for instance, seldom has a charitable word for Notaras and his antipathy was adopted by Edward Gibbon
in turn.
During the siege of Constantinople
, Notaras led the troops along the north-western Sea Wall, as well as the incredibly successful anti-mining efforts near the Blachernae Palace. Some accounts of the siege have him deserting his post after the Turkish flag
was raised on the tower above the Kerkoporta; again, however, this may have been politically-motivated slander. In any case, he was able to hold the Sea Wall--which had been the point of entry of all earlier successful attacks on the city--against the Turkish fleet until the breach along the Mesotekhion rendered his services moot.
Notaras, his Palaiologina wife and his son were all captured by the Turks and originally granted clemency in the name of reestablishing order and in exchange for much of Notaras's fortune, which he had had the sense to invest elsewhere. Nonetheless, he was shortly executed along with his son and Kantakouzenos
son-in-law. This may have simply been due to the capricious Sultan rethinking the wisdom of allowing a noble with ties to the Vatican and Venice to live; Gibbon believes he was caught already in the middle of such intrigue. The more common story, however, is that given by Runciman
:
This story was originally recorded by Doukas
(XL,381), a Byzantine Greek living in Constantinople at the time of the fall of the city, but does not appear in accounts by other Greeks who witnessed the conquest. However, Doukas was frequently hostile towards Notaras, so there was no reason for him to praise his dignity.
Other explanations for this alleged departure from Mehmed II's nominal amnesty were that Loukas Notaras, a treasury official, had attempted to ingratiate himself with Mehmed II by retaining money from the Byzantine treasury as a gift for the Sultan. Mehmed II was neither impressed nor grateful, instead suggesting it should have been used for the defense of the city and viewed it as treason.
The wife of Notaras died a slave along the way to Adrianople, the former Ottoman
capital, in the city of Mesene
. Two members of his family were on the passenger list of a Genoese
ship that escaped the fall of the city. His daughter Anna
became, along with her aunt, the focal point of the Byzantine expatriate community in Venice
.
A collection of Lucas Notaras's letters in Latin
has been published in Greece under the title Epistulae. It includes Ad Theodorum Carystenum, Scholario, Eidem, Ad eundem, & Sancto magistro Gennadio Scholario. He figures as a character in the book Johannes Angelos by the Finnish author Mika Waltari
(1952, Eng. translation The Dark Angel, 1953).
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...
of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. This position (literally Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
, but more appropriately Lord High Admiral
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
) had been expanded under the late Palaiologid
Palaiologos
Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...
emperors and functioned as an unofficial Prime Minister, overseeing the Imperial Bureaucracy
Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy
The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative...
in place of the Megas Logothetes
Megas logothetes
The megas logothetēs or Grand Logothete, was an official supervising all the sekreta ....
who had previously exercised this function.
Because of his famous phrase "I would rather see a Muslim turban
Turban
In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
in the midst of the City (i.e., Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
) than the Latin mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
," he is often thought to have been in league with the Synaxis
Synaxis
In Eastern Christianity , a Synaxis is an assembly for liturgical purposes, generally through the celebration of Vespers, Matins, Little Hours, and the Divine Liturgy....
and the Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
resistance to the Union of Churches established by the Council of Florence
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV, to convene in 1438...
. This is in fact not the case, as he worked with his emperor Constantine XI Paleologus
Constantine XI
Constantine XI Palaiologos, latinized as Palaeologus , Kōnstantinos XI Dragasēs Palaiologos; February 8, 1404 – May 29, 1453) was the last reigning Byzantine Emperor from 1449 to his death as member of the Palaiologos dynasty...
to secure Western aid by whatever avenues they could find while simultaneously attempting to avoid riots by the Orthodox faithful. Unfortunately for his memory, this pragmatic middle course led to his vilification by both sides of the debate, attacks which were not lessened by the intense politicking going on among the late Imperial hierarchy. Konstantinos's close friend and personal secretary Georgios Sphrantzes, for instance, seldom has a charitable word for Notaras and his antipathy was adopted by Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
in turn.
