| Katepan Ioannis Spyridonakis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Faction | Principality of the Rhodopes |
| Role | Lord |
| Fief(s) | Smolyan Podvis |
Katepan Ioannis Spyridonakis is a vassal of the Principality of the Rhodopes.
Historical Background[]
Niketas Choniates is our main source for the story of Ioannis Spyridonakis. He writes: "He was some man named Ioannis, by birth from the island of Cyprus, a man with an awful face and even more awful appearance, cross-eyed and a mere worker by trade. But after an unusual rise, he had reached the office of guardian of the so-called internal treasure (of Byzantium). After that he was given governorship of the region of Smolyan. As he believed the emperor to be a naive fool, and since he relied on the impassability of the terrain, he mindlessly rebelled against him." Later on, in 1201, after the death of Despot Ivanko, the "pygmy-like little man" (as Choniates later calls him) was defeated by the emperor's son-in-law, Alexios Paleologos, and had to flee to the Bulgarian Tsardom. His further fate is unknown.