Theophilos (Byzantium)

Solidus of Theophilus

Theophilos ( Middle Greek Θεόφιλος ; * probably between 800 and 805; † 842 ) was Byzantine emperor from 829 to 842. After his father Michael II, he was the second emperor from the Amorian dynasty and an avowed opponent of image worship . In 832 Theophilus issued an edict that strictly forbade the worship of images; the reports of the cruel treatment he inflicted on the stubborn are so extreme that they are sometimes viewed as exaggerated.

Foreign policy

At the time of his accession to the throne, fighting with the Saracens continued in Sicily , but Theophilus was forced to concentrate all his efforts on the war against the Caliph of Baghdad . He triggered this himself when he offered asylum to some Persian refugees. One of those who was called Theophobos after converting to Christianity had eventually married Theophilos' sister Helena and had become one of his generals.

The Byzantine army was initially successful. In 837 Samosata and Zapetra (Zibatra, Sozopetra), the birthplace of the caliph al-Mutasim , were conquered and destroyed. Thinking about retaliation, al-Mutasim assembled a huge army, part of which Theophilus, who commanded his army himself, defeated Dasymon, while the rest marched on Amorion , the place of origin of the Amorian dynasty. After a siege of 55 days , the city fell into the hands of al-Mutasim on September 23, 838 (perhaps by treason). Most of the inhabitants were killed, the rest were sold as slaves , and the city was torn down to the ground. However, the Arabs did not take advantage of this success. Yet Theophilus never recovered from this blow. His health deteriorated more and more.

In 836 he led a campaign against the Bulgarians under Khan Malamir and broke the 30-year peace that had been concluded between the Omurtag and Emperor Michael II . In the following fighting, Theophilus lost the fortresses Prowat and Burdizon near Adrianople and Philippopolis . This interrupted the strategically important Via Militaris (also called Via Diagonalis), which led from Constantinople via Serdica to Singidunum .

Theophilos also established diplomatic relations with the Emirate of Cordoba . In 840 he sent an embassy to ʿAbd ar-Rahmān II to demand the return of the island of Crete , which had been occupied by the Andalusian adventurer Abū Hafs al-Ballūtī. ʿAbd ar-Rahmān gave a negative answer, but on the other hand he sent an Arab delegation to Constantinople, which included the poet al-Ghazāl .

Domestic politics

Domestically, Theophilos did his best to get the corruption and repression by his officials under control, practicing strictly impartial justice, although the punishments he pronounced did not always match the crime committed. Despite the war in Asia and the large sums of money Theophilus spent on buildings, trade and commerce, the finances of the empire were in excellent order, primarily due to the highly efficient administration that he had at his disposal. Theophilos, who had received an excellent education from the grammarian Johannes Hylilas , was a great friend of music and art. He strengthened the walls of Constantinople and built a hospital that still existed in the last years of the Byzantine Empire.

Theophilos had been married to Theodora II since 821 or 830 (around 805 / 807-867) who, after his death, together with their eldest daughter Thekla and the eunuch Theoktistus, reigned for their two-year-old son Michael III. took over. His eldest son and co-emperor Constantine had died before 835. The youngest of his five daughters, Maria, was married to the general and temporary heir to the throne Alexios Musele .

literature

• 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 , p. 392 ff.
• Ralph-Johannes Lilie , Claudia Ludwig, Thomas Pratsch, Ilse Rochow, Beate Zielke: Prosopography of the Middle Byzantine Period . 1st department: (641−867). Volume 4: Plato (# 6266) - Theophylaktos (# 8345). Created after preliminary work by F. Winkelmann . Published by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. De Gruyter, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-11-016674-7 , pp. 628-636 No. 8167.
• Juan Signes Codoñer, The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829-842 (Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies 13), Farnham, Burlington 2014, ISBN 0-7546-6489-9 ( critical technical review ).
• Warren T. Treadgold : The Byzantine Revival, 780-842. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1988, ISBN 0-8047-1462-2 , pp. 263 ff.
• Mark Whittow: The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025. University of California Press, Berkeley 1996, ISBN 0-520-20496-4 , pp. 152-154.

supporting documents

1. ↑ Cf. E. Lévi-Provençal: "ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān II." in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. I, pp. 82b-83a. Here p. 83a.

Web links

Commons : Theophilos  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Michael II	Emperor of Byzantium 829–842	Michael III