Editing Constantine VI

{{short description|Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{distinguish|Ecumenical Patriarch Constantine VI of Constantinople}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Constantine VI
| title        = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor of the Romans]]
| image        = INC-3040-r Солид. Константин VI и Ирина. 793—979 гг. (реверс).png
| alt          = 
| caption      = Constantine VI – gold ''[[Solidus (coin)|solidus]]''. The inscription reads {{Smallcaps|constantinos {{Abbreviation|basiΘ|BASILEUS}}}}. 
| succession   = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| reign        = 8 September 780 –<br/>19 August 797
| predecessor  = [[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]]
| successor    = [[Irene of Athens|Irene]] <!-- Do not add Charlemagne here; a claim of spiritual inheritance not recognized in modern scholarship has no place here -->
| regent       = Irene (780–90, regent; 792–97, co-empress)
|reg-type      = Co-ruler
| birth_date   = 14 January 771
| death_date   = before 805
| spouse       = [[Maria of Amnia]]<br/>[[Theodote (empress)|Theodote]]
| issue        = {{unbulleted list|[[Euphrosyne (9th century)|Euphrosyne]]}}
| issue-link   = #Family
| coronation   = 14 April 776<ref>''[[Prosopography of the Byzantine World|PBW]]'', "[https://www.degruyter.com/document/database/PMBZ/entry/PMBZ14853/html Konstantinos VI]".</ref> (as co-emperor)
| dynasty      = [[Isaurian dynasty|Isaurian]]
| father       = [[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]]
| mother       = [[Irene (empress)|Irene of Athens]]
}}
{{Isaurian dynasty}}
'''Constantine VI''' ({{langx|el|Κωνσταντῖνος|Kōnstantīnos}}, 14 January 771 – before 805),<ref name="ODB">{{harvnb|Cutler|Hollingsworth|1991|pp=501–502}}</ref> sometimes called '''the Blind''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lygo |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzVxEAAAQBAJ |title=The Emperors of Byzantium |date=2022 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-77733-6 |chapter=Index}}</ref><ref>Майоров, А. В. (2014). [https://www.academia.edu/11849062/The_daughter_of_a_Byzantine_Emperor_the_wife_of_a_Galician_Volhynian_Prince_In_Byzantinoslavica_2014_vol_72_no_1_2_pp_188_233 The daughter of a Byzantine Emperor – the wife of a Galician-Volhynian Prince]. ''Byzantinoslavica'', ''72''(1-2), 188-233 (226).</ref> was [[Byzantine emperor]] from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor [[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]], Constantine was named co-emperor with him at the age of five in 776 and succeeded him as sole Emperor in 780, aged nine. His mother [[Irene of Athens|Irene]] exercised control over him as [[regent]] until 790, assisted by her chief minister [[Staurakios (eunuch)|Staurakios]]. The regency ended when Constantine reached maturity, but Irene sought to remain an active participant in the government. After a brief interval of sole rule Constantine named his mother empress in 792, making her his official colleague.

Constantine suffered military defeats and made controversial decisions, such as blinding his loyal general [[Alexios Mosele (general)|Alexios Mosele]] and illicitly marrying his mistress, [[Theodote (empress)|Theodote]]. Taking advantage of her son's unpopularity, Irene had Constantine deposed, blinded and imprisoned in 797 and seized power for herself alone, becoming the first Empress regnant of the Empire. Constantine likely died shortly thereafter.

Constantine VI was the final ruler to be universally recognized as [[Roman emperor]], being recognized as such by both the Empire which he ruled in the east, the [[papacy]] and the [[Western Europe]]an powers over which the pope held [[suzerainty]]. The Byzantines' ability to protect the Papacy had waned following the Arab Conquests, leading the Papacy to increasingly seek protection from the Franks. This culminated in 800 when [[Pope Leo III]], who owed his power and position to the Franks, crowned [[Charlemagne]] as 'Emperor of the Romans'. Based on the assertion that a woman could not be Empress in her own right, this laid the foundations of a new polity, independent of the East, that would evolve into the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>[[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce]] (1864), ''The Holy Roman Empire'', pp. 62–64</ref>

According to Byzantine sources, the rebel [[Thomas the Slav]] ({{circa|760}}–823) claimed to be Constantine VI in an effort to gain support against [[Michael II]].{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=435}} However, most modern scholars dismiss this as a later fabrication.{{sfn|Lemerle|1965|pp=283–284}}{{sfn|Kiapidou|2003}}

