Subido por ricollorente10

Constantine Lekapenos

Anuncio
Toggle the table of contents
Constantine Lekapenos
Constantine Lekapenos or Lecapenus (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος
Λακαπηνός, translit. Kōnstantínos Lakapenós) was the third son of
the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and
co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his elder brother Stephen, he
deposed Romanos I in December 944, but was overthrown and
exiled by the legitimate emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959) a
few weeks later. Constantine Lekapenos was exiled to the island of
Samothrace, where he was killed while attempting to escape
sometime between 946 and 948.
Constantine Lekapenos
Emperor of the Romans
Biography
Family
Constantine was one of the youngest sons of Romanos I and his
wife Theodora. the chronicler Theophanes Continuatus mentions
him as the youngest son of the imperial couple, while the 11thcentury chronicler George Kedrenos mentions him as the third of
four known sons. His older brothers were Christopher Lekapenos
(co-emperor 921–931) and Stephen Lekapenos (co-emperor 924–
945). It is unclear if his brother Theophylact (Patriarch of
Constantinople in 933–956) were younger or slightly older than
he. His sisters included Helena, who married Constantine VII
Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959), and Agatha, who married
Romanos Argyros. He probably also had at least two unnamed
sisters, known only because of their marriages to the magistroi
Romanos Mosele and Romanos Saronites.[1]
15th-century portrait of
Constantine, from the Mutinensis
gr. 122 manuscript
Byzantine emperor
Reign
25 December 924 –
27 January 945
Co-emperors Constantine VII
(920–944)
Reign
Romanos I (920–
944)
Romanos Lekapenos had risen to power in 919, when he had
managed to appoint himself regent over the young Constantine VII
and marry his daughter Helena to him. Within a year, he
successively rose from basileopator to Caesar, and was eventually
crowned senior emperor on 17 December 920.[2][3] To consolidate
his hold on power, and with a view of supplanting the ruling
Macedonian dynasty with his own family, he raised his eldest son
Christopher (921–
931)
Stephen (924–944)
Died
946–948
Spouse
Helen
Theophano Mamas
Christopher to co-emperor in May 921, while Stephen and
Constantine were proclaimed co-emperors on 25 December
924.[4][3][5]
Issue
Romanos
Lekapenos
Dynasty
Lekapenos
Following Christopher's early death in 931, and given Constantine
VII's de facto sidelining, Stephen and Constantine assumed an
increased prominence, although formally they still ranked after
their brother-in-law in the college of emperors.[6] In 939,
Constantine married his first wife Helena, a daughter of
the patrikios Adrian, an Armenian.[7]
Father
Romanos I
Lekapenos
Mother
Theodora
The historian Symeon Magister records the death of
Helena on 14 January 940, and on 2 February of the same
year, Constantine married his second wife, Theophano
Mamas. Constantine had a son, named Romanos, but it is
not recorded by which of his two wives.[8] This Romanos
was castrated in 945, after the Lekapenoi lost power, to
prevent him from claiming the Byzantine throne. He
nevertheless pursued a career in the court, eventually
reaching the rank of patrikios and the post of Eparch of
Constantinople.[9]
Silver miliaresion from 931–944, showing
Romanos I's bust on a cross on the obverse
and listing the names of Romanos and his coemperors, Constantine VII, Stephen Lekapenos
and Constantine Lekapenos, on the reverse.
Stephen and Constantine Lekapenos came to the fore in
943, when they opposed a dynastic marriage for their
nephew, Romanos II. Their father wanted to have his
eldest surviving grandson married to Euphrosyne, a
daughter of his successful general John Kourkouas.
Although such a union would effectively cement the
loyalty of the army, it would also strengthen the position
of the legitimate Macedonian line, represented by
Seal of Constantine Lekapenos
Romanos II and his father Constantine VII, over the
imperial claims of Romanos's own sons.[10] Predictably,
Stephen and Constantine opposed this decision, and prevailed upon their father, who was by this time ill
and old, to dismiss Kourkouas in the autumn of 944.[11][12] Romanos II instead married Bertha, an
illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, who changed her name to Eudokia after her
marriage.[3]
With Romanos I approaching the end of his life, the matter of his succession became urgent. In 943,
Romanos drafted a will which would leave Constantine VII as the senior emperor following his death. This
greatly upset his two sons, who feared that their brother-in-law would have them deposed and force them to
take monastic vows. Motivated, in the opinion of Steven Runciman, partially by self-preservation and
partially by genuine ambition, they started planning to seize power through a coup d'état, with Stephen
apparently the ringleader and Constantine a rather reluctant partner.[13]
Their fellow conspirators included Marianos Argyros, the protospatharios Basil Peteinos, Manuel
Kourtikes, the strategos Diogenes, and a certain Clado and Philip. Kedrenos, however, considers Peteinos
to have served as an agent of Constantine VII among the conspirators. On 16 or 20 December 944,[14] the
conspirators set their plans in motion. The two brothers smuggled their supporters into the Great Palace of
Constantinople during the midday break in palace activities. They then led their men into the chamber of
Romanos I, where they easily captured the "ill old man". They were able to transport him to the nearest
harbour and from there to Prote, one of the Princes' Islands and a popular place of exile. There, Romanos
agreed to take monastic vows and retire from the throne.[15]
Having managed to quietly depose their father, the brothers now had to deal with Constantine VII.
