Constantine VI, Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, Constantine VI (771 - c.805) had proven himself a poor excuse for a Byzantine emperor to the military and government. He also got on the wrong side of the religious leaders when dealing with the lack of a male heir.

He had married Maria of Amnia (pictured here), who had been chosen by Constantine's mother, the Empress Irene, in a "bride show." Thirteen candidates were brought before Irene (this was after Irene called off the engagement to Rotrude, daughter of Charlemagne). The emperor and his bride were married in 788, but after six years of marriage they had produced two daughters and no son.

So Constantine took the steps taken by so many others in his position: he divorced his wife, sending her and their two daughters (Euphrosyne and Irene) to a convent on an island. This was bad enough so far as the Church was concerned, but it didn't solve his dynastic problem. For that he decided to marry his mistress, Theodote, who had been a lady-in-waiting to Empress Irene. Theodote was 15 or 16 at the time.

The wedding of an emperor was usually conducted by the patriarch, but Patriarch Tarasios refused to perform the ceremony. Theodote's uncle Plato, a minor official, expressed his disapproval of the relationship, and condemned Tarasios for not speaking out publicly against the emperor's actions. Constantine found a monk named Joseph who would perform the ceremony.

This second marriage created what is known as the Moechian Controversy, from the Greek moicheia, "adultery." Abbot Theodore of Stoudios of the Sakkudion monastery loudly condemned the pair and demanded the excommunication of the emperor and of Joseph. Constantine responded by sending his men to the Sakkudion Monastery, having Theodore flogged, and exiling him and his monks to Thessalonica. Theodote's uncle was imprisoned in Constantinople.

Constantine had lost the support of almost everyone. Irene organized a conspiracy against her son, for which she found many willing supporters to aid her. In August 797 Constantine was deposed, blinded, and confined to a private palace. Theodote went with him. We do not know how long he lived after that. Ironically, Theodote had born him a son, Leo, in 796, but the child lived less than a year. Abbot Theodore mentions in a letter that another son was born sometime after Constantine was deposed.

Maria remained a nun; the last mention of her is c.823. Constantine's attempts to create a dynasty by divorcing her did not bear fruit, but his daughter with Maria, Euphrosyne, did become empress of the Byzantine Empire! Let's look at that story next time.

Constantine VI, Part 1

As I mentioned yesterday, Constantine VI's death was not from natural causes, and if you knew about his life, you might understand. 

Born on 14 January 771, he was named co-emperor with his father, Emperor Leo IV, when he was five years old. Leo died on 8 September 780 of tuberculosis, leaving the nine-year-old Constantine as sole emperor, although under the regency of his mother, Irene of Athens, until 790.

In the ten years of the regency, Irene exerted much control over the Byzantine administration. (She was behind the Second Council of Nicaea, condemning iconoclasm.) In 790, Constantine began making plans to wrest control from Irene—he was coming into his majority, after all—but his plot to do so was reported to Irene by Alexios Mosele, a general of Armenian descent. Irene had her son placed under house arrest. To forestall further problems, she demanded that all heads of the army pledge their loyalty to her. The Armenian troops refused, and Irene sent Alexios to manage them. In a twist, the Armenians declared Alexios their new commander and declared their loyalty to Constantine.

This move, when made public, motivated other troops and cities in Asia Minor to follow suit, declaring their allegiance to Constantine alone and demanding that Irene release her son from house arrest. Constantine, released, placed his mother under house arrest and dismissed all of her retinue and counselors.

Unfortunately, Constantine did not prove to be a wise ruler or smart military strategist. Recent military failures, such as the attempt to restore Adalgis to the Lombard throne, had left the armies eager for a turnaround in their track record, but it wasn't going to happen under Constantine's leadership. The army lost faith in him, and two years after confining his mother to the palace, he released her, declared her "empress," and made her role in government official, hoping that she could help him restore order and regain the respect of the army and citizens. (See above the gold coin struck with both their countenances.)

The desired successes were not forthcoming, however. Fearful that he would be deposed in favor of someone else in the dynasty, he had his uncle blinded. His father, Leo, had four half-brothers whom Constantine considered too close to him blood-wise and therefore potential candidates, so he had their tongues cut out. He also feared that the popular Alexios had plans to usurp the throne, and so had him flogged, tonsured, imprisoned, and eventually blinded.

