Dobromir Chrysos

Dobromir Chrysos (Добромир Хрс, Добромир Хриз, Δοβρομηρός Χρύσος) was a Vlach warlord in eastern Macedonia during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos.

Life
Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates reported that Dobromir Chrysos was, despite his Slavic name, a Vlach by birth. Per Bulgarian researcher Dimitar Bechev, he was of mixed Slavic–Vlach origins.

Choniates reported that Chrysos and his 500 men were initially on Emperor Alexios III's side, but due to suspicion of leaning towards his fellow Vlachs and wanting to rule independently, he was imprisoned. After his release in 1196, he became Strumica's commander and by the end of the year started a revolt, raiding lands between the rivers Strymon and Vardar. Thus he became the ruler of local Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs. He soon expanded his power over Prosek, where he had an advanced fortification built. Emperor Alexios III launched a campaign against him in the spring of 1197 and laid siege for two months before returning to the capital Constantinople, allowing Dobromir to consolidate control over the area. After Alexios' unsuccessful campaign in the autumn of 1197, he sued for peace and recognized Chrysos' rights to the lands between the Strymon and Vardar, including Strumica and the fortress of Prosek. 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 marry Dobromir in 1198.

His father-in-law Kamytzes was captured by Ivanko during a campaign and Chrysos ended up paying the ransom for his release, with the former joining him in a revolt. Around 1201 they launched a series of fresh raids into Macedonia, Thessaly, central Greece, and the Peloponnese. Imperial diplomacy and Dobromir's marriage to Alexios III's granddaughter Theodora Angelina (who had previously been married to the rival leader, Ivanko) ended the campaign. Dobromir was then forced to accept a new treaty that allowed him to retain control only of Prosek and the surrounding countryside. After 1201, he died and disappeared from the sources. Prosek appears to have been conquered by the Bulgarian emperor Kaloyan after 1202.

Literature

 * Томов, Т. Добромир Хриз, който владееше Просек и Струмица - Анамнеза, Т. 6 (2008), 97-114