The Kourkouas family or Curcuas (, from , Gurgen) was, allegedly, one of the many nakharar families from Armenia that migrated to the Byzantine Empire during the period of Arab rule over Armenia (7thâÂÂ9th centuries) although the latter is mostly speculative. They rose to prominence as part of the Anatolian military aristocracy in the 10th century, providing several high-ranking generals and an emperor. They intermarried extensively with the aristocratic families of Phokas and Skleros. In the 11th and 12th centuries, they shifted to the civilian bureaucracy.
Famous members
:*John Kourkouas (10th c.), alongside Theophilos, grandsons of the above; Domestic of the Schools of the East and famous general under Romanos I Lekapenos
::*Romanos Kourkouas, son of John Kourkouas, was Domestic of the Schools of the West
:::*John Kourkouas, son of Romanos, Domestic of the Schools of the East, killed in the Siege of Dorostolon
:*Theophilos Kourkouas, other grandson, strategos of Chaldia and later Domestic of the Schools
:::*John I Tzimiskes (c. 925âÂÂ976), grandson of Theophilos Kourkouas, Byzantine Emperor in 969âÂÂ976; apparently died childless
Later generations
References
Sources