December 25, 820: Assassination of Leo V the Armenian, Byzantine Emperor

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Arsaber, Assassination, Battle of Versinikia, Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian, Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, Emperor Michael II, Emperor Nikephoros I, Roman Empire, Theodosia

Leo V the Armenian (c. 775 – December 25, 820) was the Byzantine Emperor from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals, who succeeded him on the throne.

Leo was the son of the patrician Bardas, who was of Armenian descent (according to Theophanes Continuatus, Leo was also of Assyrian that is Syrian descent). Leo served in 803 under the rebel general Bardanes Tourkos, whom he deserted in favor of Emperor Nikephoros I.

The Emperor rewarded Leo with two palaces, but later exiled him for marrying the daughter of another rebel, the patrician Arsaber. On the other hand, a contemporary source says that one general Leo of the Armeniakon theme was punished for his humiliating defeat by the Arabs during which he also lost the salaries of his thematic units (a modern scholar suggests that this Leo is not the same as the emperor). Punishment also included deprivation of his military rank, beating and hair cutting.

Recalled by Michael I Rangabe in 811, Leo became governor of the Anatolic theme and conducted himself well in a war against the Arabs in 812, defeating the forces of the Cilician thughur under Thabit ibn Nasr. Leo survived the Battle of Versinikia in 813 by abandoning the battlefield, but nevertheless took advantage of this defeat to force the abdication of Michael I in his favor on 11 July 813.

In a diplomatic move, he wrote a letter to Patriarch Nikephoros in order to reassure him of his orthodoxy (Nikephoros being obviously afraid of a possible iconoclast revival). One month later, during his entrance to the Palace quarter, he kneeled before the icon of Christ at the Chalke Gate. A further step in preventing future usurpations was the castration of Michael’s sons.

With Krum of Bulgaria blockading Constantinople by land, Emperor Leo V had inherited a precarious situation. He offered to negotiate in person with the invader and attempted to have him killed in an ambush.

The stratagem failed, and although Krum abandoned his siege of the capital, he captured and depopulated Adrianople and Arcadiopolis. When Krum died in spring 814, Leo V defeated the Bulgarians in the environs of Mesembria (Nesebar) and the two states concluded a 30-year peace in 815. According to some sources, Krum participated in the battle and abandoned the battlefield heavily injured.

With the iconodule policy of his predecessors associated with defeats at the hands of Bulgarians and Arabs, Leo V reinstituted Iconoclasm after deposing patriarch Nikephoros and convoking a synod at Constantinople in 815.

The Emperor used his rather moderate iconoclast policy to seize the properties of iconodules and monasteries, such as the rich Stoudios Monastery, whose influential iconodule abbot, Theodore the Studite, he exiled. Leo V appointed competent military commanders from among his own comrades-in-arms, including Michael the Amorian and Thomas the Slav. He also persecuted the Paulicians.

When Leo jailed Michael for suspicion of conspiracy, the latter organized the assassination of the Emperor in the palace chapel of St. Stephen on Christmas Eve, 820. Leo was attending the matins service when a group of assassins disguised as members of the choir due to sing in the service suddenly threw off their robes and drew their weapons.

In the dim light they mistook the officiating priest for the Emperor and the confusion allowed Leo to snatch a heavy cross from the altar and defend himself. He called for his guards, but the conspirators had barred the doors and within a few moments a sword stroke had severed his arm, and he fell before the communion-table, where his body was hewed in pieces. His remains were dumped unceremoniously in the snow and the assassins hurried to the dungeons to free Michael II.

Unfortunately for them Leo had hidden the key on his person, and since it was too early in the morning to find a blacksmith Michael was hastily crowned as emperor with the iron clasps still around his legs. Leo’s family (including his mother and his wife, Theodosia) was exiled to monasteries in the Princes’ Islands. His four sons (including ex co-emperor Symbatios) were castrated, a procedure so brutally carried out that one of them died during the “operation”.

All known children of Leo V are traditionally attributed to his wife Theodosia, a daughter of the patrician Arsaber.

Theodosia was the daughter of Arsaber, a Byzantine patrician. The name and rank of her father were recorded by both Genesius and Theophanes Continuatus, the continuer to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor. The name of her mother is unknown.

Genesius records four sons:

1. Symbatios, renamed Constantine, co-emperor from 814 to 820. Castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father.

2. Basil. Castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father. Still alive in 847, recorded to have supported the election of Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople.

3. Gregory. Castrated and exiled following the assassination of his father. Still alive in 847, recorded to have supported the election of Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople.

4. Theodosios (died in 820). Died soon after his castration.

5. Anna, who married Hmayeak, a Mamikonian prince (died c. 797), by whom she had Konstantinos, an officer at the court of Emperor Michael III.

