Dobromir Chrysos


Dobromir, known to the Byzantines as Chrysos, was a leader of the Vlachs and Bulgarians in eastern Macedonia during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos. According to Niketas Choniates, Dobromir-Chrysus was, despite his Slavic name, a Vlach by birth. However, most probably he was of mixed Slavic - Vlach origins. Due to the complexity of pre-nationalist ethnic labels, references to modern ethnic groups in the Middle ages are obscure. He became prominent in 1197 and is last heard of in 1202.
He was already married, but in order to cement an alliance with him the Emperor offered him a daughter of the Byzantine warlord Manuel Kamytzes. She was forced to divorce her husband and to marry Dobromir in 1198. About 1200 he took a third wife, the Emperor's granddaughter Theodora Angelina, who had previously been married to a rival leader, Ivanko.
In 1202 the lands of Dobromir Chrysos were conquered by Bulgarian emperor Kaloyan.

Literature