Editing John I Tzimiskes (section)

== Background ==
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John was born in present-day [[Çemişgezek]] in [[Tunceli Province]]. His father was a scion of the [[Kourkouas]] family, a clan of [[Armenians|Armenian]] origin<ref>{{Citation |title=Romanland |date=2019-04-01 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvckq5d6.7 |pages=81–120 |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=Harvard University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctvckq5d6.7 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=John I Tzimisces {{!}} Byzantine Empire, Military Campaigns, Iconoclasm {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-I-Tzimisces |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> that had established itself as one of the chief families among the [[Anatolia]]n military aristocracy by the early 10th century.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|pp=1156–1157}}{{sfn|Andriollo|2012|p=58}}<ref>{{Citation |title=Aristocrats, Mercenaries, Clergymen and Refugees: Deliberate and Forced Mobility of Armenians in the Early Medieval Mediterranean (6th to 11th Century a.d.) |date=2020-04-23 |work=Migration Histories of the Medieval Afroeurasian Transition Zone |pages=327–384 |publisher=BRILL|doi=10.1163/9789004425613_013 |isbn=9789004425613 |s2cid=218992750 |doi-access=free |last1=Preiser-Kapeller |first1=Johannes }}</ref> His mother belonging to the [[Phokas (Byzantine family)|Phokas]] family of unknown ethnicity, maybe [[Greeks|Greek]]-[[Armenians|Armenian]] origin.{{sfn|Blaum|1994|p=6. "The Phocas family was always associated with the province of Cappadocia in eastern Anatolia; its actual lineage seems to have been a mixture of Armenian and Greek."}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whittow|first=Mark|date=1996|title=The Making of Orthodox Byzantium, 600–1025|language=en-gb|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24765-3|isbn=978-0-333-49601-5|doi-access=free}}</ref> Scholars have speculated that "''Tzimiskes''" was derived either from the Armenian ''Chmushkik'' (Չմշկիկ), meaning "red boot",{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} or from an Armenian word for "short stature", as explained by [[Leo the Deacon]].{{sfn|Leo the Deacon|pages=141–142 (V, 9)}} A more favorable explanation is offered by the medieval Armenian historian [[Matthew of Edessa]], who states that Tzimiskes was from the region of Khozan, from the area called [[Çemişgezek|Chmushkatzag]].<ref>{{in lang|hy}} [[Matthew of Edessa]]. ''Մատթեոս Ուռհայեցի`Ժամանակնագրություն'' (''The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa''). Translation and commentary by [[Hrach Bartikyan]]. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Hayastan Publishing, 1973, pp. 12–13.</ref> Khozan was located in the region of Paghnatun, in the Byzantine province of [[Fourth Armenia]] ([[Sophene]]).<ref>See Matthew of Edessa. ''The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa'', p. 301, note 52.</ref> Either way, "Tzimiskes" was a surname used by other members of John's family, as the Armenian historian [[Stepanos Asoghik]] refers to him as the "grandson of Č‘mškik".<ref>{{cite web |title=Ioannes I. Tzimiskes |website=Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online |publisher=De Gruyter |language=de |date=2013 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/database/PMBZ/entry/PMBZ24932/html |access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref>

Tzimiskes was born in 924 or 925, as Leo the Deacon states that he died aged 51,{{sfn|Leo the Deacon|page=221 (X, 11)}} to an unnamed member of the [[Kourkouas]] family and the sister of the future Emperor [[Nikephoros II Phokas]]. Both the [[Kourkouas|Kourkouai]] and the [[Phokadai]] were distinguished [[Cappadocia]]n families, and among the most prominent of the emerging military aristocracy of [[Asia Minor]]. Several of their members had served as prominent army generals, most notably the great [[John Kourkouas]], who conquered [[Melitene]] and much of Armenia.

Contemporary sources describe Tzimiskes as a rather short but well-built man, with reddish blonde hair and beard and blue eyes who was attractive to women.{{sfn|Leo the Deacon|p=146 (V, 3)}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=505–506}} He seems to have joined the army at an early age, originally under the command of his maternal uncle Nikephoros Phokas. The latter is also considered his instructor in the art of war. Partly because of his familial connections and partly because of his personal abilities, Tzimiskes quickly rose through the ranks. He was given the political and military command of the theme of Armenia before he turned twenty-five years old.

His marriage to Maria Skleraina, daughter of [[Pantherios Skleros]] and sister of [[Bardas Skleros]], linked him to the influential Skleros family. Little is known about her; she died before his rise to the throne, and the marriage was apparently childless. The contemporary historian [[Leo the Deacon]] remarks that she excelled in both beauty and wisdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maria Skleraina |website=Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online |publisher=De Gruyter |language=de |date=2013 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/database/PMBZ/entry/PMBZ27078/html |access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref>