Eustathios Kamytzes

Eustathios Kamytzes ( 1091 – after 1118) was an aristocrat, administrator, provincial governor and military commander in the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of Alexios I Komnenos and John II Komnenos.

Background and life
The Kamytzes family were prominent landowners in the Meander Valley in western Anatolia. The first evidence of the family is an extant lead seal of the strategos (general) and protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou Theodore Kamytzes, dating to 1030–1050.

Eustathios Kamytzes is mentioned by Anna Komnene a number of times in her history of her father, the Alexiad. According to Anna Komnene, Kamytzes was a large, heavy man. In 1091–1092, he helped Gregory Gabras, son of Theodore Gabras, to escape from Constantinople. Kamytzes was jailed for his part in the plot. However, he regained the trust of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and was appointed to the rank of proedros and the office of chartoularios. In 1098 he was made a strategos. In 1108 he was involved in military operations against the Siculo-Norman invaders of Epirus. Sometime between 1108 and 1113 he may have served as doux (military governor) of Cyprus. In 1113 he was doux of Nicaea, and was captured when fighting against the Seljuk Turks. In battle, a large part of his army sought safety in flight, while he and his remaining men made a stand. After his horse was killed, he stood with his back against an oak tree, fighting off his assailants for some time. Kamytzes was persuaded to surrender by the Turkish commander. He managed to escape when his captors were attacked by another Byzantine force. Kamytzes then joined the army of the Emperor, who sent him back to Constantinople.

Kamytzes was given the high court title of sebastos, possibly in recognition of his military services in Anatolia. Possession of this title implies a close association with the imperial family. On the death of Alexios I in 1118, his son, Emperor John II, turned to Kamytzes, who was given a place in the new emperor's administration. Kamytzes died at an unknown date prior to 1136. John II directed that the name of Eustathios Kamytzes be commemorated in the church liturgy on the Saturdays of Meatfare, Cheesefare, and Pentecost.

Family
Little direct evidence of the immediate family of Eustathios Kamytzes has survived. However a probable son, Constantine Kamytzes, sealed his family's place in the highest echelons of Byzantine aristocracy through his marriage to Maria Angelina Komnene, daughter of Constantine Angelos and the purple-born princess Theodora Komnene, and thus a niece of John II.