== Early life and the regency of Irene ==
Constantine VI was the only child of Emperor [[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]] and [[Irene (empress)|Irene]].  Constantine was [[coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned co-emperor by his father]] in 776, and succeeded as sole emperor in 780, at the age of nine. Due to his minority, Irene and her chief minister [[Staurakios (eunuch)|Staurakios]] exercised the [[regency]] for him.<ref name="ODB"/>

In 787, Constantine, then sixteen-years-old had signed the decrees of the [[Second Council of Nicaea]], but he appears to have had [[Byzantine iconoclasm|iconoclast]] sympathies.<ref name="ODB"/> In 788, Irene herself broke off the engagement of Constantine with [[Rotrude]], a daughter of [[Charlemagne]]. Turning against Charlemagne, the Byzantines now supported Lombard pretender [[Adalgis]], who had been forced into exile after the Frankish [[Siege of Pavia (773–74)|invasion of Italy]]. Adalgis was given command of a Roman expeditionary corps, landing in Calabria towards the end of 788 but [[Byzantine expedition to Calabria (788/789)|was defeated]] by the united armies of the Lombard dukes [[Hildeprand of Spoleto]] and [[Grimoald III of Benevento]] as well as Frankish troops under [[Winiges of Spoleto|Winiges]].<ref>Ottorino Bertolini, "Adelchi, re dei Longobardi", ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' 1 (1960).</ref>

After a conspiracy against Irene was suppressed in the spring of 790 she attempted to get official recognition as empress. This backfired and with military support Constantine finally came to actual power in 790, after the [[Armeniacs]] rebelled against Irene.  Nevertheless, after campaigning unsuccessfully in the Balkans, Constantine restored his mother in 792 after just two years out of power and made her co-ruler.<ref>[https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/gods-regents-on-earth-a-thousand-years-of-byzantine-imperial-seals/rulers-of-byzantium/constantine-vi-790201392 "Constantine VI (780–797)", Dumbarton Oaks]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |page=259|isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

== Reign ==
Once in control of the state, Constantine proved incapable of sound governance. Constantine himself suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of [[Kardam of Bulgaria]] in the 792 [[Battle of Marcellae]].<ref name="ODB"/> A plot developed in favor of his uncle, the ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]'' [[Nikephoros (Caesar)|Nikephoros]]. Constantine had his uncle's eyes put out and the tongues of his father's four other half-brothers cut off. His former Armeniac supporters revolted after he had blinded their ''[[stratēgos]]'' [[Alexios Mosele (general)|Alexios Mosele]] due to alleged involvement in the plot. They also disapproved of Irene as co-ruler. Constantine crushed this revolt with extreme cruelty in 793.<ref name="ODB"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |page=259|isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

He then divorced his wife [[Maria of Amnia]], who had failed to provide him with a male heir, and married his mistress [[Theodote (empress)|Theodote]], an unpopular and [[canon law|canonically]] illegal act which sparked off the so-called "Moechian controversy". Although Patriarch [[Tarasios of Constantinople]] did not publicly speak against it, he did refuse to officiate the marriage. Popular disapproval was expressed by Theodote's uncle, [[Plato of Sakkoudion]], who even broke communion with Tarasios for his passive stance. Plato's intransigence led to his own imprisonment, while his monastic supporters were persecuted and exiled to Thessalonica. The "Moechian controversy" cost Constantine what popularity he had left, especially in the church establishment, which Irene took care to vocally support against her own son.<ref name="ODB"/>{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=442}}{{sfn|Garland|1999|pp=84–85}}

On 19 August 797,{{efn|The ''[[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]]'' gives 19 April, but this is a mistake. [[Theophanes the Confessor]] writes: "[They] ''reached the City on Saturday morning, 15 August''." The 15th was Tuesday, so the correct date would be August 19.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/chronicle-of-theophanes-the-confessor/page/649|title=The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1997|isbn=9780198225683 |editor-last=Mango|editor-first=Cyril A.|editor-link=Cyril Mango|chapter=A.M. 6289}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grierson|first1=Philip|last2=Mango|first2=Cyril|last3=Ševčenko|first3=Ihor |date=1962 |title=The Tombs and Obits of the Byzantine Emperors (337–1042); With an Additional Note |url=https://archive.org/details/SevcenkoStudies19611992/page/n75/mode/2up|journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=16|pages=54–55 |doi=10.2307/1291157|jstor=1291157|issn=0070-7546}}</ref>}} Constantine was captured, [[political mutilation in Byzantine culture|blinded]], and imprisoned by the supporters of his mother, who had organized a conspiracy, leaving Irene to be crowned as first Empress regnant of Constantinople. It is unknown when exactly Constantine died; it was certainly before 805, though he may have died of his wounds shortly after being blinded (indeed, the act may have been "performed in a particularly brutal manner in order to ensure that he would not survive").<ref>{{cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |date=1990 |title=Byzantium: The Early Centuries |location=London |publisher=Penguin Books |page=375 |isbn=0-14-011447-5}}</ref> He was buried in the Monastery of St. Euphrosyne, which Irene had founded.<ref name="ODB"/>{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=442}}{{sfn|Garland|1999|pp=85–87, 260 (Note 67)}}

