Nikephorus Phocas the Elder

Nikephoros Phokas the Elder ( Greek : Νικηφόρος Φωκάς, Nikēphoros Phōkas) (* around 830 in Cappadocia ; † around 896 or 900) was in the second half of the 9th century under the emperors of Byzantium Basil I (867-886) and Leo VI. (886-912) one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire , who proved himself in the reconquest of Byzantine territories in the Balkans and in the east of the empire, but especially in Italy , where he succeeded in returning large parts of southern Italy to Byzantine control after a long estrangement subject. From 886 to 896 he was Domestikos ton scholon (commander in chief of the imperial troops) at the head of the Byzantine military hierarchy. He was the closer progenitor of his house, which reached the height of his power with his grandson, Nikephorus II , who was emperor of Byzantium from 963 to 969. A grateful memory of him has been preserved in southern Italy to this day.

origin

Nikephoros Phokas came from the Byzantine magnate family of the Phokadai, who were among the most distinguished representatives of the Byzantine military nobility and owned extensive land in Anatolia .

Nikephoros was the son of Phocas, the oldest safe ancestor of the family, who was initially Tourmarches (commander of a tower , ie a sub-province) and was appointed strategos (military governor) of the subject Anatolia in 872 by Emperor Basil I. Neither the name nor the origin of his mother is known, but it is believed that she was of Armenian origin.

Life

Basil, his son Constantine and his second wife Eudokia Ingerina

Nikephoros Phokas followed the example of his father, who had proven himself as a military governor in Anatolia, and also embarked on a military career. He began his apprenticeship under his father, showed bravery and organizational talent at an early age, as a result of which he rose quickly in the military hierarchy to the commanding general.

Nikephoros became famous for his military successes, which he achieved in the service of Emperor Basil I in Italy . This emperor owed his throne to the fact that he had his patron, Emperor Michael III. (842–867), known as "the drunkard", was murdered on the night of September 23rd to 24th, 867, but proved to be a capable ruler who managed to regain territories that had been lost to the Byzantine Empire under its predecessors, to recapture and also to strengthen the inner cohesion of the empire through its legislative activity and through the fight against the spreading heretical sect of the Paulikians .

Use in Italy

Italy around the year 1000.

The background to Nikephoros Phokas' action in Italy was that southern Italy, which from the Byzantine point of view appeared to be a natural part of the Byzantine Empire, had turned into a contested area where the influence of the empire was on the wane. This happened because of the competing claims of the western Roman Empire, through the striving for autonomy of the Lombard principalities and especially through the attacks of the Arab dynasty of the Aghlabids . This had conquered Sicily , Sardinia and large parts of Calabria from Tunisia in the first half of the 9th century , whereby in 841 the city of Benevento was conquered and the monastery of Monte Cassino was robbed. In 870 the Saracens conquered the island of Malta , thereby strengthening their strategic position between Tunisia and Sicily and thereby threatening Christian shipping in the Mediterranean.

After the Byzantine fleet repelled Saracen attacks on the Dalmatian coast and demolished the siege of Dubrovnik, Emperor Basil I turned to the reconquest of Byzantine territories on the Italian mainland, which was transferred to Nikephoros Phokas.

As an experienced general with political instinct, Nikephorus recognized that a solo attempt by the Byzantine army against the expanding Saracens was not very promising, while an alliance with the Western Roman Empire and with the Pope would considerably improve the chances of a successful campaign. This resulted in lengthy but ultimately successful negotiations through which a joint approach was agreed. Ludwig II (since 839/40 King of Italy and from 855 Roman Emperor, † 875), the eldest son of Emperor Lothar I from the House of Carolingians , was to receive the hand of a princess from the Byzantine imperial family for his support. Pope John VIII (872-882) was won over by the deposition of the Rome-critical patriarch of Constantinople Photios (858-867 and 878-886) - who had excommunicated Pope Nicholas I "the great" (858-867) in 867 .

