Editing Isaac I Komnenos (section)

===Revolt of the eastern generals===
====Michael VI and the military leadership====
When [[Michael VI Bringas]] came to the throne in 1056, Isaac was chosen to lead a deputation of eastern generals to the new emperor. Michael VI engaged in mass promotions of individuals—in the eyes of the contemporary courtier [[Michael Psellos]], to an excessive degree—and the military sought to partake in the emperor's bounty.{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=209–210}}{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=450–451}} This was not a trivial matter: the [[debasement]] of the [[Byzantine currency]] under [[Constantine IX Monomachos]] ({{reign|1042|1054}}) had affected military pay—not coincidentally presided over by none other than Michael Bringas, who was then [[military logothete]]—and while civil officials were compensated by being raised to higher dignities (which commanded higher salaries, ''rogai''), the army was not.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=597}} This exacerbated the already simmering dislike of the military aristocracy for the "regime of eunuchs and civilian politicians" that had dominated the empire during the last decades of the [[Macedonian dynasty]].{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=217}}
[[File:Histamenon of Michael VI.jpg|thumb|295x295px|Gold ''[[tetarteron]]'' of Michael VI.]]
At Easter 1057, the traditional time when the emperor paid title holders their stipends, the delegation presented itself before the emperor. Along with Isaac, the delegation included the ''magistros'' [[Katakalon Kekaumenos]], who had just been dismissed as ''[[dux|doux]]'' of [[Antioch]]; the ''[[vestarches]]'' Michael Bourtzes, whose [[Michael Bourtzes|namesake grandfather]] had [[Siege of Antioch (968–969)|captured]] Antioch for Byzantium a century earlier; [[Constantine X Doukas|Constantine Doukas]], married to a niece of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]] [[Michael Keroularios]]; his brother [[John Doukas (Caesar)|John Doukas]], a friend of Psellos; and others not explicitly named.{{sfn|Sewter|1953|p=210}}{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|pp=216–217}} As the historian Anthony Kaldellis comments, this was a formidable assemblage, as the families represented in it, all of them descended from military men promoted by the warrior-emperor [[Basil II]], would define "the future of the empire for the next thirty years, indeed for the next century and more".{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=217}} 

Psellos himself was an eyewitness at the reception of the generals' delegation, and claims that the emperor began abusing them at once; he then made Isaac, as the leader of the deputation, and his second, Kekaumenos, stand forth, and proceeded to denounce him, claiming that he was responsible for "all but losing Antioch" and "corrupting his army", being a coward and incompetent, and of having misappropriated army funds for his own use. [[John Skylitzes]], who wrote later in the century, reports that the emperor treated the generals courteously, but agrees that he refused outright to consider the honours they claimed for themselves, notably the promotion of Isaac and Kekaumenos to the rank of ''proedros''.{{sfn|Sewter|1953|p=210}}{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=450–451}} 

The effect of the emperor's attitude on the army leadership was profound, and turned them against Michael. A second delegation to the chief minister, the ''[[protosynkellos]]'' [[Leo Paraspondylos]], was received in similar manner, and according to Psellos Isaac could barely restrain his colleagues from attacking the emperor then and there, in his own throne room. At length, a plot was formed against the emperor, and despite Isaac's own reluctance, according to Psellos, he was nominated as its leader.{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=210–211}}{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=454–455}} 

The conspirators contacted the veteran general [[Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch)|Nikephoros Bryennios]], who had unsuccessfully tried to usurp the throne from Theodora{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=215}} but had recently been recalled by Michael VI as commander of the [[Macedonia (theme)|Macedonia]]n army, and he apparently agreed to support them. Soon after, however, Bryennios left with his troops for Asia Minor, to campaign against the Turks. Once in the [[Anatolic Theme]] he quarreled with the army treasurer, threw him in prison, and appropriated the funds to pay his soldiers as he saw fit. This was seen by another local commander as a sign of rebellion; Bryennios was arrested and [[political mutilation in Byzantine culture|blinded]].{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=454–455}}{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|pp=217–218}}

