View source for Chrysocheir

{{about|the Paulician leader|the leader of the 1024 Rus' raid|Battle of Lemnos (1024)}}
'''Chrysocheir''' ({{langx|el|Χρυσόχειρ}}), also known as '''Chrysocheres''', '''Chrysocheris''', or '''Chrysocheiros''' (Χρυσόχερης/Χρυσόχερις/Χρυσόχειρος), all meaning "goldhand",{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}} was the second and last leader of the [[Paulicians|Paulician]] principality of [[Tephrike]] from 863 to his death in either 872 or 878.

==Biography==
[[File:Asia Minor ca 842 AD.svg|280px|thumb|Byzantine Asia Minor and the Byzantine-Arab frontier region in the middle of the 9th century]]
According to the Byzantine chroniclers, Chrysocheir was a nephew of the [[Paulician]] leader [[Karbeas]]. Furthermore, according to [[Peter the Sicilian]], he was Karbeas' "nephew and son-in-law", indicating that he had married his first cousin, a practice strongly condemned by the Byzantine Church.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}} Following the anti-Paulician campaign launched in 843 by the Empress-regent [[Theodora (9th century)|Theodora]], Karbeas and many of his followers had fled to the Muslim [[Thughur|border emirates]] and established an independent principality centred on [[Tephrike]]. From there, Karbeas led the Paulicians in wars against the [[Byzantine Empire]] on the side of the Muslims until his death in 863.{{sfn|ODB|loc="Karbeas" (N. G. Garsoïan), p. 1107}}{{sfn|Whittow|1996|pp=310–311}}

Nothing is known of Chrysocheir's early life before his succession of his uncle. Like Karbeas, Chrysocheir may in his youth have served in the [[Byzantine army]].{{sfn|ODB|loc="Chrysocheir" (N. G. Garsoïan), pp. 452–453}} A steadfast enemy of Byzantium, Chrysocheir led several raids deep into Byzantine territory even up to the western coasts of [[Asia Minor]] and the vicinity of [[Nicaea]], [[Nicomedia]], and [[Ephesus]]. In the latter, he is reported to have desecrated the Church of Saint John the Evangelist by stabling his horses there.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}} Emperor [[Basil I the Macedonian]] sent envoys to offer peace in 869/70, but the offer was rejected by Chrysocheir, who allegedly demanded that the emperor should vacate the eastern half of his territories in Asia Minor first. It is possible that the embassy was led by Peter the Sicilian, who reports that he spent nine months in Tephrike at about the same time trying to arrange the release of high-ranking prisoners of war. This hypothesis is not accepted by all modern scholars, however.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}}

In 871, Emperor Basil himself led an attack on Tephrike, but failed to take the city and withdrew. In 872/3, the [[Domestic of the Schools]] [[Christopher (Domestic of the Schools)|Christopher]] led another campaign that scored a decisive victory against the Paulicians at the [[Battle of Bathys Ryax]]. During the battle, Chrysocheir was killed by a common soldier called Poullades. His severed head was sent back to [[Constantinople]], where Basil reportedly shot at it with his bow, sticking three arrows into it.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}} It was not until six years later, however, that Tephrike itself fell to the Byzantines, putting an end to the Paulician principality.{{sfn|Whittow|1996|p=314}} Some modern scholars nevertheless date the defeat and death of Chrysocheir on the same year as the fall of Tephrike (i.e. 878/9).{{sfn|ODB|loc="Chrysocheir" (N. G. Garsoïan), pp. 452–453}}

It is commonly considered that the memory of Chrysocheir survived in the Byzantine [[epic poem]] ''[[Digenes Akritas]]'' in the form of "Chrysoberges" (Χρυσοβέργης), the Muslim paternal grandfather of the eponymous hero.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Chrysocheir (#21340)}}{{sfn|ODB|loc="Chrysocheir" (N. G. Garsoïan), pp. 452–453}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|ref={{harvid|ODB}}}}
* {{Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit | volume = online}}
* {{The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025}}


[[Category:870s deaths]]
[[Category:9th-century Byzantine people]]
[[Category:9th-century monarchs in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Byzantine defectors]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]
[[Category:Paulicians]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars]]