Doukas

Doukas
Δούκας

Doukid dynasty
Imperial dynasty
CountryByzantine Empire
Founded10th century,
1059 (as imperial dynasty)
FounderAndronikos Doukas (first known)
Constantine X Doukas (first emperor)
Final rulerNikephoros III Botaneiates
TitlesByzantine Emperor
Connected familiesKomnenodoukas
Deposition1081

The House of Doukas (pl. Doukai; Greek: Δούκας, pl. Δούκαι, feminine form Doukaina; Δούκαινα), Latinized as Ducas,[a][b] was a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A maternally-descended line, the Komnenodoukai, founded the Despotate of Epirus in the 13th century, with another branch ruling over Thessaly.

The continuity of descent amongst the various branches of the original, middle Byzantine family is not clear, and historians generally recognize several distinct groups of Doukai based on their occurrence in the contemporary sources. Polemis, who compiled the only overview work on the bearers of the Doukas name, in view of this lack of genealogical continuity "it would be a mistake to view the groups of people designated by the cognomen of Doukas as forming one large family".[1]


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  1. ^ Polemis 1968, pp. 1–2.