Alexios Musele (Kaisar)

Alexios Musele ( Middle Greek Ἀλέξιος Μουσελέ , also Mosele ; † after 842 in Constantinople ) was a Byzantine general of Armenian origin and at times designated heir to the throne of Emperor Theophilos .

Life

Between 836 and 839/40 Alexios Musele was the husband of Maria (* around 826/27), the youngest and favorite daughter of the emperor Theophilos. This raised his son-in-law to the rank of emperor (Caesar) and thus a potential successor, since his firstborn son Constantine was already dead at this point; he probably died as early as 830.

The Middle Byzantine period prosopography According Alexios could the Kaisar- have held title since the 831st In any case, the book of ceremonies for this year mentions the presence of an emperor on the occasion of a triumph in Constantinople, and apart from Alexios no other bearer of this title is known under Theophilos. Previously, Alexios had already held the high dignity of patricios , anthypatos and magistrates .

In the summer of 836 Alexios Musele successfully waged war against the Bulgarians in Thrace , where he succeeded in re-establishing the direct land connection to Thessaloniki . After founding a new city and naming it Kaisaropolis after himself, he returned to Constantinople. Possibly Alexios was also involved in the campaign against Melitene in 837 , since he is mentioned as a participant in the subsequent triumphal procession.

As the commander of an expeditionary army, Alexios fought in 838 with varying success against the Saracens in Sicily and the Longobards in southern Italy . Due to rumors that Alexios was striving for the imperial throne and wanted to hand Sicily over to the Muslim attackers (see also Islam in Italy ), he was brought back to Constantinople and temporarily detained.

Alexios Musele lost his status as emperor at the latest when Theodora II gave birth to the heir to the throne Michael in the beginning of 840 . After the early death of Mary around the same time, Alexios became a monk ; he died at an unknown time after 842 in a monastery he had founded in Constantinople.

swell

• Konstantin Porphyrogennetos , De Ceremoniis , Appendix p. 505 (in the edition by Johann Jacob Reiske )
• John skylitzes 64
• Pseudo-Symeon 630
• Theophanes continuatus 3, 18
• Johannes Zonaras 15, 27

literature

• Alexander P. Kazhdan (Ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York NY 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 , p. 1416.
• Ralph-Johannes Lilie , Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1st department: (641−867). Volume 1: Aaron (# 1) - Georgios (# 2182). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-11-015179-0 , pp. 59-60 No. 195.
• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 1: Aaron - Azarethes . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2007, ISBN 978-2-503-52303-3 , pp. 161-162.
• Warren T. Treadgold : The Byzantine Revival, 780-842 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1988, ISBN 0-8047-1462-2 , pp. 289-290 and passim .