Nikephoros (Kaisar)

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Nikephoros ( Middle Greek Νικηφόρος , * around 756/758 probably in Constantinople ; † after 812 in Aphasia ?) Was a Byzantine prince who repeatedly pretended to the throne against Empress Irene and her son Constantine VI. occurred.

Life

Nikephorus was the second son of the emperor Constantine V (741-775) and his third wife Eudokia. He was thus a member of the Syrian dynasty , which ruled Byzantium from 717 to 802. Together with his older brother Christophoros , Nikephoros was appointed Kaisar (Caesar) on April 2, 769 ; his half-brother from his father's first marriage, the future emperor Leo IV , had already been raised to the rank of co-emperor ( Symbasileus ) in 751 . On April 13, 776, Nikephorus was present at the proclamation of Constantine VI. to co-emperor Leo IV in the Hagia Sophia , also one day later at the coronation ceremony in the hippodrome . In the following May Nikephoros and his brothers, the emperor Christophoros as well as the nobilissimi Niketas, Anthimos and Eudokimos, were exiled to Chersonese in the Crimea for alleged conspiracy against Leo IV , whereby their imperial titles were very likely withdrawn.

40 days after Irene came to power on September 8, 780, a group of conspirators, including Theophylaktos Rhangabe , the father of the later Emperor Michael I , wanted to elevate Nikephoros to emperor. The plot, however, was exposed; Nikephoros and his brothers were shorn to clergy by order of Irenes and had to distribute communion publicly at Christmas . The strategos of Sicily Elpidios was probably wrongly accused of supporting the usurpation. After the heavy defeat of Constantine VI. In the battle of Marcellae against the Bulgarians in 792, the Tagmata allegedly made another attempt to bring Nikephorus to the throne, which is why Constantine had him blinded . Thereafter, Nikephorus is no longer mentioned by name in Theophanes , so that it is not certain whether he was still alive in the following events. The brothers should after the death of Constantine VI. in October 797 and then exiled to Athens , in the spring of 799 made further attempts to overthrow Irene and her powerful minister Staurakios , which were just as unsuccessful as a final conspiracy in 812. Allegedly in this connection the brothers were exiled to the island of Aphasia, where loses its track.

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literature

  • 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. 365-366 No. 5267.
  • Ilse Rochow: Emperor Constantine V (741–775). Materials on his life and afterlife . With a prosopographical appendix by Claudia Ludwig, Ilse Rochow and Ralph-Johannes Lilie. Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1994, p. 248 (sv Nikephoros, son of Constantine V. ).
  • Warren Treadgold : A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 , pp. 367-369, 417-422.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The former strategist of Armeniacon Alexios Musele , who was held captive in the Praitorion, was also said to have ambitions for the imperial throne in connection with the revolt of the Tagmata, which is why Constantine VI. blinded him too.
personal data
SURNAME Nikephorus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Νικηφόρος (Middle Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine emperor (Caesar) and pretender to the throne, son of Constantine V.
DATE OF BIRTH at 756 or at 758
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Constantinople
DATE OF DEATH after 812
Place of death unsure: Aphasia