Makrembolites or Macrembolites ( Greek: Μακρεμβολίτης), feminine form Makrembolitissa or Macrembolitissa (Μακρεμβολίτισσα), was the name of a prominent Byzantine aristocratic family. It was active particularly in the 11th–13th centuries, when it produced several high-ranking members of the civil bureaucracy, and one empress, Eudokia Makrembolitissa.
The Makrembolitai apparently originated in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople: the first attested member of the family lived there, and the family name seems to be derived from the Makros Embolos, the "Long Portico", a district of the city. [1]
The first influential members of the family was John Makrembolites, a brother-in-law to the Patriarch Michael I Keroularios. [1] His daughter, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, married Constantine Doukas and became Empress when the latter ascended the throne as Constantine X (r. 1059–1068); after his death she ruled as regent for her under-age sons until she re-married to Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071). [1] [2]
The family remained prominent under the Komnenoi as high-ranking civilian functionaries: Theodore Makrembolites was bishop of Methymna in the early 12th century; Demetrios Makrembolites served as envoy to the Second Crusade in 1146–47; John Makrembolites was megas droungarios tes viglas in 1157; Eumathios Makrembolites was Eparch of the City later in the century; and Theophylact of Ohrid records another member of the family as archon of Prespa. [1] The late 12th-century writer Eustathios Makrembolites, sometimes equated with the contemporary Eparch, is known for his prose romance On Hysmine and Hysminias, which introduced several innovations in Byzantine literature. [3] Of the later members of the family the most prominent is the mid-14th century writer Alexios Makrembolites, [4] author of Dialogue Between the Rich and the Poor.