====Proclamation of Isaac as emperor and the Battle of Hades====
Fearing that their plot was about to be discovered, the eastern generals hastened to act: the conspirators resident in the Anatolic Theme, [[Romanos Skleros]], Michael Bourtzes, [[Nikephoros III Botaneiates|Nikephoros Botaneiates]] and the sons of [[Basil Argyros]], hastened to find Isaac Komnenos at his estates near [[Kastamonu|Kastamon]] in [[Paphlagonia]], and on 8 June 1057, at a place called Gounaria, proclaimed him emperor.{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=455–456}} It is unclear whether any of the rebels held command of troops; rather, according to Kaldellis, "they had to canvass for support among the officers and soldiers and forge orders of imperial appointment for themselves".{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=218}} Thus Skylitzes reports that Kekaumenos had to forge imperial letters to mobilize the regiments of the [[Armeniac Theme]]. With this force he went to join Komnenos.{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=456–458}} Leaving his family for safety with his brother at the fortress of Pemolissa on the banks of the [[Halys River]], Komnenos advanced west towards [[Constantinople]].{{sfn|Wortley|2010|p=458}} 

At the same time, the western regiments, and some of the eastern ones too, remained loyal to Michael VI. The emperor placed them under the command of Theodora's eunuch favourite, the ''proedros'' Theodore, and [[Aaron (son of Ivan Vladislav)|Aaron]], Isaac's brother-in-law; unlike previously, he now showered his commanders with honours to secure their allegiance. The loyalist army assembled at [[Nicomedia]], controlling the direct route to the capital. Therefore Komnenos turned south and seized [[Nicaea]] as his base of operations.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=218}}{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=458–459}} 

The two armies met at the [[Battle of Hades]], near Nicaea. In a hard-fought battle with many casualties, the loyalist left defeated the right wing of the rebel army. On the other flank, Kekaumenos broke through the loyalists to capture their camp and decide the battle, while Isaac held the centre.{{sfn|Kaldellis|Krallis|2012|pp=99, 101}}{{sfn|Wortley|2010|pp=459–461}}{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=214–215}}

====Negotiations and downfall of Michael VI====
Michael&nbsp;VI then attempted to negotiate with the rebels, sending Psellos, Leo Alopos, and the former ''[[mesazon]]'' of Constantine IX, [[Constantine Leichoudes]], to Isaac's camp. Michael offered to adopt Isaac as his son and to grant him the title of ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]'', making him effectively his successor, but this was rejected in a public audience. Psellos claims that Isaac was inclined to accept, but the pressure of the assembled troops, who vocally refused it, forced him to agree with his supporters. At a private meeting afterwards Isaac insisted that he had accepted the title of emperor only under the pressure of his followers, and secretly accepted the offer provided that Michael would also share "some, at any rate, of his imperial power", so that he could make appointments and reward his followers, especially in the military.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=218}}{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=215–224}} 

The envoys returned to Constantinople, and rapidly secured Michael's consent to the proposal; the Emperor explicitly agreed to pardon Isaac's followers, and to accord Isaac additional honours above those of ''Caesar'', setting him up almost as a co-emperor (''[[symbasileus]]''). As a sign of good faith, furthermore, Paraspondylos was dismissed from office. When the envoys returned to Isaac with this news, he publicly accepted the proposal and prepared to enter the capital.{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=224–226}} 

Back in Constantinople, however, a crowd of officials assembled in the [[Hagia Sophia]] and began protesting that by making a deal, the Emperor was forcing them to renounce their oaths to oppose the rebels. Going a step further, they began themselves acclaiming Isaac as emperor. After a short while, on 30 August, Michael Keroularios and the clergy joined their cause, raising suspicions that this "spontaneous" assembly had been planned by the ambitious and wily Patriarch all along. Pressured by Keroularios and wanting to avoid bloodshed in the city, Michael agreed to abdicate. He was quickly [[tonsure]]d and retired to a monastery.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|pp=218–219}}{{sfn|Sewter|1953|pp=226–227}}{{sfn|Kaldellis|Krallis|2012|pp=101, 103, 105, 107}} On the next day, 31 August, Isaac and his entourage crossed the [[Bosporus]] into Constantinople and entered the palace; on 1 September, he was crowned emperor by the Patriarch in the Hagia Sophia.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|p=219}}