Michael II (Byzantium)
Michael II. ( Greek Μιχαήλ Βʹ , called "the stutterer" ( ὁ Ψηλλός ho Psēllos or ὁ Τραυλός ho Traulos ) or "the Amorier" ( ὁ Ἀμοριεῦς ho Amorieus ), * 770 in Amorion in Phrygia ; † October 2, 829 in Constantinople ) was Byzantine emperor from 820 to 829 and founded the Amorian dynasty .
Michael began his career as a simple soldier and rose due to his skills to the strategos of the Byzantine military province ( subject ) Armeniacon and Comes Excubitorum (commandant of the palace troops). 803 he was at the usurpation of Bardanes Turkos , whose daughter he married Thekla, against Emperor Nikephoros I. involved. In 813 he also supported the enthronement of Leo V , who was known with him , but was sentenced to death in December 820 when a conspiracy against Emperor Leo V was discovered. However, his followers managed to assassinate Emperor Leo V, get Michael out of prison and put him on the throne as the first member of the Amorian dynasty or Phrygian dynasty (after Michael II's region of origin). The rightful heir to the throne, Constantine , was banished to Proti , emasculated and put into a monastery.
The assassination of Emperor Leo V and the usurpation of Michael II triggered another usurpation attempt: Michael's former comrade in arms, General Thomas also known as Thomas the Slav , claimed the throne and thus sparked a serious civil war from 820 to 823 lasted. After Thomas, whose power base was in the east of the empire, defeated some generals loyal to the emperor and came to an understanding with the Arabs under Caliph al-Ma'mūn , he quickly gained followers, especially since he appeared as a protector of the poor and like Leo V in the east of the empire could rely on support from the growing Paulicanism . Constantinople itself was besieged by the usurper for over a year and at times seemed to be on the verge of collapse. Only the alliance with Khan Omurtag brought a turning point. Thomas had to give up the siege and was eventually captured and executed. The civil war weakened the empire and favored further Islamic expansion :
In 823/4 Spanish Arabs, who were in opposition to the Umayyad emirate al-Andalus , conquered Crete and founded the emirate of Crete , which lasted 135 years . The attacks on Sicily began under Michael II in 827 in connection with the usurpation of Euphemius .
Despite his iconoclastic sympathies, he tried to appease the admirers of the image, but incurred the anger of the monks when he married Euphrosyne, daughter of Constantine VI, a second time .
literature
- Leslie Brubaker, John F. Haldon: Byzantium in the Iconoclast era. c. 680-850. A history. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2011, ISBN 978-0-521-43093-7 .
- Erwin window: Michael II. Traulos , in: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Vol. 3. Munich 1979, p. 175 f.
- Ralph-Johannes Lilie , Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1st department: (641−867). Volume 3: Leon (# 4271) - Placentius (# 6265). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-11-016673-9 , pp. 252-258 No. 4990.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Leo V. |
Emperor of Byzantium 820–829 |
Theophilus |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Michael II |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Michael II ho Psellos; Michael II ho Traulos; Michael II the stutterer; the Cupid |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Byzantine emperor (820–829) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 770 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Amorion , Phrygia |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 2, 829 |
| Place of death | Constantinople |