Unfortunately for them, rumours soon spread around Constantinople to the effect that, following
Romanos's deposition, Constantine VII's life was in danger. Before long, crowds gathered before the
palace, demanding to see their emperor in person. The contemporary Lombard historian Liutprand of
Cremona notes that the ambassadors and envoys from Amalfi, Gaeta, Rome, and Provence present in the
capital also supported Constantine VII. Stephen and his brother had to submit to the inevitable, recognizing
their brother-in-law as the senior emperor.[16]
The new triumvirate lasted for about 40 days. The three emperors soon appointed new leaders for the
military services. Bardas Phokas the Elder was appointed as the new Domestic of the Schools, and
Constantine Gongyles as head of the Byzantine navy. Stephen and his brother managed to reward their
fellow conspirators. Peteinos became patrikios and Great Hetaeriarch, Argyros was appointed Count of the
Stable, Kourtikes a patrikios and droungarios of the Watch.[17]
On 27 January 945,[14] however, at the urging of their sister, the Augusta Helena, another coup removed
the two Lekapenoi from power under the accusation that they attempted to poison Constantine VII, and
restored the sole imperial authority to the latter.[9][18]
Exile and death
Initially, the two brothers were sent to Prote. The Byzantine chroniclers have their father welcoming them
by quoting a passage from the Book of Isaiah, specifically Chapter 1.2:[9] "Hear, O heavens, and give ear,
O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against
me."[19] Liutprand of Cremona, however, gives a slightly different account, having Romanos I receive his
sons with bitter sarcasm, thanking them for not neglecting him and begging them to excuse the monks for
their ignorance on how to properly receive emperors.[9]
Constantine was soon transported to Tenedos, and then to Samothrace. He was ultimately killed while
attempting to escape the island. The exact date is unknown, but since Theophanes Continuatus claims that
the exiled Romanos I had a nightmare featuring his son's descent to Hell at the time of Constantine's death,
it can be placed between 946 and Romanos's own death in 948.[20]
References
1. Kazhdan 1991, p. 1204.
2. Runciman 1988, pp. 59–62.
3. Kazhdan 1991, p. 1806.
4. John Skylitzes X.13 (https://archive.org/details/skylitzes-2010/page/213/mode/1up)
5. Runciman 1988, pp. 64–67.
6. Runciman 1988, pp. 78–79.
7. Charanis 1963, Chapter II, p. 43 (http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Charanis/char2.htm): "Another,
this one certainly an Armenian, was Adrian the patrician. Adrian must have been a person of
some importance, for Romanus Lecapenus married his son Constantine to his daughter."
8. Runciman 1988, p. 78.
9. Runciman 1988, p. 234.
10. Runciman 1988, pp. 230–231; Treadgold 1997, pp. 484–485.
11. Runciman 1988, p. 146.
12. Treadgold 1997, p. 485.
13. Runciman 1988, pp. 231–232.
14. Theophanes Continuatus, Book VI (https://archive.org/details/theophanesconti01theogoog/p
age/n448); John Skylitzes XI.1-2 (https://archive.org/details/skylitzes-2010/page/227/mode/1
up).
15. Runciman 1988, p. 232.
16. Runciman 1988, pp. 232–233.
17. Runciman 1988, p. 233.
18. Treadgold 1997, p. 486.
19. American Standard Version (1901), Book of Isaiah.
20. Runciman 1988, pp. 234–235.
Sources
Charanis, Peter (1963). The Armenians in
the Byzantine Empire (http://www.attalus.or
g/armenian/chartoc.html). Lisbon:
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Armenian
Library. OCLC 17186882 (https://www.worl
dcat.org/oclc/17186882).
Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
Runciman, Steven (1988) [1929]. The
Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His
Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century
Byzantium (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=XHVzWN6gqxQC). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52135722-5.
Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the
Byzantine State and Society (https://books.
google.com/books?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC).
Stanford, California: Stanford University
Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia;
Pratsch, Thomas; Zielke, Beate (2013).
Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen
Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische
Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach
Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (http
s://www.degruyter.com/view/db/pmbz) (in
German). Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constantine_Lekapenos&oldid=1158170420"
Toggle limited content width
Descargar