Konstantin Monomakh years. The meaning of constantine ix monomakh in the biographies of monarchs

John Constantine has seen ghosts since childhood, and he knows for sure that the afterlife exists. And he also had to deal with dangerous demons who appeared in the human world straight from the underworld. They look like people, and are able to deceive anyone, but not him, because he smells them a mile away, and knows how to send evil spirits back to hell. However, in addition to this, he led a rather sinful lifestyle, for which he fell out of favor with higher powers, and now, after his death, his soul must go to the place where he personally sent hundreds of evil monsters. But such a prospect does not appeal to him, and he is trying with might and main to earn divine forgiveness. Series Constantine 1 season online for free LostFilm.

But when he realized that he would not receive forgiveness for his hard work, he decided to quit hunting demons and live for his own pleasure. But fate has completely different rules for this guy. One of his old friends urgently needed help - his daughter Lily became a victim of a dangerous demon, and only an experienced exorcist can help her. Well - it seems that the main character has no vacation yet, which means that ghosts and all paranormal creatures that walk on this earth with the aim of harming people will have to try very hard not to fall into his hands.

Constantine's father, Theodosios Monomachos (Theodosios Monomachos), was a rather important official under Basil II and Constantine VIII (Constantine VIII); unfortunately, his brilliant career ended rather abruptly - he was accused of conspiracy. This accusation hit Constantine quite hard; however, he was able to restore the lost position by successfully marrying the niece of Emperor Romanos III Argyros (Emperor Romanos III Argyros). At court, Constantine took root pretty quickly; he even managed to establish a rather close relationship with the Empress Zoya. Unfortunately, largely because of this friendship, Constantine fell out of favor once again - the courtiers considered him dangerously ambitious, and Constantine was eventually exiled for conspiracy against Michael IV the Paphlagonian. Only after the death of Michael IV and the overthrow of Michael V did Constantine return from exile.

It was originally intended that Constantine would become a judge in Greece; however, before his appointment to the post, he decided to visit Constantinople - and found a very interesting situation there. The already fragile alliance between Empress Zoya and Empress Theodora was breaking at the seams; Zoya came to the conclusion that it was time for her to select a new husband - this would help greatly strengthen her position and pretty much squeeze her overly aggressive sister. Zoe's first two favorites passed away under rather mysterious circumstances; the third - and that was Constantine - was spared by fate.

On June 11, 1042, Zoe and Constantine got married; both for Zoya and for Constantine this was the third marriage, so Patriarch Alexius I (Alexius I of Constantinople) flatly refused to bless them. On the day after the wedding, Constantine became the formal emperor.

Having come to power, Constantine continued the purge of the imperial court from the relatives of Mikhail V., begun by Zoya and Theodora. the influence of his mistress, Maria Skleraina - who, incidentally, was the niece of his second wife - and her relatives. It was the influence of Sklirena that caused one of the first crises in the "era of Constantine" - following the lead of his mistress, the emperor relieved General George Maniakes of his post; he rebelled, declared himself the new emperor and began a war with Constantine. The advantage was clearly on his side; the emperor was saved only by the fact that Maniak was mortally wounded in battle. Soon after, Konstantin had to repel an attack by the Russian fleet; the "Greek fire" helped the emperor to cope with them. Later Konstantin gave his daughter Anastasia (Anastasia) in marriage to the future prince of Kiev Vsevolod I (Vsevolod I of Kiev).

Many knew about the connection between Constantine and Sklirena; soon there were rumors in the country that the emperor planned to kill both Zoya and Theodora. In 1044, because of these rumors, a riot even broke out in Constantinople; the rebels almost reached the emperor himself, who took part in a religious procession that day. Only the appearance of Zoe and Theodora, who convinced the restless citizens of their complete safety, saved Constantine.

In 1045, Constantine conquered the Armenian kingdom of Ani; the harm from this, however, was almost more than the benefit - the empire had even more enemies.

