Constantine X Doukas
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox monarch
Constantine X Doukas or Ducas (Template:Langx; Template:Circa – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder of the Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy, while in the Balkans the Hungarians occupied Belgrade. He also suffered defeats by the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan.
ReignEdit
Constantine's parents are not mentioned in any primary sources,Template:Sfn but some scholars theorize that he was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a nobleman who served as strategos of Preslav during the reign of Basil II (Template:Reign).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historians often give his birthdate as Template:Circa 1006,Template:Sfn as he is said to have died aged "slightly over sixty years".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was an academic, addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, and he gained influence after he married, as his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, a niece of Patriarch Michael Keroularios.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 504">Kazhdan 1991, p. 504</ref> In 1057, Constantine supported the usurpation of Isaac I Komnenos, gradually siding with the court bureaucracy against the new emperor's reforms.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 504"/> In spite of this tacit opposition, Constantine was chosen as successor by the ailing Isaac in 1059, under the influence of Michael Psellos.Template:Sfn Isaac abdicated on 22 November and Constantine X was crowned emperor on the following day.Template:Sfn
The new emperor quickly associated two of his young sons in power, Michael VII Doukas and Konstantios Doukas, and appointed his brother John Doukas as kaisar (caesar), and also embarked on a policy favorable to the interests of the court bureaucracy and the church.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 504"/> Severely undercutting the training and financial support for the armed forces, Constantine X disbanded the Armenian local militia of 50,000 men at a crucial point of time, coinciding with the westward advance of the Seljuk Turks and their Turcoman allies.Template:Sfn Undoing many of the necessary reforms of Isaac I Komnenos, he bloated the military bureaucracy with highly paid court officials and crowded the Senate with his supporters.Template:Sfn
His decisions to replace standing soldiers with mercenariesTemplate:Sfn and leave the frontier fortifications unrepaired led Constantine to become naturally unpopular with the supporters of Isaac within the military aristocracy, who attempted to assassinate him in 1061.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 504" /> He also became unpopular with the general population after he raised taxes to try to pay the army.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 504"/>
At the very start of his reign, the Normans under Robert Guiscard completed the conquest of Byzantine Calabria, but Constantine showed a resurgent interest in retaining Apulia. He appointed at least two catepans of Italy (Marules and Sirianus) and sent reinforcements on two further occasions (under "Miriarcha" and Michael Maurex). He also suffered invasions by Alp Arslan in Asia Minor in 1064, resulting in the loss of the Armenian capital,Template:Sfn and by the Oghuz Turks in the Balkans in 1065,Template:Sfn while Belgrade was lost to the Hungarians.Template:Sfn
Already old and unhealthy when he came to power, Constantine died on 23 May 1067.Template:Sfn His final act was to demand that only his sons succeed him, forcing his wife Eudokia Makrembolitissa to take a vow not to remarry.Template:Sfn Both Michael and Konstantios were too young to rule, so Empress Eudokia ruled as the de facto ruler until 1 January 1068, when she married Romanos IV Diogenes and crowned him emperor.
FamilyEdit
.jpg){kind=link}
By his first wife, a daughter of Constantine Dalassenos, Constantine X Doukas had no issue.Template:Sfn
By his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he had four sons and three daughters:Template:Sfn
- Michael VII Doukas, co-emperor from 1060 and senior emperor after 1071.
- A son who died in infancy.
- Anne Doukaina, nun.Template:Sfn
- Andronikos Doukas, co-emperor from 1068 to 1078.
- Theodora Doukaina, who married Domenico Selvo, Doge of Venice.
- Konstantios Doukas, co-emperor from 1060 to 1078, died in battle with the Normans in 1081Template:Sfn
- Zoe Doukaina, who married Adrianos Komnenos, a brother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. They had a son, Alexios, and two daughters, maybe named Anne and Alexia.Template:Sfn
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Template:Citation
- Template:Cite journal
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
- Template:Citation
- Template:Citation
- Template:Polemis-The Doukai
- Template:Cite book
External linksEdit
Template:S-start Template:S-hou Template:S-reg Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Roman emperors Template:Authority control