The Life of Michael Krešimir II, King of Croatia

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Ban Pribina, Bosnia, Byzantine Empire, Helen of Zadar, King Krešimir I of Croatia, King Michael Krešimir II of Croatia, King Miroslav of Croatia

Michael Krešimir II was King of Croatia from 949 until his death in 969. He was a member of the Trpimirović dynasty. Michael Krešimir II was a son of King Krešimir I and the younger brother of King Miroslav, who preceded him as King of Croatia in 945.

King Michael Krešimir II was brought to the throne by the powerful Ban Pribina, who rebelled against King Miroslav for having his jurisdiction restrained from some areas. The resulting Civil War between the two brothers eventually ended with Miroslav’s death in 949 and the reign of Michael Krešimir II began.

The Croatian kingdom reached its former glory during Michael Krešimir II’s reign.

Bosnia

Because of the Civil War between Michael Krešimir II his brother, King Miroslav lost most of his lands in Bosnia, and the Byzantines wanted to take back his holdings in Dalmatia.

As King, Michael Krešimir II ravaged the Bosnian regions of župas Uskoplje, Luka and Pleva, and eventually conquered the whole region of Bosnia that was originally lost during the reign of his brother Miroslav. The Bosnian ban fled to Hungary, after realizing he couldn’t fight back and, by 968, Michael Krešimir II pacified the local tribes, establishing full control.

King Michael Krešimir II of Croatia married Helen of Zadar. She is said to have originated from the old patrician family Madi from Zadar.

King Michael Krešimir II and his wife Helen of Zadar had good relations with the Dalmatian cities. Helen built the royal family mausoleum in Solin where, at the end of the 19th century, an inscription of her grave was found and translated, bearing her title “Queen”. She outlived Michael Krešimir II for 7 years.

According to historian Rudolf Horvat, King Michael Krešimir II was a victor in a conflict with the Arab pirates near the Italian peninsula of Gargano in 969.

King Michael Krešimir II ruled until his death in 969, and his son Stephen Držislav succeeded him.

Note on his ordinal number: There does not seem to be a King Michael Krešimir I of Croatia so his ordinal number relates to his father King Krešimir I of Croatia.

April 14, 972: Marriage of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor and Byzantine Princess Theophanu

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Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Princess Theophanu, Eastern Roman Empire, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, John I Tzimiskes, Macedonian Dynasty, Otto I the Great, Otto II, Pope John XIII, Regent

Otto II (955 – December 7, 983), called the Red was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983.

Otto II was born in 955, the third son of the King of Germany Otto I (Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962) and his second wife Adelaide of Burgundy the daughter of Rudolf II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia.

By 957, Otto II’s older brothers Henry (born 952) and Bruno (born 953) had died, as well as Otto I’s son from his first wife Eadgyth, the Crown Prince Liudolf, Duke of Swabia.

Otto II was made joint-ruler of the Empire in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu.

Theophanu (c. AD 955 – June 15, 991) According to the marriage certificate issued on April 14, 972 Theophanu is identified as the niece or granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (925–976, reigned 969–976) who was of Armenian and Byzantine Greek descent.

Recent research tends to concur that she was most probably the daughter of Tzimiskes’ brother-in-law (from his first marriage) Constantine Skleros (c. 920–989) and cousin Sophia Phokas, the daughter of Kouropalatēs Leo Phokas, brother of Emperor Nikephoros II (c. 912–969).

Marriage

Theophanu was not born “in the purple” as the Ottonians would have preferred. The Saxon chronicler Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg writes that the Ottonian preference was for Anna Porphyrogenita, a daughter of late Byzantine Emperor Romanos II. Theophanu’s uncle John I Tzimiskes had overthrown his predecessor Nikephoros II Phokas in 969.

Theophanu was escorted back to Rome for her wedding by a delegation of German and Italian churchmen and nobles. When the Ottonian court discovered Theophanu was not a scion of the Macedonian dynasty, as had been assumed, Otto I was told by some to send Theophanu away.

Otto’s advisors believed that Theophanu’s relation to the usurper John Tzimiskes would invalidate the marriage as a confirmation of Otto I as Holy Roman Emperor.

He was persuaded to allow her to stay when it was pointed out that John Tzimiskes had wed Theodora, a member of the Macedonian dynasty and sister to Emperor Romanos II. John was therefore a Macedonian, by marriage if not by birth.

A reference by Pope John XIII to Emperor Nikephoros II as “Emperor of the Greeks” in a letter while Otto’s ambassador, Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, was at the Byzantine court, had destroyed the first round of marriage negotiations.

With the ascension of John I Tzimiskes, who had not been personally referred to other than as Roman Emperor, the treaty negotiations were able to resume. However, not until a third delegation led by Archbishop Gero of Cologne arrived in Constantinople, were they successfully completed.

After the marriage negotiations completed, Theophanu and Otto II were married by Pope John XIII on April 14, 972.