However, the planned alliance did not work quite as desired: Emperor Ludwig II conquered Bari on his own in 871 , without any advantage for Byzantium. This led to considerable controversy and the refusal of recognition of the western imperial title by Byzantium. Soon afterwards, Emperor Basil I also lost papal support, as he expanded his influence on Dalmatia , Macedonia and Bulgaria by actively supporting the missionary activities of the Orthodox Church and thus suppressing the presence of the Roman Catholic Church .

From a Byzantine point of view, a revolt of the Duke Adelchis of Benevento against Emperor Ludwig II was helpful, the former submitting himself to the Byzantine protectorate for the purpose of reinsurance in 873. After the death of Emperor Ludwig II in 875, Bari also submitted to the government of Constantinople in 876 . New attacks by the Saracens on the coasts of Dalmatia, Central Greece and the Peloponnese were repulsed by the Byzantine naval units, but in 878 the city of Syracuse , the center of the Byzantine presence in Sicily, which had long withstood the siege, fell into the hands of the Arabs.

In view of the dramatic situation, the proven General Nikephoros Phokas was supposed to turn this development around. Emperor Basileios commissioned him to bring the continental lower Italy back under Byzantine control. Phocas equipped a large army that was shipped to southern Italy with the help of the Byzantine fleet. In a series of victorious battles he succeeded in defeating the troops of the emir of the Aghlabids , Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm II. (875-902) and in the years 885 to 886 through several successful campaigns in Apulia, including Bari and Taranto, and in Calabria, including Santa Recapture Severina, Tropea and Amantea. At the same time he was able to push back the Saracens in Sicily, but not drive them from there. To protect the population from attacks by the Saracens, he recommended that the population in southern Italy move to walled hilltop settlements.

During his two-year campaign in Italy, Phocas also subjugated the territories under Lombard rule in Calabria and Basilicata , making the Principality of Salerno and the Duchy of Benevento Byzantine vassals. Thanks to his military prowess, a large part of southern Italy was again subordinate to the Byzantine Empire.

In recognition of his services, he was appointed Domestikos ton scholon , that is, commander in chief of the Byzantine troops in 886 . A position he held from 886 until shortly before his death in 896.

Use against Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Simeon

After the death of Emperor Basil I in 886, Phocas was succeeded by his son and successor, Emperor Leo VI. "The wise" (886-912) recalled to Constantinople and entrusted with the defense of Macedonia against the Bulgarians. The conflict with Bulgaria developed from an initiative of the highest minister of Emperor Leo VI, the Armenian Stylianos Zauzes, who bore the rare title of “basileopater” (imperial father), although he was only the emperor's father-in-law. He obtained from his son-in-law that in 893 he transferred the trade monopoly with Bulgaria to two Greek merchants who were his favorites and that the transit warehouse for Bulgarian trade was moved from Constantinople to Thessaloniki . This made Bulgarian trade, which went from the Black Sea through the Bosporus , considerably more difficult. Since the Bulgarian protests were unsuccessful, Tsar Simeon I "the Great" (893–927) had a Bulgarian army march into Thrace in 894 . Faced with this threat, the empire's most capable general, Nikephoros Phokas, was given the task of repelling the Bulgarian advance. He managed to bring the situation under control with a clever strategy.

Withdrawal of the Bulgarians after an attack by the Magyars.

The strategic consideration of Nikephoros Phokas consisted in forcing the Bulgarians to a two- front war by allying himself with the daring cavalry people of the Magyars , who settled in the north of the Bulgarians, and causing them to attack the Bulgarians who were very unloved there from behind thereby forcing them to withdraw from the Byzantine Empire. This strategy worked as the Magyars crossed the Danube, invaded Bulgarian territory and the Bulgarians began to retreat under the pressure of Phocas' army. However, the chances of eliminating the Bulgarian threat were prevented by the leading minister, Stylianos Zauzes, the Emperor Leo VI. persuaded to entrust General Katakalon, whom he had favored, with this task. Phocas was therefore ordered back to Constantinople. Katakalon therefore took command of the Bulgarian campaign in the final phase of the war, which - despite the Katakalon's lower military talent - was successful thanks to the implementation of the Phocas strategy. Simeon had to ask for peace after all.