===Economy===
Although the eighth century was a period of depopulation and ruralisation, there is evidence of a degree of prosperity, for example, the written record of the very large payment of 7,200 ''[[nomisma|nomismata]]'' (100 pounds of gold) by Constantine for the fair of St John at [[Ephesus]] in 795, which seems to suggest that the peasantry was industrious at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |page=264|isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}</ref>

==Family==
By his first wife Maria, Constantine VI had two daughters:
* [[Euphrosyne (9th century)|Euphrosyne]] (790{{spaced ndash}} after 836), who married Emperor [[Michael II]]
* Irene (789{{spaced ndash}} after July 796), who became a nun
By his mistress and then second wife Theodote, Constantine VI had two sons, both of whom died young:
* Leo (7 October 796{{spaced ndash}} 1 May 797)
* An unnamed son (posthumously 797/8{{spaced ndash}} between 802 and 808)
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="160" heights="160">
File:Solidus of Leo IV and Constantine VI.png|Leo IV with his son and co-emperor Constantine VI.
File:Irene solidus sb 1592.jpg|Leo III, Constantine V and Leo IV (left), with Constantine VI and Irene (right).
File:Seal of Constantine VI.png|Seal of Constantine VI, {{circa}} 791.
File:49-manasses-chronicle.jpg|The 2nd Council of Nicaea depicted in a Bulgarian miniature of the 12th century [[Constantine Manasses|Manasses Chronicle]].
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Byzantine Empire}}
* [[List of Byzantine emperors]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Works cited ===
*{{cite book |last=Auzépy |first=Marie-France |date=2008 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |title=The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire (c. 500–1492) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=State of emergency (700–850) |isbn=978-0-521-83231-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Barbé |first=Dominique |title=Irène de Byzance: la femme empereur |date=1990 |publisher=Perrin |isbn=978-2-262-00738-6 |series=Passé simple |location=Paris}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/the-oxfrod-dictionary-of-byzantium-vol.-1-oup-1991/The%20Oxfrod%20Dictionary%20of%20Byzantium_Vol.%201_OUP_1991/page/499/mode/1up| article=Constantine VI | last1=Cutler | first1=Anthony | last2=Hollingsworth | first2=Paul A. |editor-first=Alexander |editor-last=Kazhdan|editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan| encyclopedia=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | location=Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1991 | pages=501–502 | isbn=0-19-504652-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Garland|first=Lynda|author-link=Lynda Garland|title=Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527–1204|year=1999|location=New York and London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-14688-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gWGAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Kiapidou|first=Irini-Sofia|title=Rebellion of Thomas the Slav, 821–23|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor|location=Athens |publisher=Foundation of the Hellenic World|url=http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=9984 |date=April 28, 2003 }}
* {{cite book|last=Lemerle|first=Paul|authorlink=Paul Lemerle|chapter=Thomas le Slave|title=Travaux et mémoires 1|location=Paris |publisher=Centre de recherche d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance|year =1965|language=French|pages=255–297|oclc=457007063}}
* {{cite book|last=Treadgold|first=Warren|author-link=Warren Treadgold|title=A History of the Byzantine State and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC|location=Stanford, California|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1997|isbn=0-8047-2630-2}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|year=1956|title=History of the Byzantine State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ|publisher=Basil Blackwell|place=Oxford}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Byzantine Empire under the Isaurian dynasty|Isaurian dynasty]]|14 January|771||before 805}}
{{S-reg|}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[Byzantine Emperor]]
| years=8 September 780 – 19 August 797<br/>(with [[Irene of Athens|Irene]])
| before=[[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]]
| after=[[Irene of Athens|Irene]]
}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Leo IV the Khazar|Leo IV]] in 776,<br/>then lapsed}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Roman consul]]| years=780 }}
{{s-aft | after= Lapsed,<br />[[Nikephoros I]] in 803}}
{{s-end}}
{{Roman Emperors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine 06}}
[[Category:8th-century Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:Isaurian dynasty]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars]]
[[Category:771 births]]
[[Category:797 deaths]]
[[Category:800s deaths]]
[[Category:780s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:790s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Sons of Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:Sons of empresses regnant]]
[[Category:Byzantine consuls]]