According to Karl Leysers’ book Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: Carolingian and Ottonian, Otto I’s choice was not “to be searched for in the parlance of high politics” as his decision was ultimately made on the basis of securing his dynasty with the birth of the next Ottonian emperor.

Empress

Otto II succeeded his father on May 8, 973. Theophanu accompanied her husband on all his journeys, and she is mentioned in approximately one quarter of the emperor’s formal documents – evidence of her privileged position, influence and interest in affairs of the empire.

It is known that she was frequently at odds with her mother-in-law, Adelaide of Italy, which caused an estrangement between Otto II and Adelaide. According to Abbot Odilo of Cluny, Adelaide was very happy when “that Greek woman” died.

The Benedictine chronicler Alpert of Metz describes Theophanu as being an unpleasant and chattery woman. Theophanu was also criticized for having introduced new luxurious garments and jewelry into France and the Holy Roman Empire.

The theologian Peter Damian even asserts that Theophanu had a love affair with John Philagathos, a Greek monk who briefly reigned as Antipope John XVI.

Otto II died suddenly on December 7, 983 at the age of 28, probably from malaria. His three-year-old son, Otto III, had already been appointed King of the Romans during a diet held on Pentecost of that year at Verona.

At Christmas, Theophanu had him crowned by the Mainz archbishop Willigis at Aachen Cathedral, with herself ruling as Empress Regent on his behalf.

Upon the death of Emperor Otto II, Bishop Folcmar of Utrecht released his cousin, the Bavarian duke Heinrich the Quarrelsome from custody. Duke Heinrich allied with Archbishop Warin of Cologne and seized his nephew Otto III in spring 984, while Theophanu was still in Italy. Nevertheless he was forced to surrender the child to his mother, who was backed by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz and Bishop Hildebald of Worms.

Regency

Theophanu ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent for a span of five years, from May 985 to her death in 991, despite early opposition by the Ottonian court.

Her first act as regent was in securing her son, Otto III, as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire. Theophanu also placed her daughters in power by giving them high positions in influential nunneries all around the Ottonian-ruled west, securing power for all her children. She welcomed ambassadors, declaring herself “imperator” or “imperatrix”, as did her relative contemporaries Irene of Athens and Theodora; the starting date for her reign being 972, the year of her marriage to the late Otto II.

Theophanu brought from her native east, a culture of royal women at the helm of a small amount of political power, something that the West—of which she was in rule of—had remained generally opposed to for centuries before her regency.

Theophanu and her mother-in-law, Adelaide, are known during the empress’ regency to have butted heads frequently–Adelaide of of Burgundy is even quoted as referring to her as “that Greek empress.” Theophanu’s rivalry with her mother-in-law, according to historian and author Simon Maclean, is overstated. Theophanu’s “Greekness” was not an overall issue. Moreover, there was a grand fascination with the culture surrounding Byzantine court in the west that slighted most criticisms to her Greek origin.

Theophanu did not remain merely as an image of the Ottonian empire, but as an influence within the Holy Roman Empire. She intervened within the governing of the empire a total of seventy-six times during the reign of her husband Otto II—perhaps a foreshadowing of her regency.

Though never donning any armor, she also waged war and sought peace agreements throughout her regency. Theophanu’s regency is a time of considerable peace, as the years 985-991 passed without major crises. Though the myth of Theophanu’s prowess as imperator could be an overstatement, according to historian Gerd Althoff, royal charters present evidence that magnates were at the core of governing the empire.

Althoff highlights this as unusual, since kings or emperors in the middle ages rarely shared such a large beacon of empirical power with nobility.

Due to illness beginning in 988, Theophanu eventually died at Nijmegen and was buried in the Church of St. Pantaleon near her wittum in Cologne in 991.

The chronicler Thietmar eulogized her as follows: “Though [Theophanu] was of the weak sex she possessed moderation, trustworthiness, and good manners. In this way she protected with male vigilance the royal power for her son, friendly with all those who were honest, but with terrifying superiority against rebels.”

Because Otto III was still a child, his grandmother Adelaide of Burgundy took over the regency until Otto III became old enough to rule on his own.

March 28, 1584: Death of Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar of Russia

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Anastasia Romanov family, Byzantine Empire, Greek Princess, Ivan IV of Russia, Ivan IV the Terrible, Ivan Ivanovich, Tsar of All the Russias

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (August 25, 1530 – March 28, 1584), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, “Ivan the Formidable” or “Ivan the Fearsome” was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Moscow ruler to be crownedTsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.

Ivan was the first Moscow ruler born after its independence.

Early life

Ivan was the first son of Grand Prince Vasili III of Moscow and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, Elena was born in 1510 as the daughter of Prince Vasili Lvovich Glinsky (d. 1515), a member of a Lipka Tatar clan claiming descent from the Mongol ruler Mamai, and Serbian Princess Ana Jakšić from the Jakšić noble family.

