Leo VI the Wise - Wikipedia Leo VI the Wise From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912 Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans Leo VI Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans A mosaic in Hagia Sophia showing Leo VI paying homage to Christ Byzantine emperor Reign 29/30 August 886 – 11 May 912 Coronation 6 January 870[1] Predecessor Basil I Successor Alexander Born 19 September 866 Constantinople Died 11 May 912(912-05-11) (aged 45) Constantinople Burial Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople Wives Theophano Martinakia Zoe Zaoutzaina Eudokia Baïana Zoe Karbonopsina Issue Eudokia, Anna, Anna, Basil, Constantine Names Leo VI "the Wise" or "the Philosopher" Dynasty Amorian (assuming Michael III was his father) Macedonian (assuming Basil I was his father) Father Michael III (majority view) or Basil I (minority view) Mother Eudokia Ingerina Leo VI, called the Wise or the Philosopher (Greek: Λέων ὁ Σοφός, romanized: Leōn ho Sophos, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun by his predecessor Basil I, continued; but the Empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against Bulgaria and against the Arabs in Sicily and the Aegean. His reign also witnessed the formal discontinuation of several ancient Roman institutions, such as the separate office of Roman consul. Contents 1 Early life 2 Domestic policy 3 Foreign policy 4 Marriages 5 Succession 6 Works 7 Family 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources 11 External links Early life[edit] Leo VI (right) and Basil I, from the 11th-century manuscript by John Skylitzes Born on 19 September 866 to the empress Eudokia Ingerina,[2] Leo was either the illegitimate son of Emperor Michael III[3][4][5] or the second son of Michael's successor, Basil I the Macedonian.[6][7][8] Eudokia was both Michael III's mistress and Basil's wife. In 867, Michael was assassinated by Basil, who succeeded him as Emperor.[9] As the second-eldest son of the Emperor, Leo was associated on the throne in 870[10] and became the direct heir on the death of his older half-brother Constantine in 879.[11] However, Leo and Basil did not like each other; a relationship that only deteriorated after Eudokia's death, when Leo, unhappy with his marriage to Theophano, took up a mistress in the person of Zoe Zaoutzaina. Basil married Zoe off to an insignificant official, and later almost had Leo blinded when he was accused of conspiring against him.[12][13] On 29 August 886, Basil died in a hunting accident, though he claimed on his deathbed that there was an assassination attempt in which Leo was possibly involved.[14] Domestic policy[edit] One of the first actions of Leo VI after his succession was the reburial, with great ceremony, of the remains of Michael III in the imperial mausoleum within the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.[15] This contributed to the suspicion that Leo was (or at least believed himself to be) in truth Michael's son.[11] Seeking political reconciliation, the new Emperor secured the support of the officials in the capital, and surrounded himself with bureaucrats like Stylianos Zaoutzes (the father of his mistress, Zoe Zaoutzaina)[14] and the eunuch Samonas, an Arab defector whom Leo raised to the rank of patrikios and who stood in as godfather to Leo's son, Constantine VII.[16] His attempts to control the great aristocratic families (e.g., the Phokadai and the Doukai) occasionally led to serious conflicts,[17] the most significant being the revolt of Andronikos Doukas in 906.[18] Leo also attempted to involve himself in the church through his arbitrary interference with the patriarchate.[19] Using his former tutor Patriarch Photios's excommunication by Pope John VIII as an excuse, Leo dismissed him[20] and replaced him with his own 19-year-old brother Stephen in December 886.[11] On Stephen's death in 893, Leo replaced him with Zaoutzes' nominee, Antony II Kauleas, who died in 901.[17] Leo then promoted his own Imperial secretary (mystikos) Nicholas, but suspicions that he was involved in the failed assassination attempt against Leo in 903[21] as well as his opposition to Leo's fourth marriage saw Nicholas replaced with Leo's spiritual father Euthymios in 907.