Macedonian dynasty

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The Byzantine Thematic Administration in the Balkans around 1045

The Macedonian dynasty is the family of the Byzantine emperors from Basil I the Macedonian (867–886) to Theodora III. († 1056 ). The name of the dynasty was a geographical rather than an ethnic designation.

The progenitor Basil I belonged to an Armenian - Greek family that had settled in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia . He spent part of his childhood in Bulgaria , where his family had lived since 813 as prisoners of the Bulgarian prince Krum . He managed to escape and was accepted as a groom in the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of Bardas , the uncle of Emperor Michael III. who gave him access to power. With the murder of Michael in 867 he obtained the title of imperial.

The family died in 1056 with the Empress Theodora III. from who shortly before her death the stranger Michael VI. determined as his successor, who was ousted a year later by the nobility under Isaak Komnenus .

Culturally, the empire experienced a new phase of prosperity under the Macedonian emperors, the so-called Macedonian Renaissance .

Byzantine emperors from the Macedonian dynasty

• Basil I the Macedonians (867-886)
• Leo VI (886-912)
• Alexander (912-913)
• Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus (913–959)
• Romanos I. Lakapenos (920-944)
• Romanos II (959-963)
• Nikephorus II. Phocas (963–969)
• John I Tzimiskes (969–976)
• Basil II. Bulgaroktonos (976-1025)
• Constantine VIII (1025-1028)
• Romanos III. Argyros (1028-1034)
• Michael IV (1034-1041)
• Michael V (1041-1042)
• Zoë and Theodora III. (1042)
• Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055)
  • Georg Maniakes (1042-1043), anti-emperor
• Theodora III. (1055-1056), 2nd reign
• Michael VI. (1056-1057)

Family relationships

1. Basil I the Macedonians (813–886)
   1. Constantine (approx. 859–879)
   2. Leo VI the wise (866-912)
      1. Eudokia († 892)
      2. Anna ⚭ Ludwig the Blind
      3. Basil († 900)
      4. Constantine VII. Porphyrogennetos (905–959) ⚭ 919 Helene († 961), daughter of Romanos I Lakapenos
         1. Romanos II. (938–963) ⚭ 1) 942 Berta, daughter of King Hugo of Italy , ⚭ 2) 957 Anastasia, called Theophano
            1. (2) Basil II. Bulgaroktonos (958-1025)
            2. (2) Constantine VIII (961-1028)
               1. Eudokia, nun
               2. Zoë (980-1050) ⚭ 1) 1028 Romanos III. Argyros (around 968-1034), ⚭ 2) 1034 Michael IV. (1010-1041), ⚭ 3) 1042 Constantine IX. Monomachus († 1055)
               3. Theodora III. († 1056)
            3. (2) Anna (963-1011) ⚭ 989 Vladimir I Grand Duke of Kiev († 1015)
         2. Agathe
         3. Maria (Irene) ⚭ 927 Peter Tsar of the Bulgarians († 970)
         4. Theodora ⚭ 971 Johannes I. Tzimiskes († 976)
   3. Alexander (870-913)
   4. Stephanos I (870-893), Patriarch of Constantinople 886