Elena’s mother was a Serbian princess and her father’s family, the Glinski clan (nobles based in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), claimed descent both from Orthodox Hungarian nobles and the Mongol ruler Mamai (1335–1380.)

Vasili III’s mother, Zoe (Sophia) Palaiologina, a Byzantine Greek princess, a member of the Imperial Palaiologos family, was a daughter of Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea and younger brother of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos (r. 1449–1453).

Her mother was Catherine, the only legitimate daughter and heiress of Centurione II Zaccaria, the last independent Prince of Achaea and Baron of Arcadia.

Born on August 25, he received the name Ivan in honor of St. John the Baptist, the day of the Beheading of which falls on August 29. In some texts of that era, it is also occasionally mentioned with the names Titus and Smaragd, in accordance with the tradition of polyonyms among the Rurikovich.

Ivan was appointed grand prince after his father’s death when he was three years old.

On January 16, 1547, at 16, Ivan was crowned at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Moscow Kremlin. The Metropolitan placed on Ivan the signs of royal dignity: the Cross of the Life-Giving Tree, barmas, and the cap of Monomakh; Ivan Vasilievich was anointed with myrrh, and then the metropolitan blessed the tsar. He was the first to be crowned as “Tsar of All the Russias”, partly imitating his grandfather, Ivan III the Great, who had claimed the title of Grand Prince of all Rus’.

Until then, rulers of Muscovy were crowned as Grand Princes, but Ivan III the Great had styled himself “tsar” in his correspondence.

Some foreign ambassadors—namely, Herberstein (in 1516 and 1525), Daniel Printz a Buchau (in 1576 and 1578) and Just Juel (in 1709)—indicated that the word “tsar” should not be translated as “emperor”, because it is applied by Russians to David, Solomon and other Biblical kings, who are simple reges.

On the other hand, Jacques Margeret, a bodyguard of False Demetrius I, argues that the title of “tsar” is more honorable for Muscovites than “kaiser” or “king” exactly because it was God and not some earthly potentate who ordained to apply it to David, Solomon, and other kings of Israel.

During his youth, there was a conquest of the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. After he had consolidated his power, Ivan rid himself of the advisers from the “Chosen Council” and triggered the Livonian War, which ravaged Russia and resulted in the loss of Livonia and Ingria but allowed him to establish greater autocratic control over Russia’s nobility, which he violently purged with the Oprichnina. The later years of Ivan’s reign were marked by the Massacre of Novgorod and the burning of Moscow by Tatars.

Ivan the Terrible had at least six (possibly eight) wives, although only four of them were recognised by the Church. Three of them were allegedly poisoned by his enemies or by rivaling aristocratic families who wanted to promote their daughters to be his brides.

Two weeks after his coronation, Ivan married his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna, a member of the Romanov family, who became the first Russian tsaritsa.

2. Maria Temryukovna (in 1561–1569, death):
3. Marfa Sobakina (28 October – 13 November 1571, death)
4. Anna Koltovskaya (in 1572, sent to monastery). This was the last of his church-authorized weddings. She was later canonized as Saint Daria (locally-venerated saint).
5. Anna Vasilchikova (in 1575/76, sent to monastery)
6. Vasilisa Melentyeva (?–1579) (existence disputed)
7. Maria Dolgorukaya (1580) (existence disputed)
8. Maria Nagaya (from 1580), widow:

In 1581, Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law, Yelena Sheremeteva, for wearing immodest clothing, which may have caused her to suffer a miscarriage. Upon learning of the altercation, his second son, also named Ivan Ivanovich engaged in a heated argument with his father.

The argument ended with the elder Ivan IV fatally striking his son in the head with his pointed staff. The event is depicted in the famous painting by Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on Friday, November 16, 1581, better known as Ivan the Terrible killing his son.

Death

Ivan died from a stroke while he was playing chess with Bogdan Belsky on March 28, 1584. Upon Ivan’s death, the Russian throne was left to his unfit middle son, Feodor, a weak-minded figure. Feodor died childless in 1598, which ushered in the Time of Troubles.

Contemporary sources present disparate accounts of Ivan’s complex personality. He was described as intelligent and devout but also prone to paranoia, rage, and episodic outbreaks of mental instability that increased with age. After the murder of his son and hier, it left his younger son, the politically ineffectual Feodor Ivanovich, to inherit the throne, a man whose rule and subsequent childless death directly led to the end of the Rurikid dynasty and the beginning of the Time of Troubles.

Nickname

The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word Грозный in Ivan’s nickname, but that is a somewhat-archaic translation. The Russian word Грозный reflects the older English usage of terrible as in “inspiring fear or terror; dangerous; powerful; formidable”.

The name does not convey the more modern connotations of the English word terrible such as “defective” or “evil”. Vladimir Dal defines grozny specifically in archaic usage and as an epithet for tsars: “courageous, magnificent, magisterial and keeping enemies in fear, but people in obedience”. Other translations have also been suggested by modern scholars, including ‘formidable’.

