Tzantzes 1 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M IX |
| Dates | 838 (taq) / 836 (tpq) |
| Ethnicity | Macedonian |
| Locations | Macedonia (officeplace); Bulgaria; Macedonia |
| Titles | Strategos, Macedonia (office) |
| Textual Sources | Georgius Monachus Continuatus, in Theophanes Continuatus, ed I Bekker (Bonn, 1839), pp. 761-924 (history); Leo Grammaticus, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1842) (chronicle); Pseudo-Symeon, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838), pp. 603-760 (history) |
Under the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) the exiled "Macedonians" (i.e. inhabitants of Adrianople carried away into captivity in 813 by Krum 1 and living under the Bulgars north of the Danube) attempted to return to the empire; when opposed by the Bulgars they chose as their leaders Tzantzes 1 and Kordyles 1 (ἐποίησαν κεφαλὴν τόν τε Τζάντζην καὶ τὸν Κορδύλην) and fought and defeated the Bulgars (cf. Anonymus 41): Leo Gramm. 232, Georg. Mon. Cont. 818. Some time after their return (to be dated 836/838, see Basilios 7) Tzantzes 1 was strategos of Macedonia; the future emperor Basil I (Basilios 7) took service under him (προσεκολλήθη δουλεύειν στρατηγῷ Μακεδονίας τῷ ἐπιλεγομένῳ Τζάντζῃ) but left to improve his fortunes in Constantinople: Leo Gramm. 233, Georg. Mon. Cont. 819, Ps.-Symeon 655. On the name 'Tzantzes' (possibly his family name) see Winkelmann, Quellenstudien, pp. 164-165 (citing later instances of the name).
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