It was of historical importance that Tsar Simeon used the same strategy as Phocas for his defense, in 896 using gold to win the wild tribe of Pechenegs, who nomadized in the steppes of southern Russia, to stab the Magyars in the back. Wedged between the armies of the Bulgarians and the Pechenegs, the Magyars moved west into the Pannonian Plain , where they subsequently settled in historical Hungary. Tsar Simeon had the opportunity to force Byzantium to a disadvantageous peace in which Emperor Leo VI. had to undertake to reverse the relocation of the trading center to Thessaloniki and to pay Tsar Simeon a heavy toll.

Last years and death

According to the report of Theophanes Continuatus , Nikephoros Phokas was first appointed as governor ( strategos ) of Thrakesion in western Asia Minor , and then fought against the Saracens as commander-in-chief of the Byzantine troops in Syria in the east until he died around the year 900. Other chroniclers, however, who are also followed by most modern historians, report that he died in late 895 or early 896, which supposedly encouraged Tsar Simeon to resume the war with Byzantium, this time with great success.

Aftermath

It is remarkable that Nikephoros Phocas, as the liberator of southern Italy from the Saracens, remained so popular in this region for centuries that individual communities, such as Francavilla Angitola, the namesake of the Byzantine general, chose Saint Phocas of Sinope as patron of their church. According to an old legend, the cities of Francavilla Angitola (in the province of Vibo Valentia in the Calabria region) and even Catanzaro go back to fortresses that were named in memory of the Byzantine general "Nikephoros".

In addition, some dioceses in southern Italy trace their foundation to Nikephoros Phokas, such as that of Santa Severina and Nicastro and the now dissolved dioceses of Amanthea and Belcastro .

Marriage and offspring

According to Christian Settipani :

• Leon Phokas the Elder (* 875/79, † n. 917), was pretender to the throne against Emperor Romanos Lekapenos, who defeated him and had him blinded, in 917 Domestikos ton scholon.
• Bardas Phokas the Elder (* around 879, † 969) 945–955 Domestikos ton scholon , was raised to "Caesar" in 963, ∞ Ne Maleina, sister of Michael Maleïnos , monk and saint of the Orthodox Church whose most famous son was:
  • Nikephoros Phocas the Younger (* 912, † murdered December 11, 969), Emperor of Byzantium (963–969), 955 Domestikos ton Scholon ,
• Ne Phokaina ∞ Theophilos Kurkuas, Strategos of Chaldia . (Grandparents of the emperor Johannes Tzimiskes )

literature

• John Julius Norwich : Byzantium. Rise and fall of a world empire (= List-Taschenbuch. 60620). 4th edition. Ullstein, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-548-60620-0 .
• Georg Ostrogorsky : Byzantine History. 324-1453. Unchanged reprint of the special edition first published in 1965, 2nd edition. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-39759-X .
• Christian Settipani : Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes Caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle. De Boccard, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-7018-0226-1 .
• Warren Treadgold: A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Christian Settipani: Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. 2006, p. 87.
2. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History. 324-1453. 2006, p. 191.
3. ↑ John Julius Norwich: Byzantium. 2010, p. 268.
4. ↑ John Julius Norwich: Byzantium. 2010, p. 269.
5. ^ Warren Treadgold: A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 .
6. ↑ Ivan Dujčev: Bulgaria. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages. Volume 2: Beggars to the Codex of Valencia. Artemis & Winkler, Munich et al. 1983, ISBN 3-7608-8902-6 , Sp. 914-928, here Sp. 918-919.
7. ^ Georg Ostrogorsky: Byzantine History. 324-1453. 2006, p. 215.
8. ↑ Michele Amari : Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia. Volume 1. Felice Le Monnier, Firenze 1854, pp. 440-441 .
9. ↑ See article Francavilla Angitola in Wikipedia in Italian.
10. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Études des possibilités de liens généalogiques entre les familles de l'Antiquité et celles du haut Moyen-Age européen. Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6 , p. 87.
11. ^ Charles Cawley: Medieval Lands. In Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Grandparents of Emperor Johannes Tzimiskes ( online ).

See also

• List of Byzantine emperors