Constantine Lekapenos

Constantine Lekapenos
Co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Miliaresion from 931–944, showing Romanos I's bust on a cross on the obverse and listing the names of Romanos and his co-emperors, Constantine VII, Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos, on the reverse
Reign	924–945
Died	946–948
Father	Romanos Lekapenos
Mother	Theodora

Constantine Lekapenos or Lecapenus (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Λακαπηνός) was the third son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. Along with his elder brother Stephen he deposed Romanos I in December 944, only to be themselves overthrown and exiled by the legitimate emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959) a few weeks later. Constantine was exiled to Samothrace, where he was killed while attempting to escape sometime between 946 and 948.

Family

Constantine was one of the youngest sons of Romanos I and his wife Theodora. Theophanes Continuatus mentions him as the youngest son of the imperial couple, while George Kedrenos mentions him as the third of four known sons. His older brothers were Christopher Lekapenos (co-emperor 921–931) and Stephen Lekapenos (co-emperor 924-945). It is unclear if Theophylact (Patriarch of Constantinople in 933–956) was his younger brother or slightly older than he was. His sisters included Helena, who married Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959), and Agatha, who married Romanos Argyros. He probably also had at least two unnamed sisters, known because of their marriages alone.^[1][2]

Reign

Romanos Lekapenos had risen to power in 919, when he had managed to appoint himself regent over the young Constantine VII and marry his daughter Helena to him. Within a year, he successively rose from basileopator to Caesar, and was eventually crowned senior emperor on 17 December 920.^[3][4] To consolidate his hold on power, and with a view of supplanting the ruling Macedonian dynasty with his own family, he raised his eldest son Christopher to co-emperor in May 921, while Stephen and Constantine were proclaimed co-emperors on 25 December 924.^[4][5]

Following Christopher's early death in 931, and given Constantine VII's de facto sidelining, Stephen and Constantine assumed an increased prominence, although formally they still ranked after their brother-in-law in the college of emperors.^[6] In 939, Constantine married his first wife Helena, a daughter of the patrikios Adrian, an Armenian.^[7][8]

Symeon Magister records the death of Helena on 14 January 940, and on 2 February of the same year, Constantine married his second wife, Theophano Mamas. Constantine had a son, named Romanos, but it is not recorded by which of his two wives.^[7][9] This Romanos was castrated in 945, after the Lekapenoi lost power, to prevent him from claiming the throne. He nevertheless pursued a career in the court, eventually reaching the rank of patrikios and the post of Eparch of Constantinople.^[10]

In 943, Stephen and Constantine Lekapenos were noted for their opposition to a dynastic marriage for their nephew, Romanos II. Their father wanted to have his eldest surviving grandson married to Euphrosyne, a daughter of his successful general John Kourkouas. Although such a union would effectively cement the loyalty of the army, it would also strengthen the position of the legitimate Macedonian line, represented by Romanos II and his father Constantine VII, over the imperial claims of Romanos' own sons.^[11][12] Predictably, Stephen and Constantine opposed this decision, and prevailed upon their father, who was by this time ill and old, to dismiss Kourkouas in the autumn of 944.^[13][14] Romanos II instead married Bertha, an illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, who changed her name to Eudokia after her marriage.^[4][15]

With Romanos I approaching the end of his life, the matter of his succession became urgent. In 943, Romanos drafted a will which would leave Constantine VII as the senior emperor following his death. This greatly upset his two sons, who feared that their brother-in-law would have them deposed and force them to take monastic vows. Motivated, in the opinion of Steven Runciman, partially by self-preservation and partially from genuine ambition, they started planning to seize power through a coup d'état.^[16]

