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Leo V the Armenian by big tree
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Leo V the Armenian |
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Life
Leo was the son of the patrician Bardas, who was of Armenian descent (according to a later source, Leo was also of Assyrian descent). Leo served in 803 under the rebel general Bardanes Tourkos, whom he deserted in favor of Emperor Nikephoros I. The emperor rewarded Leo with two palaces, but later exiled him for marrying the daughter of another rebel, the patrician Arsaber. On the other hand, a contemporary source says that one general Leo of the Armeniakon theme was punished for his humiliating defeat by the Arabs during which he also lost the salaries of his thematic units (a modern scholar suggests that this Leo is not the same with the emperor). Punishment also included depriving of his military rank, beating and hair cutting.
Recalled by Michael I Rangabe in 811, Leo became governor of the Anatolic theme and conducted himself well in a war against the Arabs in 812. Leo survived the Battle of Versinikia in 813 by abandoning the battlefield, but nevertheless took advantage of this defeat to force the abdication of Michael I in his favor on July 11, 813. In a diplomatist move, he wrote a letter to Patriarch Nikephoros in order to reassure him of his orthodoxy (Nicephorus being obviously afraid of a possible iconoclasm revival). One month later, during his entrance to the Palace quarter, he kneeled before the icon of Christ at the Chalke Gate. A further step in preventing future usurpations was the castration of Michael's sons.
With Krum of Bulgaria blockading Constantinople by land, Leo V had inherited a precarious situation. He offered to negotiate in person with the invader and attempted to have him killed in an ambush. The stratagem failed, and although Krum abandoned his siege of the capital, he captured and depopulated Adrianople and Arkadioupolis (Lleburgaz). When Krum died in spring 814, Leo V defeated the Bulgarians in the environs of Mesembria (Nesebar) and the two states concluded a 30-year peace in 815. According to some sources, Krum participated in the battle and abandoned the battlefield heavily injured.
With the iconodule policy of his predecessors associated with defeats at the hands of Bulgarians and Arabs, Leo V reinstituted Iconoclasm after deposing patriarch Nikephoros and convoking a synod at Constantinople in 815. The emperor used his rather moderate iconoclast policy to seize the properties of iconodules and monasteries, such as the rich Stoudios monastery, whose influential iconodule abbot, Theodore the Studite, he exiled.
Leo V appointed competent military commanders from among his own comrades-in-arms, including Michael the Amorian and Thomas the Slav. He also persecuted the Paulicians. When Leo jailed Michael for suspicion of conspiracy, the latter escaped from prison and organized the assassination of the emperor in the cathedral Hagia Sophia on Christmas, 820. Leo was praying alone before the altar, with his guards standing outside the church. The conspirators were disguised as priests and monks led by Michael who had been set free by his partisans only hours before entering the church. When they approached Leo they drew their daggers to stab him. Leo, suspecting something was wrong, jumped away when he saw the daggers and tried to flee and call for his guards, but the doors were locked and his guards were slain by the conspirators. Unarmed, Leo tried to defend himself with a large wooden cross in one hand and an incense burner with the other, attacking Michael and his followers. This battle lasted for an hour and finally Leo succumbed to the wounds inflicted upon him. Michael was immediately proclaimed Emperor on the spot still wearing the chains from the prison in his hands. Leo's family (including his mother and his wife Theodosia) was exiled to monasteries in Princes' Islands. His four sons (including ex co-emperor Symbatios) were castrated but one of them died during the "operation".
Even sources vehemently hostile to Leo (Theophanes Continuatus, patriarch Nikephoros) acknowledge his competence in managing state affairs. Unfortunately, as with all iconoclast emperors, his actions and intentions cannot be easily reconstructed due to the extreme bias of the iconodule sources (there are no surviving contemporary iconoclast sources of any kind).
Family
By his wife Theodosia, a daughter of the patrician Arsaber, Leo V had several children, including:
Symbatios (), renamed Constantine, co-emperor from 814 to 820.
