Michael VI.

Michael VI. Stratiotikos ( Middle Greek Μιχαὴλ ΣΤʹ ὁ Στρατιωτικός ), also called "Michael the Old", was Byzantine emperor from 1056 to 1057.

Life

Michael was already an old man when the Empress Theodora III. appointed him successor shortly before her own death. At the beginning of his reign he was with the usurpation of Theodosios Monomachus , a relative of the 1055 deceased Emperor Constantine IX. , which, however, failed.

In view of the rivalry between the civil servant and the military nobility that shaped the 11th century in Byzantine history, he sided with the civil servants. According to Michael Psellos , the most important Byzantine secondary source for the period, he is said to have promoted numerous officials to an extraordinary degree at a solemn ceremony, while at the same time publicly rebuking the entire military. This injustice, which was blatant in the eyes of the military nobility, called a group of military representatives around the officers Isaak Komnenos and Nikephoros Bryennios on the scene, who mobilized most of the army against him.

After a lost battle against the rebels in Phrygia , they had no trouble forcing Michael to abdicate on August 30, 1057. In contrast to many other Byzantine emperors who lost their office prematurely, he was not blinded or mutilated in any other way, but went to a monastery as a monk. He died there in 1059.

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predecessor	Office	successor
Theodora III.	Emperor of Byzantium 1056–1057	Isaac I.

personal data
SURNAME	Michael VI.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Michael VI. Stratiotics; Michael the Old
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Byzantine emperor (1056-1057)
DATE OF BIRTH	10th century
DATE OF DEATH	after 1057