Circa February 15, 706: Byzantine Emperor Justinian II Executes His Predecessors

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Anastasia, Byzantine Empire, Constantine IV, Constantinople, Emperor Justinian II, Greek, Leontius, Roman Empire, Tiberius III, Tiberius IV

From The Emperor’s Desk: I have ignored the royal history of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. However, starting today I will include more content from these empires on this blog.

Justinian II (668/9 – November 4, 711) was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711.

Like Justinian I, Justinian II was an ambitious and passionate ruler who was keen to restore the Roman Empire to its former glories, but he responded brutally to any opposition to his will and lacked the finesse of his father, Constantine IV.

Consequently, he generated enormous opposition to his reign, resulting in his deposition in 695 in a popular uprising.

Justinian II was the eldest son of Emperor Constantine IV and Anastasia (of unknown parentage). His father raised him to the throne as joint emperor in 681 on the fall of his uncles Heraclius and Tiberius. In 685, at the age of sixteen, Justinian II succeeded his father as sole emperor.

In 695 the population rose under Leontios, the strategos of Hellas, and proclaimed him Emperor. Justinian was deposed and his nose was cut off (later replaced by a solid gold replica of his original) to prevent his again seeking the throne: such mutilation was common in Byzantine culture. A man who had been mutilated was not allowed to be emperor.

Justinian II was exiled to Cherson in the Crimea. Leontius, after a reign of three years, was in turn dethroned and imprisoned by Tiberius Apsimarus, who next assumed the throne as Emperor Tiberius III.

While in exile, Justinian began to plot and gather supporters for an attempt to retake the throne.

As the ship bearing Justinian sailed along the northern coast of the Black Sea, he and his crew became caught up in a storm somewhere between the mouths of the Dniester and the Dnieper Rivers.

While it was raging, one of his companions reached out to Justinian saying that if he promised God that he would be magnanimous, and not seek revenge on his enemies when he was returned to the throne, they would all be spared. Justinian retorted: “If I spare a single one of them, may God drown me here”.

Having survived the storm, Justinian next approached Tervel of Bulgaria. Tervel agreed to provide all the military assistance necessary for Justinian to regain his throne in exchange for financial considerations, the award of a Caesar’s crown, and the hand of Justinian’s daughter, Anastasia, in marriage.

In spring 705, with an army of 15,000 Bulgar and Slav horsemen, Justinian appeared before the walls of Constantinople. For three days, Justinian tried to convince the citizens of Constantinople to open the gates, but to no avail.

Unable to take the city by force, he and some companions entered through an unused water conduit under the walls of the city, roused their supporters, and seized control of the city in a midnight coup d’état.

Justinian II once more ascended the throne, breaking the tradition preventing the mutilated from Imperial rule.

While Justinian led troops into the Byzantine Empire, he left his wife, Theodora of Khazaria, behind in Bulgaria. While there, she gave birth to Tiberius. Once Justinian had consolidated his hold on the throne, he sent for his wife and his newly born son. When they arrived in Constantinople in 706, Theodora was crowned Augusta, and Tiberius was made co-emperor. Tiberius is sometimes counted as Tiberius IV.

After tracking down his predecessors, he had his rivals Leontius and Tiberius III brought before him in chains in the Hippodrome. There, before a jeering populace, Justinian, now wearing a golden nasal prosthesis, placed his feet on the necks of Tiberius III and Leontios in a symbolic gesture of subjugation before ordering their execution by beheading, followed by many of their partisans, as well as deposing, blinding and exiling Patriarch Kallinikos I of Constantinople to Rome.

The exact date of the executions is unknown: it may have occurred any time between August 705 to February 706, with the latter date favoured by most modern scholars. The Chronicon Altinate states the body of Leontios was thrown into the sea alongside Tiberius III, but was later recovered and buried in a church on the island of Prote.

His second reign was even more despotic than the first, and it too saw his eventual overthrow in 711.

Justinian II’s harsh rule provoked another uprising against him. Under the leadership of the exiled general Bardanes the Constantinople held out against a counter-attack.

Soon, the forces sent to suppress the rebellion joined it. The rebels then seized the capital and proclaimed Bardanes as Emperor Philippicus.

Justinian II had been on his way to Armenia, and was unable to return to Constantinople in time to defend it. Justinian II was arrested and executed on November 4, 711, his head being exhibited in Rome and Ravenna.

On hearing the news of his death, Justinian’s mother, Empress Anastasia, took his six-year-old son and co-emperor, Tiberius, to sanctuary at St. Mary’s Church in Blachernae, but was pursued by Philippicus’ henchmen, who dragged the child from the altar and, once outside the church, murdered him, thus eradicating the line of Heraclius.

Favorite Crown #7: Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Part II.

Tags

Byzantine Empire, Charles IV, Conrad II, Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, Imperial State Crown.

