1. Descent

The Armenian family of Kourkouas appeared in the 9th century, when its members started to ascend the hierarchy of the Asia Minor military aristocracy. It is believed that during the reign of Basil I, John Kourkouas, who was the domestikos of the tagma of the Hikanatoi and the first eminent member of the family reported by the sources, was involved in a conspiracy against the emperor.¹ The fact that he was particularly rich and his senior military rank suggest that the family must have been among the most powerful representatives of the Asia Minor aristocracy.

2. The family of Kourkouas in the 10th century

The family was already important during the reign of the first two emperors of the Macedonian dynasty, but in the years of Romanos I Lekapenos it reached its apex. John Kourkouas, the grandson of the domestikos of the Hikanatoi, served as the droungarios of the Vigla, while in 923 he was awarded the top military rank of domestikos ton scholon and led the forces of the themes of Asia Minor in the war against the Arabs. He was probably the most distinguished member of the family and became very famous thanks to his successful operations against the Arab emir of Aleppo, Sayf ad-Dawlah. In 934 he captured Melitene, reaching the apex of his career when he recovered the Mandylion of Edessa, a valuable relic possessed by the Arabs and which was translated to Constantinople, as a trophy of Kourkouas from the siege of Edessa. However, his dispute with the two sons of Romanos I, who both considered him a powerful protector of the legal heir to the throne, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (944-959), was the reason for his removal from his post before the late 944. But this fact had a minor impact on the fame of the family, which remained influential after the fall of the Lekapenos family.

Apart from John Kourkouas, his brother Theophilos was strategos of Chaldia, Mesopotamia and Theodosioupolis in the years of Romanos I. John’s son, Romanos Kourkouas, held the senior post of stratelates of the East and possibly that of domestikos ton scholon of the West,² while his grandson, another John, was awarded the senior dignity of magistros and possibly served as strategos of Macedonia; he was killed in combat against the Rus in 971. Such posts, along with intermarriages with other powerful aristocratic families of the time, such as the families of Phokas and Skleros, prove the senior position the Kourkouas family steadily held in the army and the political matters of the Empire in mid-10th century. When the Armenian John I Tzimiskes, the grandson of Theophilos Kourkouas, ascended the throne, the family played a key role, as it was among the main supporters of the new emperor in his attempt to assume power and do away with the Phokas family. However, after Tzimiskes died and Basil II (976-1025) ascended the throne, the importance of the family started gradually to decline. In the civil conflicts of 976-989 between the powerful representatives of the military aristocracy of Asia Minor (Bardas Phokas and Bardas Skleros) and the emperor the Kourkouas family played a minor role, which indicates that they had already started to lose their political power.

3. The family of Kourkouas in the 11th and 12th centuries

After Basil II prevailed against the revolters in 989, the Kourkouas family was no longer included in the powerful aristocratic families of the empire. However, there are references to some John Kourkouas living in 1008, who held the titles of patrikios and anthypatos, as well as the title of katepano of Italy. In addition, another member of the family called Romanos, who had married the daughter of the last Bulgarian ruler, John Vladislav, was accused of conspiring against emperor Constantine VIII (1025-1028) and was blinded. From then onwards and throughout the 11th century the members of the family would hold political rather than senior military posts. In the 12th century they turned to the Church and held key positions, as it happened with Michael Kourkouas, who became Patriarch of Constantinople between 1143 and 1146.