John Raoul

1. Biography

John Raoul, oldest son of Alexios Raoul, who was protobestiarios, was born on the first half of the 13th century. He had three brothers, Isaac, Manuel and another one whose name is not known; he also had a sister (name unknown), who had married Andronikos, a member of the Mouzalon family. In 1261 he married Theodora Kantakouzene, widow of George Mouzalon and daughter of John Kantakouzenos and Irene Palaiologina, the sister of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. They had daughters, but how many of them is uncertain. Among them there are Irene Raoulaina Palaiologina and Anna Strategopoulina Komnene Raoulaina.1 He was also known by the name of John Komnenos Raoul Doukas Angelos Petraleiphas. The main surnames that accompany his name is indicative of the relations between the aristocratic family of Raoul with other important Byzantine families.

2. Career and activity

John Raoul’s activities begin during the reign of Theodore II Laskaris, when he was imprisoned, as part of the Emperor’s severe policy towards the aristocracy and favour of lesser and more humble origins. In 1256 the emperor took away the office of protovestiarios from John’s father, Alexios Raoul, while in the same year or shortly after John and his three brothers were sent to prison.2 The four men were probably freed immediately after the emperor’s death (16 August 1258) and supported Michael Palaiologos against the Mouzalon brothers, along with other aristocratic families.3 At the same year, John takes part in the campaign against the despot of Epiros Michael II Doukas (1231-1267). Michael II’s territorial claims alarmed Michael Palaiologos (co-emperor of the underage John IV Laskaris), who sent reinforcements to Thessalonike, led by his brother John Palaiologos, the sebastokrator and megas domestikos. John Raoul was among the experienced officers accompanying John Palaiologos. After the successful battle of Pelagonia (July 1259), which was decisive of the war against Michael II, John Raoul and Alexios Strategopoulos pursued Michael, who had fled to Arta. They initially besieged Ioannina and then peacefully occupied Arta, freeing the captives; among them was the historian and scholar George Akropolites.4 Possibly on the same year, Michael VIII Palaiologos honoured John Raoul with the office of protobestiarios for his contribution to the war against Epiros.5 In 1261 he married Theodora Kantakouzene.6 After 1274 there is no mention of his name in written sources.7



1. See Trapp, E. - Beyer, H. - Leontiades, I., «Ραούλ Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας Άγγελος Πετραλείφας», in Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit 10 (Wien 1990), p. 105, no. 24125, and Fassoulakis, S., The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es (Athens 1973), p. 18. Polemis, D., The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography (London 1968), p. 173, mentions only one daughter of John Raoul by name, Eirene.

2. Hatzes, Χατζής, Α.Χ., Οι Ραούλ, Ραλ, Ράλαι, 1080- 1800: ιστορική μονογραφία (Kirchhain 1909), p. 15, believes that Alexios Raoul lost his office at the same time as his children’s imprisonment, while Trapp, E. - Beyer, H. - Leontiades, I., «Ραούλ Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας Άγγελος Πετραλείφας», in Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit 10 (Wien 1990), pp. 105-106, believe that they were put in prison in 1258. This is also supported by Polemis, D., The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography (London 1968), p. 173.

3. See Fassoulakis, S., The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es (Athens 1973), p. 18.

4. At the same time, John Palaiologos, accompanied by John Doukas, invaded Thessaly. See Nicol, D.M., The Despotate of Epiros (Oxford 1957), p. 186.

5. This is supported by Trapp, E. - Beyer, H. - Leontiades, I., «Ραούλ Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας Άγγελος Πετραλείφας», in Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit 10 (Wien 1990), pp. 105-106, no. 24125. Fassoulakis, S., The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es (Athens 1973), p. 19, believes that John Raoul took this office in 1261.

6. This opinion is expressed by Fassoulakis, S., The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es (Athens 1973), p. 18, and Nicol D. M., The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos, ca. 1100-1460. A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study (Washington 1968), p. 16. Trapp, E. - Beyer, H. - Leontiades, I., «Ραούλ Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας Άγγελος Πετραλείφας», in Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit 10 (Wien 1990), pp. 105-106, place John Raoul’s marriage to Theodora Kantakouzene in 1259.

7. This opinion is expressed by Fassoulakis, S., The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es (Athens 1973), p. 19, and Trapp, E. - Beyer, H. - Leontiades, I., «Ραούλ Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας Άγγελος Πετραλείφας», in Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit 10 (Wien 1990), p. 105, no. 24125. Polemis, D., The Doukai: A Contribution to Byzantine Prosopography (London 1968), p. 173, places John Raoul’s death in 1284.