Appearance

The Imperial Crown does not look like most more modern crowns. The crown does not have a round shape, but an octagonal one, very much and intentionally so resembling the looks of crowns of Byzantine emperors. Instead of a ring, it has eight hinged plates which are arched at the top. Two strips of iron, riveted with golden rivets to the plates, hold the crown together and give it its octagonal shape. At what point these iron strips were installed is unknown. Before the addition of the rings the plates were held together by long golden pins thus making it possible to separate the plates and the arch for easier transport.

Each plate of the crown is made out of a high carat gold, around 22 carats, which gives the crown a “buttery” colour, and is studded with pearls and precious stones. The stones are not cut into facets (a technique still unknown when the crown was made), but rather polished into rounded shapes. This technique is an ancient one and gemstones like this are described as being “en cabochon”, which are still made to this day. The pearls and the stones were put into openings that were cut into the metal, and fastened with thin wires. The effect was that when the light shone in, the stones looked as if they would shine from within.

The crown is decorated with 144 precious stones (including sapphires, emeralds and amethysts) (green and blue precious stones being proper to emperors in Byzantine imperial protocol) and about the same number of pearls. Similar gem-studded styles of decoration were used for precious objects of a number of types at this period, in particular religious ones such as reliquaries, crux gemmata or, processional or altar crosses such as the Cross of Lothair, and book-covers such as that of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram and Codex Aureus of Echternach.

Four smaller plaques bear pictorial representations of figures and scenes from the Bible and inscriptions in cloisonné enamel, in the Byzantine senkschmelz style. The four plates, called ‘picture-plates’ (Bildplatten) each shows representations from the Old Testament. Each of these enamelled plates is surrounded by blue sapphires and pearls in raised filigree settings. The Front Right Plate shows Christ in Majesty between two cherubim beneath the inscription in red enamel P[er] ME REGES REGNANT “By me kings reign” (Proverbs 8:15).

The Back Right Plate shows the Prophet Isaiah standing and speaking to King Hezekiah, who is shown sitting on his bed. Isaiah holds a scroll with the words, “Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life” (II Kings 20:6). Above both Isaiah and Hezekiah is the inscription in red enamel ISAIAS P[ro]PHETA · EZECHIAS REX “Prophet Isaiah – King Hezekiah”. The Front Left Plate shows King Solomon holding a scroll with the words, “Fear the Lord and flee from evil” (Proverbs 3:7), beneath an inscription in red enamel REX SALOMON “King Solomon”. The Back Left Plate shows King David holding a scroll with the words, “The renowned king delights in doing justice” (Psalm 99:4), beneath the inscription in red enamel REX DAVID “King David”.

The other four plates, called ‘stone-plates’ (Steinplatten), are of differing sizes and are decorated solely by precious stone and pearls in raised filigree settings. The twelve stones on the front and back plates are probably a direct reference to the twelve stones of the Jewish high priest’s breastplate (cf. Exodus 39:9-14) and to the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem in the Revelation to John (Cf. Revelation 21: 19-21).

The top central stone of the front plate is a triangular sapphire which replaces a famous stone, now lost, which was known as the Waise (i.e., the ‘Orphan’, because of its uniqueness), probably a large white opal with a wine-red fire or possibly a singularly brilliant garnet or red zircon and the subject of much legendary medieval lore. The medieval theologian and philosopher Albert the Great wrote about it in 1250:

The orphan is a jewel in the crown of the Roman emperor. Because the like of it has never been seen elsewhere it is called the “orphan”. It has the color of wine, of delicate red wine and it is as if the dazzling, white of snow penetrates the bright wine red and yet it remains dormant in this redness. The gem shines powerfully and it is said that it once even shone at night, but not in our time, but it is said to preserve the honour of the empire.

How or why it was removed from the Imperial Crown is not known. The last mention of it is in an inventory ordered by Charles IV in 1350.

The crown has a single arch from the front to the back plate with the name and imperial style of Conrad II (1024 – 1039) in seed pearls. On the left side of this arch these seed pearls spell out the words CHUONRADUS DEI GRATIA “Conrad, by the Grace of God”, while on the right side they read ROMANORU (M) IMPERATOR AUG(USTUS) “Emperor of the Romans (and) Augustus”. Above the front plate and in front of the arch is a jewelled cross, originally a pectoral cross said to have belonged to Heinrich II. And only later attached to the Imperial Crown. Both, arch and cross, were probably added during Conrad’s reign only.

There are also three small holes on each of the two side stone-plates from which chains with pendant jewels, known as pendilia, like those still found on the Hungarian Holy Crown of St. Stephan probably hung.

The present red velvet cap on the inside of the crown dates from the 17th century. Before this the imperial crown was worn over a miter. If originally the form of the miter the imperial crown was intended to be worn over had the form of the Byzantine ‘camelaucum’ the arch would have depressed the centre of the now collapsed inner cap causing it to bulge up on either side much as the embroidered ribbon from front to back on the eleventh century bishops’ miters caused their linen fabric to bulge up on either side. Thus the Imperial Crown appears to be the earliest form of the miter crowns worn by the Holy Roman Emperors as a singular privilege of their imperial office.

