Leo VI the Wise, Part 2

Emperor Leo VI (shown here in a mosaic at the Hagia Sophia, prostrate before Christ) interfered with the state religion, even though it meant disrespecting a one-time ally, Photios. Photios I was the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (known now as St. Photios the Great), and was considered one of the most powerful, influential, and intellectual church leaders of his time. He had also been Leo's tutor, and when Leo's father Basil I imprisoned Leo on the suspicion of an assassination attempt, Photios persuaded Basil not to further punish Leo by blinding him. Despite all this support of Leo, Leo sent Photios into exile in Armenia after forcing him to resign.

He was replaced as patriarch by Stephen I of Constantinople, Leo's younger brother. The 19-year-old Stephen was, like Leo, conceived when their mother, Eudokia, was the mistress of Basil's predecessor Michael III, and so it is possible that, like Leo, Stephen was not a biological son of Basil. In fact, Basil had Stephen castrated and destined for life as a monk. Stephen died in 893, aged only 25, having accomplished nothing historically notable.

Leo's foreign policy was marked with mostly unsuccessful battles, losing a war with Bulgaria, losing the last Byzantine outpost on Sicily to a Muslim emirate, failing to recover Crete, and being attacked by the Kievan Rus, whom he paid off at first (they did eventually establish a trade treaty).

After the death of Zoe Zaoutzaina, his mistress who had become his second wife, he had a problem. He had produced no male heir, and marrying a third time was forbidden by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Just the same, he took another wife, Eudokia Baïana, in 900. She died in 901 while giving birth to a son. A book of ceremonial protocol lists a son of Leo named Basil, but there is no other information, suggesting that he did not live long.

Desperately needing a son, and wanting to avoid the scandal of an unprecedented and illegal fourth marriage, he again took a mistress, Zoe Karbonopsina ("Zoe of the Coal-Black eyes"). Fourth time's a charm, and Zoe gave birth to a son. Leo named him Constantine, and wanted him baptized. By this time, his brother Stephen had died and was replaced as patriarch by Nicholas Mystikos, a friend of Photios who had retired to a monastery after Photios was dismissed. Leo pulled him out of the monastery and elevated him to patriarch. Nicholas was reluctant to baptize this child born outside of wedlock, but he did, cautioning Leo that he could not marry Zoe and therefore legitimize the child, and stating that in fact a condition of the baptism was that Leo would have to get rid of his mistress.

So Leo married Zoe, and in the ensuing struggle with the Church over the impropriety of his decision he dismissed Nicholas, replacing him with Euthemios, who at one time seems to have been the spiritual mentor to Leo and his brothers. Ultimately, his fourth marriage was allowed in exchange for suffering a long penance and the assurance that he would enshrine in law the absolute illegality of fourth marriages.

Leo crowned Constantine as co-emperor at the age of two in May 908. Leo himself died in 912, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Alexander, who had been co-emperor with Basil. Unfortunately, Alexander died a little more than a year later, and the seven-year-old Constantine VII had a very long reign dominated at first by regents and later by self-serving advisors. Perhaps some day we will come back to him.

Next, however, I want to turn to the Patriarch Photios and the other ups and downs of fortune that he endured.

Leo VI the Wise, Part 1

Emperor Leo VI (866 - 912) had a rocky relationship with his father, or did he? It all depends on whom you think his father was. In the records, his father was Basil I, but Basil was absolutely not a loving father.

No one disputes that Leo's mother was Eudokia Ingerina (c.840 - 882), but prior to marrying Basil she was the mistress of Michael III, emperor from 842 until 867. Michael was assassinated by Basil, who assumed the imperial throne.

So many historians believe that Leo was actually the son of Eudokia and Michael, as clearly did Basil, so he treated his "son" poorly. To be fair, Leo was different from Basil's other sons, preferring bookish education over imperial management, hence his nickname of "Leo the Wise."

When Basil died in 886 and Leo became Emperor Leo VI, his first official action was to remove Michael III's remains from a monastery on the far side of the Bosphorus and re-inter them in the imperial mausoleum in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. For historians (and no doubt for Leo's contemporaries), this confirmed not only that Leo was Michael's son, but that Eudokia had made sure Leo knew his proper parentage.