[18] The magnificent Church of Ayios Lazaros in Larnaca was constructed during the rule of Leo VI in the late 9th century,[22] and it was built after the relics of St. Lazaros were transported from Crete to Constantinople.[23] The church is one of the best examples of Byzantine architecture. Leo also completed work on the Basilika, the Greek translation and update of the law code issued by Justinian I, which had been started during the reign of Basil.[24] Bishop Liutprand of Cremona gives an account similar to those about Caliph Harun al-Rashid, to the effect that Leo would sometimes disguise himself and go about Constantinople looking for injustice or corruption. According to one story, he was even captured by the city guards during one of his investigations. Late in the evening, he was walking alone and disguised. Though he bribed two patrols with 12 nomismata and moved on, a 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.[citation needed] Foreign policy[edit] The Byzantines flee at Boulgarophygon, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes Leo VI's fortune in war was more mixed than Basil's had been.[25] In indulging his chief counselor Stylianos Zaoutzes, Leo provoked a war with Simeon I of Bulgaria in 894, but he was defeated.[26] Bribing the Magyars to attack the Bulgarians from the north, Leo scored an indirect success in 895.[27] However, deprived of his new allies, he lost the major Battle of Boulgarophygon in 896 and had to make the required commercial concessions and to pay annual tribute.[28] Although he won a victory in 900 against the Emirate of Tarsus, in which the Arab army was destroyed and the Emir himself captured,[29] in the west the Emirate of Sicily took Taormina, the last Byzantine outpost on the island of Sicily, in 902.[30] Nevertheless, Leo continued to apply pressure on his eastern frontier through the creation of the new thema of Mesopotamia, a Byzantine invasion of Armenia in 902, and the sacking of Theodosiopolis, as well as successful raids in the Arab Thughur.[29] Then, in 904 the renegade Leo of Tripolis sacked Thessalonica with his pirates—an event described in The Capture of Thessalonica by John Kaminiates—while a large-scale expedition to recover Crete under Himerios in 911–912 failed disastrously. Nevertheless, the same period also saw the establishment of the important frontier provinces (kleisourai) of Lykandos and Leontokome on territory recently taken from the Arabs.[31] In 907 Constantinople was attacked by the Kievan Rus' under Oleg of Novgorod, who was seeking favourable trading rights with the empire.[30] Leo paid them off, but they attacked again in 911, and a trade treaty was finally signed.[32] Marriages[edit] Leo VI caused a major scandal with his numerous marriages which failed to produce a legitimate heir to the throne.[33] His first wife Theophano, whom Basil had forced him to marry on account of her family connections to the Martinakioi, and whom Leo hated,[34] died in 897, and Leo married Zoe Zaoutzaina, the daughter of his adviser Stylianos Zaoutzes, though she died as well in 899.[35] Upon this marriage Leo created the title of basileopatōr ("father of the emperor") for his father-in-law.[36] After Zoe's death a third marriage was technically illegal,[37] but he married again, only to have his third wife Eudokia Baïana die in 901.[29] Instead of marrying a fourth time, which would have been an even greater sin than a third marriage (according to the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos)[38] Leo took as mistress Zoe Karbonopsina.[39] He married her only after she had given birth to a son in 905,[37] but incurred the opposition of the patriarch. Replacing Nicholas Mystikos with Euthymios,[17] Leo got his marriage recognized by the church (albeit with a long penance attached, and with an assurance that Leo would outlaw all future fourth marriages).[18] Succession[edit] Gold solidus of Leo VI and Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, 908–912 The future Constantine VII was the illegitimate son born before Leo's uncanonical fourth marriage to Zoe Karbonopsina.[37] To strengthen his son's position as heir, Leo had Constantine crowned as co-emperor on 15 May 908, when he was only two years old.[40] Leo VI died on 11 May 912.