Speaking of dynasties: he had two daughters by his wife Maria of Amnia, but after six years no son. Since he had lost the loyalty of the military forces, why not take steps to alienate the religious part of the empire by doing something inappropriate regarding his marriage?

But that's tomorrow's tale.

The Byzantines Come to Italy

I outlined yesterday the complicated relationship between the Franks under Charlemagne, the Lombards in Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. The final straw seemed to be the breakdown of plans to betrothe the seven-year-old Emperor Constantine VI to Charlemagne's daughter Rotrude. As a result, the Byzantine Empire wanted to drive the Franks out of Lombardy and restore Adalgis, son of the previous ruler Desiderius, as king.

Adalgis earlier had made contact with Emperor Constantine V. Many Lombards did not submit to Frankish rule, assuming that Adalgis would return and claim the throne. The Byzantine army arrived in southern Italy in late 788, led by Adalgis and a Byzantine administrator named John who had experience leading the army against the Abbasids in 781 when they invaded Asia Minor.

Unfortunately, some Lombards had accepted Charlemagne's overlordship. The prince of Benevento, for instance, Grimoald III, had chosen alliance with the Franks and led part of the combined force of Lombards that met the Byzantine army. Along with Grimoald was Duke Hildeprand of Spoleto, who had originally fought the Franks but had paid homage to Charlemagne 10 years earlier in exchange for the Franks' promise to defend his land from further invasions. A small number of Franks were involved in this army.

The clash between Byzantins and the Franks/Lombards took place at Calabria (the "toe" of the "boot" of Italy). Details are few, though the victory of the Lombards is undisputed. Alcuin of York, in a letter dated a year after the encounter, offers the details that there were 4000 Byzantines killed and 1000 captured, upon which the remaining force fled to the ships. One of those captured was Sisinnios, the brother of Patriarch Tarasios. Adalgis did not get his throne, and in fact disappears from the historical record, although you can see a portrayal of him above from 1664.

Several years later, in 797, Constantine VI sent a strategos ("general") to Charlemagne's seat of power, Aachen, probably to discuss the release of prisoners from the battle. Sisinnios was not released until 798 following negotiations by Empress Irene. By that time, Constantine VI was dead...

...and it wasn't from natural causes. Let's look at the (fairly brief) life of Emperor Constantine VI tomorrow.

Relations with Charlemagne

When the report of the Second Council of Nicaea (in 787 CE) was written up approving the use of icons for religious purposes, it mentioned the firm agreement between the pope in Rome and the emperor of Constantinople. As a document that would be made public to let everyone know the outcome of deliberation, it was going to upset at last one person: a powerful person with strong religious views who felt he deserved the pope's respect, and who had unorthodox connections with the Byzantines.

Before we go on to try to explain the controversy involved, let's explain the map you see here. The orange sections are the Byzantine Empire, which include Rome (and Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica), since the Byzantines had effectively been the guardians of the Roman Empire. The rest of the areas were controlled by Lombards.

Let's try to spell this out. Charlemagne was the king of the Franks. There was a Frankish presence in Lombard-controlled northern Italy (part of Lombardy), having driven out King Desiderius and his son Adalgis in 774. Constantinople wanted to restore Adalgis to the throne, and so they started an expedition to Italy in 788 to try to regain Lombardy from the Franks. This, of course, put them at odds with Charlemagne. The pope wanted an alliance with Charlemagne, as the closest strong ruler and a good person to have on your side. But the pope had just had a major agreement with the Byzantines.

It gets a little more twisted when we find out that Adalgis, hanging out in Pavia after being ousted from Lombardy, hosted the widow and children of Carloman I, Charlemagne's younger brother who had been forced to renounce the throne and go to a monastery. Even more twisted is the fact that Desiderius had been Charlemagne's father-in-law by virtue of his daughter Desiderata's marriage to Charlemagne (who had divorced her in 771).

The proceeds of the Council did not mention Charlemagne at all as being important to the adoption of the new policy among the Christian world. This was a public embarrassment for the pope, and things got worse when the Byzantines came to Italy to free Lombardy.

One of the other reasons for the attempt to drive the ranks out of Lombardy was the breakdown of negotiations for a royal marriage: Charlemagne's daughter Rotrude to Constantine VI, the seven-year-old emperor still under the regency of Empress Irene.

That's a lot to digest. Let's look at the actual fighting tomorrow and see who won.

