Michael V (Byzantium)

Histamenon Michaels V.

Michael V. Kalaphates ( Middle Greek Μιχαὴλ Εʹ Καλαφάτης "the sealer "; † August 24, 1042 ) was Byzantine emperor from 1041 to 1042.

Life

Michael was the nephew and successor of the Byzantine emperor Michael IV and the adopted son of his wife Zoe . His nickname refers to an earlier activity of his father as a caulker . He owed his accession to the throne on December 11, 1041 to his uncle Johannes Orphanotrophos , who was sent to a monastery immediately afterwards .

Relationships between Michael and his adoptive mother Zoe seem to have been quite good at first, but Michael soon developed a deep dislike for her. According to contemporary sources, he is said to have been enraged by the fact that Zoe was formally above him and was mentioned first in proclamations. On 18./19. In April 1042 he therefore banished Zoe to a monastery.

However, the announcement of this decision led to a popular uprising on April 21, as the population refused to accept the deportation of the legitimate empress. Michael was deposed, blinded and put in a monastery, where he died. The people of Constantinople considered him an ordinary usurper , as he could not show any dynastic legitimation for the throne. This seems to have moved the population to approve of his removal.

literature

• Lynda Garland: Byzantine Empresses. Women and power in Byzantium, AD 527-1204 . Routledge, London / New York 1999, ISBN 0-415-14688-7 , pp. 140 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search).

Web links

• Michael V. Kalaphates in the Prosopography of the Byzantine World

predecessor	Office	Successor
Michael IV.	Emperor of Byzantium 1041-1042	Zoe and Theodora III.