Stephen was apparently the ringleader of their conspiracy, with Constantine a rather reluctant partner. Their fellow conspirators included Marianos Argyros, the protospatharios Basil Peteinos, Manuel Kourtikes, the strategos Diogenes, Clado and Philip. Kedrenos however considers Peteinos to have served as an agent of Constantine VII among the conspirators. On 20 December 944, the conspirators set their plans in motion. The two brothers smuggled their supporters in the Great Palace of Constantinople during the midday break in palace activities. They then led their men into the chamber of Romanos I, where they easily captured the "ill old man". They were able to transport him to the nearest harbour and from there to Prote, one of the Princes' Islands and a popular place of exile. There Romanos agreed to take monastic vows and retire from the throne.^[17]

Having managed to quietly depose their father, the brothers now had to deal with Constantine VII. Unfortunately for them, their actions were no longer secret. Rumours of the deposition soon spread around Constantinople, to the effect that Constantine VII's life was in danger. Before long, crowds gathered before the palace, demanding to see their Emperor in person. Liutprand of Cremona notes that the local ambassadors and envoys from Amalfi, Gaeta, Rome, and the Provence also supported Constantine VII. Stephen and his brother had to succumb to the inevitable, recognizing their brother-in-law as the senior emperor.^[18]

The new triumvirate lasted for about 40 days. The three emperors soon appointed new leaders for the military services. Bardas Phokas the Elder was appointed as the new Domestic of the Schools, and Constantine Gongyles as head of the Byzantine navy. Stephen and his brother managed to reward their fellow conspirators. Peteinos became patrikios and megas hetaireiarches, Argyros was appointed Count of the Stable, Kourtikes a patrikios and droungarios of the Vigla.^[19]

On 26 January 945 however, at the urging of their sister, the Augusta Helena, another coup removed the two Lekapenoi from power under the accusation that they attempted to poison Constantine VII, and restored the sole imperial authority to the latter.^[10][20]

Exile and death

Initially, the two brothers were sent to Prote. The Byzantine chroniclers have their father welcoming them by quoting a passage from the Book of Isaiah, specifically Chapter 1.2:^[10] "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me."^[21] Liutprand of Cremona however gives a slightly different account, having Romanos I receive his sons with bitter sarcasm, thanking them for not neglecting him and begging them to excuse the monks for their ignorance on how to properly receive emperors.^[10]

Constantine was soon transported to Tenedos, and then to Samothrace. There he was killed, attempting to escape, soon after. The exact date is unknown, but since Theophanes Continuatus claims that the exiled Romanos I saw a nightmare featuring his son's descent to Hell at the time of Constantine's death, it can be placed between 946 and Romanos' own death in 948.^[22]

References

1. ^ Kazhdan (1991), p. 1204
2. ^ Cawley, ROMANOS LEKAPENOS
3. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 59–62
4. ^ ^{a b c} Kazhdan (1991), p. 1806
5. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 64–67
6. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 78–79
7. ^ ^{a b} Cawley, KONSTANTINOS LEKAPENOS
8. ^ Peter Charanis, "The Armenians in the Byzantine Empire". "Another, this one certainly an Armenian, was Adrian the patrician. Adrian must have been a person of some importance, for Romanus Lecapenus married his son Constantine to his daughter"
9. ^ Runciman (1929), p. 78
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Runciman (1929), p. 234
11. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 230-231
12. ^ Treadgold (1997), pp. 484–485
13. ^ Runciman (1929), p. 146
14. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 485
15. ^ Cawley, ROMANOS II
16. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 231–232
17. ^ Runciman (1929), p. 232
18. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 232–233
19. ^ Runciman (1929), p. 233
20. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 486
21. ^ American Standard Version (1901), Book of Isaiah
22. ^ Runciman (1929), pp. 234–235

Sources

• Cawley, Charles. "Byzantium 395–1057". Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991), Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 
• Runciman, Steven (1988) [1929], The Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521357227, http://books.google.com/?id=XHVzWN6gqxQC 
• Treadgold, Warren T. (1997), A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0804726302, http://books.google.com/?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC 

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Name	Lekapenos, Stephen
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