Second Council of Nicaea, Part 1

The Second Council of Nicaea (24 September - 13 October 787) was the last of seven ecumenical councils that took place with participation from both the Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It took place on the site of the first council, Nicaea (now called İznik, Bursa, in Turkey). Its purpose was to debate the use of idols and images, but covered some other topics.

The religious use of icons had been suppressed in the Eastern Orthodox Church during the reign of Leo III (717 - 741). I talked about it in 2013. His son, Constantine V, also enforced the ban on images at the Council of Hieria, which Constantine referred to as the seventh ecumenical council. That designation was overturned, however, at the currently discussed council.

Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople was appointed by the Empress Irene—he had been a senator, and secretary to Irene—and wished to restore the use of icons. He and Irene requested the council with the support of Pope Adrian I, who agreed to participate. They tried meeting initially in 786 at a church in Constantinople, but bishops who were opposed to icons sent soldiers to break up the gathering.

Irene then sent the guards on a mission against Arabs attacking in Asia Minor to get them out of the way. The Council was assembled again, this time in Nicaea. Tarasios disguised two monks as emissaries of the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem to give more legitimacy to the Council. For those bishops opposing, he warned them that they could keep their positions if they did not make any public statements against the decisions of the Council. Once these conditions were established, the Council assembled with over 300 bishops or their proxies, with Tarasios presiding.

There were seven sessions in all. The first dealt with the subject of whether dissenting bishops would be allowed to remain in office. I've already mentioned how Tarasios dealt with this. The second session read a letter from Pope Adrian, translated into Greek, explaining his approval of images. The letter was a little condemnatory on Byzantine attitudes toward papal authority, but the residing clergy finally agreed to submit to the pope.

In the third session, the bona fides of the eastern representatives (Antioch and Jerusalem, etc.) were examined. It was decided that they were, in fact, not authentic. This did not cause the disbandment or illegitimacy of the Council, however.

The remaining three sessions started to tackle (finally) the question of icons, with pros and cons presented. We will finish up with those tomorrow.

The First Abolitionist

St. Theodore of Stoudios (759-11 November 826 CE) was a highly educated member of a well-connected family in Constantinople. His father and uncle were public officials who controlled a large part of the finances in the reign of Constantine V (741-755). He was probably in line for a very nice civil service position, but his uncle's influence changed his fate.

The uncle, Platon, left civil service during the reign of Constantine's successor, Leo IV (775-780), and entered a monastery in Bithynia (east of Constantinople, on the shore of the Black Sea). Upon the death of Leo, Platon persuaded his sister's entire family to take monastic vows. They all returned with him to Bithynia, and established the Sakkudion Monastery on the family estate.

The family did not exactly stay away from politics, however. Leo was succeeded by Constantine VI (776-797), who decided to put aside his first wife and marry her lady-in-waiting. In the absence of evidence that the first wife was an adulterer, this was not easy for anyone to swallow. The Patriarch Tarasios eventually consented to the divorce, but he refused to perform the second wedding (as was customary for a ruler), leaving it to a priest named Joseph of the Hagia Sophia.

Despite the fact that the new wife was a cousin of Theodore, he objected to the whole affair and called for the excommunication of Joseph and everyone who received sacraments from him, which would necessarily include Constantine and his new wife. He had no authority to enforce this, so no actions were taken. The emperor tried to make peace with his new wife's relatives; they refused; Constantine sent troops to the monastery to disperse the community and send Theodore and other monks to exile in Thessalonika. A year later, however, Constantine was deposed and his mother became the Empress Irene. She undid many of her wayward son's actions, including lifting the exile on the monks of the Sakkudion Monastery and imprisoning Joseph.

When an Arab attack in Bithynia forced the monks of Sakkudion to flee to Constantinople, Empress Irene offered Theodore the leadership of the defunct Stoudios monastery. He set about restoring the library and scriptorium, and redecorating the church. (Theodore was opposed to the strong Byzantine element of iconoclasm that forbade images.) He also started writing letters; lots of letters, which he sent to fellow monks near and far. In one of them he makes the first known statement against slavery. Writing to one Nicolas, he says:

Do not obtain any slave nor use in your private service or in that of the monastery over which you preside, or in the fields, man who was made in the image of God. For such an indulgence is only for those who live in the world. For you should yourself be as a servant to the brethren like-minded with you, at least in intention, even if in outward appearance you are reckoned to be master and teacher. [source]

It is interesting that he seems to condemn slavery because it is a "worldly" activity, not necessarily because it is inherently "bad." But it was a start.