[17] He was succeeded by his younger brother Alexander, who had reigned as emperor alongside his father and brother since 879.[41] Works[edit] Leo VI was a prolific writer, and he produced works on many different topics and in many styles, including political orations, liturgical poems, and theological treatises.[30] On many occasions he would personally deliver highly wrought and convoluted sermons in the churches of Constantinople.[30] In the subject matter of legal works and treatises, he established a legal commission that carried out his father's original intent of codifying all of existing Byzantine law. The end result was a six-volume work consisting of 60 books, entitled the Basilika. Written in Greek, the Basilika translated and systematically arranged practically all of the laws preserved in the Corpus Juris Civilis, thereby providing a foundation upon which all later Byzantine laws could be built.[37] Leo then began integrating new laws issued during his reign into the Basilika. Called "Novels", or "New Laws", these were codes that dealt with current problems and issues, such as the prohibition on fourth marriages. Both the Basilika and the Novels were concerned with ecclesiastical law (canon law) as well as secular law.[37] Most importantly, from a historical perspective, they finally did away with much of the remaining legal and constitutional architecture that the Byzantine Empire had inherited from the Roman Empire, and even from the days of the Roman Republic.[16] Obsolete institutions such as the Curiae, the Roman Senate, even the Consulate, were finally removed from a legal perspective, even though these still continued in a lesser, decorative form.[37] Tactica The supposed Book of the Eparch and the Kletorologion of Philotheos were also issued under Leo's name and testify to his government's interest in organization and the maintenance of public order.[37] The Book of the Eparch described the rules and regulations for trade and trade organizations in Constantinople, while the Kletorologion was an attempt to standardize officials and ranks at the Byzantine court.[37] Leo is also the author, or at least sponsor, of the Tactica, a notable treatise on military operations.[17] Succeeding generations saw Leo as a prophet and a magician, and soon a collection of oracular poems and some short divinatory texts, the so-called Oracles of Leo the Wise, at least in part based on earlier Greek sources, were attached to the Emperor's name in later centuries and were believed to foretell the future of the world.[30] Finally, Leo is credited with translating the relics of St. Lazarus to Constantinople in the year 890. There are several stichera (hymns) attributed to him that are chanted on Lazarus Saturday in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also composed hymns that are sung on the Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Family[edit] By his first wife, Theophano Martinakia, Leo VI had one daughter: Eudokia, who died in 892.[42] By his second wife, Zoe Zaoutzaina, Leo had one daughter: Anna,[36] betrothed and married to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Blind,[43] though Dr. Shaun Tougher, Reader in Ancient History at Cardiff University, doubts they were married.[44] By his third wife, Eudokia Baïana, Leo had one son: Basil, who survived for only a few days.[33] By his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, Leo had two children:[39] Anna Constantine VII See also[edit] Byzantine Empire portal List of Byzantine emperors References[edit] ^ PBW, "KLeo VI". ^ Tougher, p. 42 ^ Treadgold, p. 462 ^ Norwich, p. 102 ^ Finlay, p. 306 ^ Adontz, Nicholas, L'Age et l'origine de l'empereur Basil I. Byzantion, 8, 1933, pp. 475–550 ^ Charanis, Peter, The Armenians in the Byzantine Empire, 1963, p. 35 ^ Ostrogorsky, George, History of the Byzantine State, 1969, p. 233, note 1 ^ Treadgold, p. 455 ^ Kazhdan, p. 1210 ^ a b c Gregory, p. 225 ^ Norwich, p. 99 ^ Treadgold, p. 460 ^ a b Treadgold, p. 461 ^ Finlay, p. 307 ^ a b Finlay, p. 308 ^ a b c d e Kazhdan, p. 1211 ^ a b c Treadgold, p. 468 ^ Finlay, p. 310 ^ Norwich, p. 104 ^ Treadgold, p. 467 ^ Michaelides, M.G., Saint Lazarus, The Friend Of Christ And First Bishop Of Kition, (1984) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ Shepard, The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire (2008), p. 493–496 ^ Norwich, p. 105 ^ Finlay, p. 314 ^ Treadgold, p. 463 ^ Norwich, p. 108 ^ Treadgold, p. 464 ^ a b c Treadgold, p. 466 ^ a b c d e Gregory, p. 226 ^ Treadgold, p. 466–470 ^ Treadgold, p. 469 ^ a b Norwich, p. 114 ^ According to the Patriarch Euthymios' biographer, Leo once told Euthymios that "the whole Senate knows that it was against my will and in great sorrow that I married [Theophano]. Apud Gilbert Dagron, Emperor and Priest:the Imperial Office in Byzantium. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-03697-9, pp. 203 ^ Treadgold, p. 465 ^ a b Norwich, p. 113 ^ a b c d e f g h Gregory, p. 227 ^ Finlay, p. 312 ^ a b Norwich, p. 115 ^ Kazhdan, p. 502 ^ Gregory, p. 228 ^ Norwich, p. 112 ^ Reuter, Timothy, The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. III: c. 900-c. 1024, Cambridge University Press, (2000), p. 334. ^ Tougher, p. 148. Sources[edit] Finlay, George History of the Byzantine Empire from 716 – 1057, Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1853 Gregory, Timothy, E., A History of Byzantium, Blackwell Publishing, 2005 ISBN 0-631-23512-4 Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 Norwich, John Julius (1993), Byzantium: The Apogee, London: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-011448-3 Tougher, Shaun (1997), The Reign of Leo VI (886-912): Politics and People, Leiden; New York; Köln: Brill, ISBN 9004108114 Treadgold, Warren A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997 ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 External links[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leon VI. French translations of a Turkish-language compendium of divinatory works, including some ascribed to Leo the Sage available at [1]. Greek text with Migne's Latin translation of Leo's works at [2] The Mosaic of Leo VI in the Narthex of Hagia Sophia Digitalized manuscripts of Leo VI the Wise at the Princeton University Library Leo VI the Wise Macedonian dynasty Born: 19 September 866 Died: 11 May 912 Regnal titles Preceded by Basil I Byzantine emperor 29 August 886 – 11 May 912 with Basil I, 870–886 Succeeded by Alexander Political offices Preceded by Basil I in 867, then lapsed Consul of the Roman Empire 886–912 Consulship abolished v t e Roman and Byzantine emperors and ruling empresses Principate 27 BC – AD 235 Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius Lucius Verus Commodus Pertinax Didius Julianus (Pescennius Niger) (Clodius Albinus) Septimius Severus Caracalla Geta Macrinus Diadumenian Elagabalus Severus Alexander Crisis 235–285 Maximinus Thrax Gordian I Gordian II Pupienus Balbinus Gordian III Philip the Arab Philip II Decius Herennius Etruscus Hostilian Trebonianus Gallus Volusianus Aemilianus Valerian Gallienus Saloninus Claudius Gothicus Quintillus Aurelian Ulpia Severina Tacitus Florian Probus Carus Carinus Numerian Gallic emperors Postumus (Laelianus) Marius Victorinus (Domitianus II) Tetricus I with Tetricus II as caesar Palmyrene emperors Vaballathus Zenobia Septimius Antiochus Dominate 284–395 Diocletian Maximian Galerius Constantius I Severus Constantine the Great Maxentius Licinius Maximinus Daza (Valerius Valens) (Martinian) Constantine II Constantius II Constans I Magnentius Vetranio Julian Jovian Valentinian I (west) Valens (east) Gratian (west) Valentinian II (west) Theodosius I Magnus Maximus Victor (Eugenius) Western Empire 395–480 Honorius Constantine III with son Constans II Constantius III Joannes Valentinian III Petronius Maximus Avitus Majorian Libius Severus Anthemius Olybrius Glycerius Julius Nepos Romulus Augustulus Eastern/ Byzantine Empire 395–1204 Arcadius Theodosius II Marcian Leo I Leo II Zeno Basiliscus Marcus Anastasius I Dicorus Justin I Justinian I Justin II Tiberius II Constantine Maurice with son Theodosius as co-emperor Phocas Heraclius Constantine III Heraklonas Constans II Constantine IV with brothers Heraclius and Tiberius and then Justinian II as co-emperors Justinian II (first reign) Leontios Tiberius III Justinian II (second reign) with son Tiberius as co-emperor Philippikos Anastasios II Theodosius III Leo III the Isaurian Constantine V Artabasdos Leo IV the Khazar Constantine VI Irene Nikephoros I Staurakios Michael I Rangabe with son Theophylact as