Vasilios
Gregorios
Theodosios (died in 820)
References
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
^ Theophanes Continuatus, 6. 4-5
^ Theophanes the Confessor, (Chronicle), 489. 17-21
^ Theophanes Continuatus, 11. 3-14
^ David Turner, The Origins and Accession of Leo V (813-820), Jahrburch der Osterreichischen Byzantinistik, 40, 1990, pp. 179
^ Scriptor Incertus, 336. 10-12
^ Theophanes the Confessor, (Chronicle), 502. 19-22
^ Theophanes Continuatus, 18. 19-21
^ Scriptor Incertus, 341. 10-11
^ John Skylitzes, Synopsis of Histories ( ), 13. 47-49
^ Joannes Zonaras, Extracts of History ( ), 381. 5-10
^ Theophanes Continuatus, 40-41. 7
^ Theophanes Continuatus, 30. 14-15
External links
Leo V coinage
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leo V
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Michael I
Byzantine Emperor
813820
Succeeded by
Michael II
v d e
Western and Eastern Roman emperors
Principate
27 BC235 AD
Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius with Lucius Verus Commodus Pertinax Didius Julianus Septimius Severus Caracalla Geta Macrinus with Diadumenian Elagabalus Alexander Severus
Crisis
235284
Maximinus Thrax Gordian I and Gordian II Pupienus and Balbinus Gordian III Philip the Arab Decius with Herennius Etruscus Hostilian Trebonianus Gallus with Volusianus Aemilianus Valerian Gallienus with Saloninus Claudius Gothicus Quintillus Aurelian Tacitus Florianus Probus Carus Carinus Numerian
Dominate
284395
Diocletian Maximian Constantius Chlorus Galerius Severus Maxentius Maximinus Daia Licinius with Valerius Valens and Martinianus Constantine I Constantine II Constans I Constantius II with Vetranio Julian the Apostate Jovian Valentinian I Valens Gratian Valentinian II Theodosius I
Western Empire
395480
Honorius Constantius III Joannes Valentinian III Petronius Maximus Avitus Majorian Libius Severus Anthemius Olybrius Glycerius Julius Nepos Romulus Augustulus
Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
3951204
Arcadius Theodosius II Marcian Leo I Leo II Zeno Basiliscus Anastasius I Justin I Justinian I Justin II Tiberius II Constantine Maurice Phocas Heraclius Constantine III Heraklonas Constans II Constantine IV Justinian II Leontios Tiberios III Philippikos Anastasios II Theodosios III Leo III the Isaurian Constantine V Copronymus Artabasdos Leo IV the Khazar Constantine VI Irene Nikephoros I Staurakios Michael I Rangabe Leo V the Armenian Michael II the Stammerer Theophilos Michael III the Drunkard Basil I the Macedonian Leo VI the Wise Alexander Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos II Nikephorus II Phokas John I Tzimiskes Basil II Boulgaroktonos Constantine VIII Zoe Romanos III Argyros Michael IV Paphlagon Michael V Kalaphates Constantine IX Monomachos Theodora the Macedonian Michael VI the Aged Isaac I Komnenos Constantine X Doukas Romanos IV Diogenes Michael VII Doukas Nikephoros III Botaneiates Alexios I Komnenos John II Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos Isaac II Angelos Alexios III Angelos Alexios IV Angelos Nikolaos Kanabos Alexios V Doukas
Empire of Nicaea
12041261
Constantine Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris John III Doukas Vatatzes Theodore II Laskaris John IV Laskaris
Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
12611453
Michael VIII Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos Michael IX Palaiologos Andronikos III Palaiologos John V Palaiologos John VI Kantakouzenos Matthew Kantakouzenos Andronikos IV Palaiologos John VII Palaiologos Andronikos V Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos Constantine XI Palaiologos
Categories: People of Armenian descent 775 births 820 deaths Assassinated monarchs Armenian Byzantine emperors 9th-century Byzantine emperors Byzantine Iconoclasm Orthodox monarchsHidden categories: Articles containing Armenian language text Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica I am an expert from China Manufacturers, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as unvented gas logs , antler fireplace tools.
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