The Imperial Crown was also the inspiration for the heraldic crown adopted in 1871 for the coat-of-arms of the German Emperor and Empire, although the latter crown had four half-arches supporting a small orb and cross, rather than the single arch of the original.

King Henry IV of England. Part II.

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Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine Empire, De heretico comburendo, Henry IV of England, Lollard, Lollard Movement, Manuel II Palaiologos, Owain Glyndŵr, Prince of Wales, Richard II of England, William Sawtrey

Henry IV ‘s first major problem as monarch was what to do with the deposed Richard II. After an early assassination plot (the Epiphany Rising) was foiled in January 1400, Richard died in prison, probably of starvation. He was 33 years old. Though Henry is often suspected of having his predecessor murdered, there is no substantial evidence to prove that claim.

As king, Henry IV consulted with Parliament frequently, but was sometimes at odds with the members, especially over ecclesiastical matters. On Arundel’s advice, Henry IV obtained from Parliament the enactment of De heretico comburendo in 1401, which prescribed the burning of heretics, at the stake as an act done mainly to suppress the Lollard movement.

De heretico comburendo was one of the strictest religious censorship statutes ever enacted in England. In March 2, 1401 William Sawtrey became the first Lollard to be burned. This law stayed on the books until Section 6 of the Act of Supremacy 1558 repealed De heretico comburendo but it was not until March 1677 that a bill to take away the Crown’s right to the writ was introduced in the House of Commons. It passed in that session.

Lollard priest William Sawtrey was burned at Smithfield for heresy — the first known heresy execution in England.

Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions and assassination attempts. Rebellions continued throughout the first 10 years of Henry’s reign, including the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr, who declared himself Prince of Wales in 1400, and the rebellions led by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, from 1402. The rebellions of Henry Percy advanced into the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. After this battle, Henry IV’s son, Prince Henry, was left with an arrow penetrated in the left hand side of his face under his eye.

Henry IV, King of England, Lord of Ireland

Foreign relations

Early in his reign, Henry hosted the visit of Manuel II Palaiologos, the only Byzantine Emperor ever to visit England, from December 1400 to January 1401 at Eltham Palace, with a joust being given in his honour. Henry also sent monetary support with Manuel II upon his departure to aid him against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1406, English pirates captured the future James I of Scotland, aged eleven, off the coast of Flamborough Head as he was sailing to France. James was delivered to the English king and remained a prisoner for the rest of Henry’s reign.

Final illness and death

The later years of Henry’s reign were marked by serious health problems. He had a disfiguring skin disease and, more seriously, suffered acute attacks of some grave illness in June 1405; April 1406; June 1408; during the winter of 1408–09; December 1412; and finally a fatal bout in March 1413. In 1410, Henry had provided his royal surgeon Thomas Morstede with an annuity of £40 p.a. which was confirmed by Henry V immediately after his succession.

Medical historians have long debated the nature of this affliction or afflictions. The skin disease might have been leprosy (which did not necessarily mean precisely the same thing in the 15th century as it does to modern medicine), perhaps psoriasis, or some other disease. The acute attacks have been given a wide range of explanations, from epilepsy to some form of cardiovascular disease.

Some medieval writers felt that he was struck with leprosy as a punishment for his treatment of Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York, who was executed in June 1405 on Henry’s orders after a failed coup.

According to Holinshed, it was predicted that Henry would die in Jerusalem, and Shakespeare’s play repeats this prophecy. Henry took this to mean that he would die on crusade. In reality, he died in the Jerusalem Chamber in the abbot’s house of Westminster Abbey, on March 20, 1413 during a convocation of Parliament. His executor, Thomas Langley, was at his side.

German History Part IV: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire.

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Byzantine Empire, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, Constantinople, Empress Irene, France, Germany, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of France, Pope Leo III

My Note: in discussing how the Kingdom of the Franks evolved into both the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire, it’s not the scope of this entry to thoroughly review the life of Charlemagne. My aim is to give a cursory understanding of how Charlemagne gained the imperial title and divided his empire.

Under the Carolingians, the Frankish kingdom spread to encompass an area including most of Western Europe; the east-west division of the kingdom formed the basis for modern France and Germany.

Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, born before their canonical marriage. He became King of the Franks in 768 following his father’s death, initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman’s sudden death in December 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the sole ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. He continued his father’s policy towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them upon penalty of death and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Emperor of the Romans

Charlemagne’s reign was one of near-constant warfare, personally leading many of his campaigns. He seized the Lombard Kingdom in 774, led a failed campaign into Spain in 778, extended his domain into Bavaria in 788, ordered his son Pepin to campaign against the Avars in 795, and conquered Saxon territories in wars and rebellions fought from 772 to 804.

