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Constantine Mesopotamites ((ギリシア語:Κωνσταντῖνος Μεσοποταμίτης)) was a senior Byzantine official, and ''de facto'' chief minister under the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos from 1193 until his fall in summer 1197. He was also archbishop of Thessalonica from ca. 1197 until ca. 1227, but was in exile between 1204 and 1224, when the city was occupied by Latin Crusaders. Restored to his see, he refused to crown Theodore Komnenos Doukas as emperor, and departed his see again in self-exile. He was also a colleague and correspondent of the historian Niketas Choniates, and may have commissioned some of the latter's works. ==Life== Constantine's family, the Mesopotamitai, appeared in the late 11th century, and originated either from Mesopotamos (in modern Albania) or some place called Mesopotamia. One of his early assignments in the public service was as ambassador to the Republic of Genoa in ca. 1189, to negotiate a treaty. When Mesopotamites returned with his Genoese counterpart, Simone Bufferio, to Constantinople in order to ratify the treaty, however, it was discovered that he had overstepped his brief, leading to a temporary collapse in negotiations. ===Career under Isaac II=== In 1193, despite his extreme youth—his colleague and historian Niketas Choniates refers to him derisively as a "small boy () less than a year after he had put down pen and ink (left school )"—he was chosen by Emperor Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–95) to succeed his maternal uncle and chief minister, Theodore Kastamonites, when the latter suffered a stroke and died soon after. Holding the rank of ''epi tou kanikleiou'' (keeper of the imperial inkstand), he quickly succeeded in placing Isaac entirely under his influence. According to Choniates exercised power greater than that even of his predecessor, while historian Charles Brand credits him with "combining craft and guile with real ability in the management of affairs". During this period, Mesopotamites was also the recipient of a eulogy by Nikephoros Chrysoberges. Mesopotamites' hold over the administration was secured by effectively isolating the emperor from public affairs, including ending Isaac's predilection for personally leading campaigns. Like Kastamonites, he was particularly successful in excluding the court and the nobility from power. As a result, he was greatly hated by the aristocracy, who plotted against Isaac. In the event, this resentment found an outlet in Isaac's elder brother, Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203), who in April 1195 with the support of the aristocracy seized the throne while Isaac was hunting. Isaac was captured and blinded, being confined thereafter in a palace near the Golden Horn. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Constantine Mesopotamites」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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