 866 - 912 (45 years)
-
| Name |
Leo VI the Wise of Byzantium Porphyrogenitus |
| Suffix |
Byzantine Emperor |
| Birth |
19 Sep 866 |
| Gender |
Male |
| Acceded |
886 |
| Death |
11 May 912 |
| Burial |
Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople  |
| Notes |
- Acceded: 886
«b»http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=royal?royal07426
http://worldroots.com/gitte/famous/k/khshayarshaline.htm«/b»
«b»http://www.thepeerage.com/p11428.htm#i114272«/b»
Leo VI 'the Wise', Emperor of Constantinople held the office of Co-regent of Constantinople in 870.«sup»1«/sup» He succeeded to the title of «i»Emperor Leo VI of Constantinople«/i» in 886.«sup»1
1. «/sup»John Morby, «i»Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook«/i» (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 52. Hereinafter cited as «i»Dynasties of the World«/i».
«b»http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_VI_the_Wise
«/b»Full name Leo VI "the Wise" or "the Philosopher"
«b»
Leo VI«/b», surnamed «b»the Wise«/b» or «b»the Philosopher«/b» («u»Greek «/u»: «i»Le VI ho Sophos«/i», 19 September 866 \endash 11 May 912), was «u»Byzantine emperor «/u» with «u»Armenian «/u» descent from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the «u»Macedonian dynasty «/u» (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well-read, leading to his surname. During his reign, the renaissance of letters begun by his predecessor «u»Basil I «/u» continued, but the Empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against «u»Bulgaria «/u» and against the Arabs in «u»Sicily «/u» and the «u»Aegean «/u».
«b»Background
«/b»Leo was born to «u»Eudokia Ingerina «/u» who was at the time mistress of Emperor «u»Michael III «/u» and wife of his «u»Caesar «/u» «u»Basil «/u». Which of the two men was his biological father is uncertain. Basil legally acknowledged Leo as his son but his later treatment of him might suggest that he regarded Leo as Michael's son.
In 867, Michael was assassinated by Basil who succeeded him as Emperor «u»Basil I «/u». As the second eldest son of the Emperor, Leo was associated on the throne in 870 and became the direct heir on the death of his older half-brother Constantine in 879. However, he and his father hated each other and Basil almost had Leo blinded as a teenager. On August 29, 886, Basil died in a hunting accident, though he claimed on his deathbed that there was an «u»assassination «/u» attempt in which Leo was possibly involved.
«b»Domestic policy
«/b»One of the first actions of Leo VI after his succession was the reburial of Michael III in «u»Constantinople «/u», which may have contributed to the suspicion that he was Michael's son. Seeking political reconciliation, the new emperor secured the support of the officials in the capital, and surrounded himself with bureaucrats like «u»Stylianos Zaoutzes «/u» and the eunuch Samonas. His attempts to control the great aristocratic families (e.g., the Phokadai and the Doukai) occasionally led to serious conflicts. Leo also attempted to control the church through his appointments to the patriarchate. He dismissed the «u»Patriarch «/u» «u»Photios «/u» of Constantinople, who had been his tutor, and replaced him with his own 19-year old brother «u»Stephen «/u» in December 886. On Stephen's death in 893, Leo replaced him with Zaoutzes' nominee, Antony II Kaleuas, who died in 901. Leo then promoted his own imperial secretary («i»mystikos«/i») «u»Nicholas «/u», but replaced him with his spiritual father Euthymios in 907
The magnificent «u»Church of Ayios Lazaros «/u» in «u»Larnaca «/u» was built during Leo VI rule in the late «u»9th century «/u». The church is one of the best examples of «u»Byzantine architecture «/u». Leo also completed work on the «u»Basilica «/u», the «u»Greek «/u» translation and update of the «u»law code «/u» issued by «u»Justinian I «/u», which had been started during the reign of Basil.
