Nikephorus I.

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Nikephorus I and his son Staurakios .

Nikephorus I ( Middle Greek Νικηφόρος ; * around 760; † July 26, 811 at the Warbizapass near Preslaw ) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811 .

Life

The source situation regarding Nikephoros is problematic. Different statements about his origin or the evaluation of his reign make it difficult to assess his person. Under Empress Irene , Nikephoros acted as the Logothetes of the Genikon , i.e. as the chief financial officer. He managed to put himself at the head of a conspiracy and depose Irene in late 802. Irene was banished, her favorites Aëtios and Leon ousted, and he himself ascended the throne in her place. However, the exact background is unclear. The question of why Nikephorus managed to secure the throne must also remain open.

At the beginning of his reign he faced considerable opposition. General Bardanes Turkos , one of the most capable Byzantine commanders, rose against Nikephoros in 803. Bardanes received support from other commanders in his revolt, including Leo V and Michael II, two later emperors. Nikephorus was able to put down the rebellion and Bardanes was banished to a monastery. The plot of the patrician Arsaber had a similar outcome. The persistent resistance to the rule of Nikephorus was probably due to the fact that he lacked dynastic legitimacy. This could explain that he married his son Staurakios to a relative of Irene.

Nikephorus needed large sums of money to improve the empire's military strength. He therefore made great efforts to increase the state's income through financial reform. However, through his rigorous requirements, he allegedly gambled away the favor of his subjects. This gloomy picture is mainly painted by Theophanes , who, however, was apparently prejudiced against Nikephorus. The financial policy of the Nikephoros seems to have been well thought out. Above all, she was supposed to guarantee flowing payments again, which was no longer the case under Irene. Internally, however, there were also conflicts with the clergy, especially after Nikephorus reassigned the patriarchal office of Constantinople in 806. The new patriarch, also named Nikephoros , had to overcome considerable resistance against himself.

In 803 and 810, after two Byzantine naval expeditions, he signed a treaty with Charlemagne , through which the borders of the two empires were amicably established. Venice , Istria , Dalmatia and southern Italy were assigned to the Eastern Empire, Rome , Ravenna and the Pentapolis to the Frankish Empire. In addition, Nikephorus recognized the controversial imperial title of Charles, against which Irene had resisted resolutely. However, Nikephoros also refused Karl the title of “Emperor of the Romans”.

In the east there were repeated battles with the Arabs, whose caliph Hārūn ar-Raschīd was able to achieve some successes. Eventually Nikephoros was forced to go into the field himself, but suffered a heavy defeat at Krasos in Phrygia in 804 , followed by raids by the Arabs on Asia Minor in 806. The peace agreement is said to have cost Nikephoros 30,000 nomismata per year, and humiliatingly he also had to pay poll tax for himself and his son.

For a long time he had endeavored to secure the Slavic areas of the Balkans ( slave lines ) for the empire by resettlement from the areas of Asia Minor. In general he seems to have been quite successful in this regard, at least the Slavs could be defeated several times. After the death of Harun ar-Raschid in 809, the danger of a two-front war was initially averted and Nikephoros was able to devote himself to the Bulgarian Khan Krum , who was pressing the northern borders. In the summer of 811 Nikephorus invaded Bulgaria from Markellai . His campaign led Krum to offer negotiations, but in the Battle of the Warbiza Pass on July 26th, Krum surprised Nikephoros and killed him and a large number of his soldiers.

It is reported that Krum had a silver-plated drinking cup made from Nikephoros' skull. Staurakios succeeded Nikephoros for a short time, but due to his serious injuries from the Battle of Pliska he was soon deposed and replaced by his brother-in-law Michael Rangabe .

literature

Theophanes († 818) reports most extensively on the reign of the emperor, but he is strongly partisan and hostile to Nikephorus. For details, please refer to the article in the Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period (PmbZ).

  • 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 , pp. 357 ff.
  • Timothy E. Gregory: A History of Byzantium. Blackwell, Malden et al. 2005, ISBN 0-631-23513-2 , pp. 202-204 ( Blackwell History of the Ancient World ).
  • 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. 354-360 (with extensive references).
  • Warren Treadgold : The Byzantine Revival. 780-842. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1988, ISBN 0-8047-1462-2 , p. 127 ff.
  • Daniel Ziemann: From wandering people to great power. The emergence of Bulgaria in the early Middle Ages (7th – 9th centuries). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-09106-4 , p. 241 ff. ( Cologne historical essays 43).

Web links

Commons : Nikephoros I.  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period (PmbZ), Vol. 3, p. 354 f.
  2. PmbZ, Vol. 3, p. 355.
  3. See PmbZ, Vol. 3, p. 357.
  4. See also the description in Theophanes, AM 6302.
  5. See Timothy Gregory: A History of Byzantium. Malden 2005, p. 203.
  6. Theophanes, AM 6298. In summary, PmbZ, vol. 3, p. 356 f.
  7. ^ Theophanes, AM 6296.
  8. Theophanes, AM 6298th General on foreign policy. PBMC, vol 3, p 355 f, see also Timothy Gregory. A History of Byzantium. Malden 2005, p. 204 f.
predecessor Office successor
Irene Emperor of Byzantium
802–811
Staurakios