co-emperor Leo V the Armenian with Symbatios-Constantine as junior emperor Michael II the Amorian Theophilos Michael III Basil I the Macedonian Leo VI the Wise Alexander Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Romanos I Lekapenos with sons Christopher, Stephen and Constantine as junior co-emperors Romanos II Nikephoros II Phokas John I Tzimiskes Basil II Constantine VIII Zoë (first reign) and Romanos III Argyros Zoë (first reign) and Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael V Kalaphates Zoë (second reign) with Theodora Zoë (second reign) and Constantine IX Monomachos Constantine IX Monomachos (sole emperor) Theodora Michael VI Bringas Isaac I Komnenos Constantine X Doukas Romanos IV Diogenes Michael VII Doukas with brothers Andronikos and Konstantios and son Constantine Nikephoros III Botaneiates Alexios I Komnenos John II Komnenos with Alexios Komnenos as co-emperor Manuel I Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos with John Komnenos as co-emperor Isaac II Angelos Alexios III Angelos Alexios IV Angelos Nicholas Kanabos (chosen by the Senate) Alexios V Doukas Empire of Nicaea 1204–1261 Constantine Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris John III Doukas Vatatzes Theodore II Laskaris John IV Laskaris Byzantine Empire 1261–1453 Michael VIII Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos with Michael IX Palaiologos as co-emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos John V Palaiologos John VI Kantakouzenos with John V Palaiologos and Matthew Kantakouzenos as co-emperors John V Palaiologos Andronikos IV Palaiologos John VII Palaiologos Andronikos V Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos Constantine XI Palaiologos Italics indicates a junior co-emperor, while underlining indicates a usurper. v t e Byzantine music List of composers Composers Romanos the Melodist Andrew of Crete John of Damascus Cosmas of Maiuma Stephen the Sabaite Theodore the Studite Theophanes the Branded Kassia Joseph the Hymnographer Joseph the Confessor Leo VI the Wise Constantine VII Nikephoros Ethikos Gregorios Glykys John Koukouzelis Xenos Korones Joannes Glykys John Kladas Manuel Chrysaphes* Janus Plousiadenos Theorists Manuel Bryennios Liturgy Paschal troparion Octoechos Associated forms Aposticha Canon Cherubikon Byzantine Rite Kathisma Koinonikon Kontakion Akathist Troparion Sticheron Theory Petasti 72 equal temperament Byzantine Musical Symbols Echos Octoechos Nenano Neobyzantine Octoechos Hagiopolitan Octoechos Papadic Octoechos Nana (echos) Ison Instruments Byzantine lyra Cretan lyra Thaboura Organon See also Protopsaltes Cappella Romana Museum of Ancient Greek, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Musical Instruments School of Ecclesiastic Music *also music theorist Category Authority control General Integrated Authority File ISNI 1 VIAF 1 2 3 4 5 6 WorldCat National libraries Norway Spain France (data) Italy United States Latvia Czech Republic Australia Greece 2 Israel Croatia Netherlands Poland Sweden Vatican Art research institutes Artist Names (Getty) Scientific databases CiNii (Japan) Other Faceted Application of Subject Terminology RERO (Switzerland) 1 SUDOC (France) 1 Trove (Australia) 1 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leo_VI_the_Wise&oldid=1027090051" Categories: 9th-century Byzantine emperors 10th-century Byzantine emperors Macedonian dynasty Byzantine hymnographers Byzantine composers Medieval Greek military writers 866 births 912 deaths Burials at the Church of the Holy Apostles Byzantine prisoners and detainees 880s in the Byzantine Empire 890s in the Byzantine Empire 900s in the Byzantine Empire 910s in the Byzantine Empire 9th-century Byzantine writers 10th-century Byzantine writers 9th-century composers 10th-century composers Sons of Byzantine emperors 9th-century Greek musicians 10th-century Greek musicians Hidden categories: CS1 maint: archived copy as title Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from September 2019 Articles containing Greek-language text Instances of Lang-el using second unnamed parameter All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2017 Commons category link is on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles 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