Bishop «u»Liutprand of Cremona «/u» gives an account similar to those related about caliph «u»Harun al-Rashid «/u», stating that Leo would sometimes disguise himself and look for injustice or corruption. On one account, he was even captured by the city guards during one of his investigations. He wanted to know if the city patrol was doing its job appropriately. Late in the evening, he was walking alone and disguised. Though he bribed two patrols for 12 «u»nomismata «/u», and moved on, the third city patrol arrested him. When a terrified guardian recognized the jailed ruler in the morning, the arresting officer was rewarded for doing his duty, while the other patrols were dismissed and punished severely.
«b»Foreign policy
«/b»Leo VI was not as successful in battle as Basil had been. In indulging his chief counselor Stylianos Zaoutzes, Leo provoked a war with «u»Simeon I of Bulgaria «/u» in 894, but was defeated. Bribing the «u»Magyars «/u» to attack the «u»Bulgarians «/u» from the north, Leo scored an indirect success in 895. However, deprived of his new allies, he lost the major «u»Battle of Boulgarophygon «/u» in 896 and had to make the required commercial concessions and to pay annual tribute.
The «u»Emirate of Sicily «/u» took «u»Taormina «/u», the last Byzantine outpost on the island of «u»Sicily «/u», in 902. In 904 the renegade «u»Leo of Tripolis «/u» sacked «u»Thessalonica «/u» with his Muslim pirates (an event described in «i»The Capture of Thessalonica«/i» by «u»John Kaminiates «/u»). In 907 «u»Constantinople «/u» «u»was attacked «/u» by the «u»Kievan Rus' «/u» under «u»Oleg of Novgorod «/u», who was seeking favourable trading rights with the empire. Leo paid them off, but they attacked again in 911, and a «u»trade treaty was finally signed «/u».
«b»Fourth marriage dispute
«/b»Leo VI caused a major scandal with his numerous marriages which failed to produce a legitimate heir to the throne. His first wife «u»Theophano «/u», whom Basil had forced him to marry, died in 897, and he married «u»Zoe Zaoutzaina «/u», the daughter of his adviser Stylianos Zaoutzes, though she died as well in 899. Upon this marriage Leo created the title of «u»«i»basileopator «/u»«/i» ("father of the emperor") for his father-in-law.
After Zoe's death a third marriage was technically illegal, but he married again, only to have his third wife «u»Eudokia Baïana «/u» die in 901. Instead of marrying a fourth time, which would have been an even greater sin than a third marriage (according to the Patriarch «u»Nicholas Mystikos «/u») Leo took as mistress, «u»Zoe Karbonopsina «/u». He married her only after she had given birth to «u»a son «/u» in 905, but incurred the opposition of the patriarch. Replacing Nicholas Mystikos with Euthymios, Leo got his marriage recognized by the church, but opened up a conflict within it and allowed new grounds for «u»papal «/u» intervention into Byzantine affairs when he sought and obtained papal consent.
«b»Succession
«/b»The future Constantine VII was the illegitimate son born before Leo's uncanonical fourth marriage to Zoe Karbonopsina. To strengthen his son's position as heir, Leo had him crowned as co-emperor on May 15, 908, when he was only two years old. Leo VI died on May 11, 912. He was succeeded by his younger brother «u»Alexander «/u», who had reigned as emperor alongside his father and brother since 879.
«b»
Works
«/b»A collection of oracular poems and some short divinatory texts, at least in part based on earlier Greek sources, were attached to the emperor's name in later centuries. He is also the author, or at least sponsor, of the «u»Tactica «/u», a notable treatise on military operations.
He is credited with «u»translating «/u» the «u»relics «/u» of «u»St. Lazarus «/u» to Constantinople in the year 890. There are several «u»stichera «/u» (hymns) attributed to him which are chanted on «u»Lazarus Saturday «/u» in the «u»Eastern Orthodox Church >«/u».
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| Person ID |
I5733 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
19 Jun 2013 |
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| Sources |
- [S36] Brian Tompsett, Dept of Computer Science, University of Hull, England(B.C.Tompsett@dcs.hull.ac.uk), Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, (This work is Copyright b 1994-2002 Brian C Tompsett).
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