In 799, Pope Leo III had been assaulted by some of the Romans, who tried to put out his eyes and tear out his tongue. His enemies had accused Leo III of adultery and perjury. Leo escaped and fled to Charlemagne at Paderborn. Charlemagne ordered the Pope’s accusers to Paderborn, but no decision could be made. Charlemagne then had Leo escorted back to Rome. In November 800, Charlemagne, advised by scholar Alcuin, travelled to Rome, and on December 1 held a council there with representatives of both sides of the dispute. Leo III, on December 23, took an oath of purgation concerning the charges brought against him, and his opponents were exiled.

At Mass, on Christmas Day (25 December), when Charlemagne knelt at the altar to pray, the Pope crowned him Imperator Romanorum (“Emperor of the Romans”) in Saint Peter’s Basilica. In so doing, the Pope rejected the legitimacy of Roman Empress Irene of Constantinople.

Charlemagne’s coronation as Emperor, though intended to represent the continuation of the unbroken line of Emperors from Augustus to Constantine VI, had the effect of setting up two separate (and often opposing) Empires and two separate claims to imperial authority. For centuries to come, the Emperors of both West and East would make competing claims of sovereignty over the whole.

Einhard says that Charlemagne was ignorant of the Pope’s intent and did not want any such coronation:

[H]e at first had such an aversion that he declared that he would not have set foot in the Church the day that they [the imperial titles] were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope.

A number of modern scholars, however, suggest that Charlemagne was indeed aware of the coronation; certainly, he cannot have missed the bejewelled crown waiting on the altar when he came to pray; something even contemporary sources support.

The Carolingian Empire during the reign of Charlemagne covered most of Western Europe, as the Roman Empire once had. Unlike the Romans, who ventured to Germania beyond the Rhine only for vengeance after the disaster at Teutoburg Forest(9 AD), Charlemagne decisively crushed all Germanic resistance and extended his realm to the Elbe, influencing events almost to the Russian Steppes.

Prior to the death of Charlemagne, the Empire was divided among various members of the Carolingian dynasty. These included King Charles the Younger, son of Charlemagne, who received Neustria; King Louis the Pious, who received Aquitaine; and King Pepin, who received Italy. Pepin died with an illegitimate son, Bernard, in 810, and Charles died without heirs in 811. Although Bernard succeeded Pepin as King of Italy, Louis I the Pious was made co-Emperor in 813, and the entire Empire passed to him with Charlemagne’s death in the winter of 814.

Charlemagne has been called the “Father of Europe” (Pater Europae),as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the classical era of the Roman Empireand united parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church.

End note: The last entry in the series will discuss in depth the history of the imperial title itself.

Charlemagne.

Tags

Augustus Ceasar, Belgium, Byzantine Empire, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, Emperor Augustus, France, Germany, Louis the Pious, Luxembourg Italy, Otto the Great, Pope Leo III, Roman Empire, the Netherlands

He was named Charles and it is one of the very rare people, I honestly cannot think of another, who had their name and sobriquet actually become their entire name. He was called Charles the Great and in Latin this was Carolus Magnus and this was rendered in English Charlemagne. He was the eldest son of Pepin the Short, King of the Franks and his wife Bertrada of Laon. When his father died in 768 Charlemagne was co-king with his brother Carloman for a brief time.

Books have been written about him and I could not do a biography justice in this small blog. As with other recent entries I will focus solely on what I admire about him. Charlemagne was a man ahead of his times. He would be the first of a list of European rulers to have forged an empire after the fall of Rome. Although some historians debate whether he founded the Holy Roman Empire or Otto of Franconia was the founder, the fact remains his empire would have repercussions throughout Europe for over a thousand years.

Charles ruled the Kingdom of the Franks from 768 until 800 when he was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas day of that year. He was given the title, Emperor of the Romans, and was seen as a revival of that empire that had began with Augustus in 27 BC and it challenged the Byzantine Empire in the east as both empires claimed to be the true Roman Empire.

What is remarkable about Charlemagne is that he seemed to have forged this mighty empire through his own judiciary, executive and military skills. Many of the titles of future monarchs and nobility were created during Charlemagne’s time on the throne. Many of these offices were created in an effort for Charlemagne to have local recognition across his far flung empire. He reformed political offices and well as the church, educational systems and systems of laws.

Charlemagne was also quite the ladies man. He had eighteen children over the course of his life with eight of his ten known wives or concubines. Despite all of the children by the time of his death he had outlived alll of his sons except one of them. In 813, Charlemagne crowned his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, as co-emperor. In 814 after 47 years of rule and at the age of 72, old for that time, Charlemagne died. His foot print on history is immeasurable and many kings and emperor since his time tried to emulate him. His empire covered what would later become modern Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg  Italy and Austria. All of these states count Charles the Great as their leader.