During the siege of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
, Notaras led the troops along the north-western Sea Wall, as well as the incredibly successful anti-mining efforts near the Blachernae Palace. Some accounts of the siege have him deserting his post after the Turkish flag
Flag of Turkey
The flag of Turkey is a red flag with a white crescent moon and a star in its centre. The flag is called Ayyıldız or Albayrak . The Turkish flag is referred to as Alsancak in the Turkish National Anthem....
was raised on the tower above the Kerkoporta; again, however, this may have been politically-motivated slander. In any case, he was able to hold the Sea Wall--which had been the point of entry of all earlier successful attacks on the city--against the Turkish fleet until the breach along the Mesotekhion rendered his services moot.
Notaras, his Palaiologina wife and his son were all captured by the Turks and originally granted clemency in the name of reestablishing order and in exchange for much of Notaras's fortune, which he had had the sense to invest elsewhere. Nonetheless, he was shortly executed along with his son and Kantakouzenos
Kantakouzenos
The House of Kantakouzenos , latinized as Cantacuzenus and anglicized as Cantacuzene, was one of the most prominent noble families of the Byzantine Empire in the last centuries of its existence. The family was one of the Empire's wealthiest and provided several prominent governors and generals, as...
son-in-law. This may have simply been due to the capricious Sultan rethinking the wisdom of allowing a noble with ties to the Vatican and Venice to live; Gibbon believes he was caught already in the middle of such intrigue. The more common story, however, is that given by Runciman
Steven Runciman
The Hon. Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman CH — known as Steven Runciman — was a British historian known for his work on the Middle Ages...
:
- The kindness that Mehmed had shown to the Emperor's surviving ministers was of short duration.... Five days after the fall of the city [3 June] he gave a banquet. In the course of it, when he was well flushed with wine, someone whispered to him that Notaras's fourteen-year old son was a boy of exceptional beauty. The Sultan at once sent a eunuchEunuchA eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
to the house of the [Megas Doux] to demand that the boy be sent to him for his pleasure. Notaras, whose elder sons had been killed fighting, refused to sacrifice the boy to such a fate. Police were then sent to bring Notaras with his son and his young son-in-law, the son of the Grand Domestic Andronicus Cantacuzenus, into the Sultan's presence. When Notaras still defied the Sultan, orders were given for him and the two boys to be decapitated on the spot. Notaras merely asked that they should be slain before him, lest the sight of his death should make them waver. When they had both perished he bared his neck to the executioner. The following day nine other Greek notables were arrested and sent to the scaffold. (151)
This story was originally recorded by Doukas
Michael Doukas (historian)
Doukas was Byzantine historian who flourished under Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor. He is one of the most important sources for the last decades and eventual fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans.-Life:...
(XL,381), a Byzantine Greek living in Constantinople at the time of the fall of the city, but does not appear in accounts by other Greeks who witnessed the conquest. However, Doukas was frequently hostile towards Notaras, so there was no reason for him to praise his dignity.
Other explanations for this alleged departure from Mehmed II's nominal amnesty were that Loukas Notaras, a treasury official, had attempted to ingratiate himself with Mehmed II by retaining money from the Byzantine treasury as a gift for the Sultan. Mehmed II was neither impressed nor grateful, instead suggesting it should have been used for the defense of the city and viewed it as treason.
The wife of Notaras died a slave along the way to Adrianople, the former Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
capital, in the city of Mesene
Drusipara
Drusipara is a Catholic titular see. The original diocese was in Thracia Prima. Nothing is known of the ancient history of this town, which, according to Ptolemy was situated on the route from Adrianople to Byzantium. It was later called Mesene, and corresponds to modern Büyük Karistiran,...
. Two members of his family were on the passenger list of a Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
ship that escaped the fall of the city. His daughter Anna
Anna Notaras
Anna Notaras was the daughter of Loukas Notaras, the last Megas Doux of the Byzantine Empire. She left Constantinople between 1440 and 1449 and went to Rome with her two sisters, so she avoided the fall of Constantinople and the massacre of her family...
became, along with her aunt, the focal point of the Byzantine expatriate community in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.
A collection of Lucas Notaras's letters in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
has been published in Greece under the title Epistulae. It includes Ad Theodorum Carystenum, Scholario, Eidem, Ad eundem, & Sancto magistro Gennadio Scholario. He figures as a character in the book Johannes Angelos by the Finnish author Mika Waltari
Mika Waltari
Mika Toimi Waltari was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel The Egyptian .- Early life :...
(1952, Eng. translation The Dark Angel, 1953).