He then elevated Stylianos Zaoutzes, the father of Leo's mistress, Zoe Zaoutzaina, to the position essentially of a prime minister, running administrative affairs. Not only was Stylianos the father of Leo's mistress, but when Basil imprisoned Leo on suspicion of an assassination attempt, Stylianos had argued for Leo's release. Leo even created a new title for Stylianos, basileopator ("father of the emperor"). There were no known duties attached to the title, but it seemed clear that it was Leo's way of honoring the father of his mistress.

There is a story offered by Bishop Liudprand of Cremona that Leo would disguise himself and walk around Constantinople looking for injustice and corruption. At times he would be accosted by the city guards, who did not recognize him. One time, he bought off two patrols, but a third arrested him and put him in jail overnight. The next morning, he was recognized by a panicked guard. The company that arrested him was rewarded; the two patrols that accepted bribes to let a wandering stranger go were found and dismissed from service.

Tomorrow we'll look at how he interfered with religion, and dismissed someone who had been his tutor and ally.

Leo, Son of Basil

As Byzantine Emperor Basil I (811 - 886) reached his later years, his mood and health declined. He was depressed at the death of his eldest son, Constantine, who was also his favorite. He chose to make his youngest son, Alexander, his co-emperor to prepare him for the succession. A middle son, Leo, was more interested in books, which annoyed his father, who occasionally beat Basil over his frustration with a son he considered unsuitable for the royal dynasty. (Basil and his preferred child, Constantine, are seen in the gold coin to the left.) There was another reason Basil was suspicious of Leo, but I'll save that for part two.

In fact, after Basil learned of a plot against him, he suspected Leo of involvement and had his son imprisoned. He wanted to blind Leo, which would not only punish him but would render him completely unsuitable to ever become emperor. He was persuaded not to do this by the Orthodox Patriarch, Photios.

Basil was also unhappy when Leo ignored his wife Theophano in favor of a mistress, Zoe Zaoutzaina. Basil married her off to a minor official to get her out of the way. In 882, after the death of Basil's wife, Eudokia, the relationship between father and son deteriorated further. Basil died in a bizarre hunting accident when his belt got caught in the antlers of a deer and he was dragged for several miles through a forest. Someone caught up and cut him loose, but Basil claimed the man also tried to assassinate him, and on his deathbed ordered the man executed.

Leo's brother Alexander was only 16 years old, so it was agreed that Leo should succeed his father. His first official act as emperor was to re-bury a man his father had killed. Not just any re-burial, either. He did it in a very grand ceremony, and that man might have been part of the reason why Basil had such difficulty with Leo. I'll go into that more tomorrow.

Zoe Zaoutzaina, Consort

Emperor Leo VI "the Wise" became Byzantine emperor in 886. He had married, in 883, the daughter of a dynasty that had been emperors from 820 to 867. Supposedly, the marriage was forced on him by the then-Emperor Basil I, Leo's father. The wife was Theophano Martinakia, and there was little love between the couple. They had one child, a daughter, who died young.

In the third year of Leo's reign as emperor, he came to know the daughter of one of his retainers. The woman was Zoe Zaoutzaina; her father, Stylianos Zaoutzes, was a Macedonian-born official whose surname refers to him having a dark complexion. In contemporary records, he is referred to as "the Ethiopian" because of his color. Stylianos was well-respected in the imperial court. Leo was interested in Zoe.

Zoe, however, was married to a lower-grade court official named Theodore, of whom we know very little. History says that Theodore was poisoned, and the suggestion hinted at by chroniclers was that Leo was somehow involved. At any rate, contemporary historians say that Leo started an affair with Zoe in his third year, although Leo denied it.

In the seventh year of Leo's reign, Theophano retired to a monastery outside of Constantinople. She was known to be very devout, and the choice may well have been hers, but the chroniclers hint that it may have been deliberate on Leo's part. The marriage was not dissolved, but Zoe was now officially considered (and treated as) Leo's mistress and a royal consort.

Her new status benefitted her father. Leo "promoted" him with the title basileopator, "father of the emperor," a grand title for someone who was technically not even a father-in-law. She bore Leo a daughter, Anna, who was married to the king of Provence, Louis the Blind, who became Holy Roman Emperor.

Zoe died in 899 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, where Theophano and Leo himself were buried, as well as Leo's third wife. Oh yes, Leo got over his grief at losing Zoe. He needed a son, so marrying again was imperative. Whether he succeeded in having someone to whom he could leave the empire will be tomorrow's topic, after we talk about his relationship with his father.