In 1046, the Byzantines first met the Seljuks; in 1048 their first battle took place. In 1049, a peace agreement was signed; however, in 1053, Constantine dismissed the Armenian troops - in order to save money - and left the eastern border practically unprotected. Even if the Seljuks decided to abide by the treaty, their allies, the Turkmens, would certainly not have stood aside. It was this negligence of the emperor that led to the defeat at Manzikert in 1071.

In 1054, the Greek and Roman churches finally separated; Patriarch Michael Keroularios of Constantinople was excommunicated - and in response excommunicated the envoys of Pope Leo IX. This spat, among other things, put an end to Constantine's plans to create an alliance with the Pope; This alliance was extremely necessary for him - after the death of Maniak, the Normans did not give rest to southern Italy (Southern Italy). Konstantin did not have time to solve this problem - on January 11, 1055, he died. All in all, his rule for the Byzantine Empire was a uniform nightmare - especially in terms of military operations.

Belonged to the ancient Monomakh family. Occupying a high position due to his noble birth, possessing great wealth and distinguished by beauty, he was an enviable groom for many very respectable families. After his first wife died, he married a second time to the niece of Roman III. Thanks to such kinship, he ascended above others, but never received the highest positions. Empress Zoe loved him and constantly wanted to see and hear. And he, pleasing her in various ways and skillfully doing what gave her pleasure, conquered her completely and won royal favor. Therefore, he seemed a likely contender for the throne, and Michael IV, who reigned after Roman, treated him with suspicion. At first, he, without showing his jealousy, was benevolent, but later, having invented some accusations and looking for false witnesses, he expelled Constantine from the capital to Lesbos.

Hatred of Constantine was inherited by his nephew Michael V. However, everything changed: Zoya and her sister Theodora became the rulers of the empire. None of them was of a mentality fit for the imperial power; they did not know how to make orders or make firm decisions, and for the most part they mixed with tsarist concerns with women's trifles. For a noble and reasonable government and care of the state, it was necessary to immediately find a valiant and experienced husband.

No sooner had this rebellion been suppressed than countless Russian ships appeared at Constantinople. The sea forces of the Romans were small at that time, and fire-carrying ships were scattered over the coastal waters. Somehow collecting the remnants of the former fleet, Konstantin dared to fight - the Russian fleet was partly burned, partly sunk, only a few were able to escape. Then, in, in Macedonia, Leo Tornik proclaimed himself emperor. With a large army, he soon approached Constantinople, but could not take it. His army scattered, and he himself was taken prisoner and blinded.

Shortly thereafter, in the late 1940s, the first attacks on the eastern borders of the empire were struck by the Turks. Then the Danube lands began to devastate the Pechenegs. The Serbian principalities freed themselves from the Roman dependence. It became obvious to everyone, even the most enthusiastic admirers of Constantine, that the power of the Romans was rapidly declining. Several years before his death, the emperor developed a joint disease, so that his hands were completely weakened, and his legs could not walk and broke from unbearable pain. His stomach was completely spoiled and upset, and the whole body of Constantine was slowly extinguished and decayed. He died in the thirteenth year of his reign, leaving the state in an alarming and unstable state: the treasury was empty, the finances were upset, the army was neglected, while enemies from all sides began to storm the borders of the empire. ...

Sources

Psellus: "Constantine the Ninth"; 5, 10, 14, 21, 29, 31, 33, 47, 53, 54, 59, 69, 81, 84, 90, 93, 95, 104, 106,118,123,151

CONSTANTINE IX MONOMACH

Byzantine emperor in 1042-1055 Rod. OK. 1042 Died Jan. 1055 BC

Constantine belonged to the ancient Monomakh family. Occupying a high position due to his nobility, possessing great wealth and distinguished by beauty, he was an enviable groom for many very respectable families. After his first wife died, he married a second time to the niece of Roman III. Thanks to such kinship, he ascended above others, but never received the highest positions. Empress Zoe loved him and constantly wanted to see and hear. And he, pleasing her in various ways and skillfully doing what gave her pleasure, conquered her completely and won royal favor. Therefore, he seemed a likely contender for the throne, and Michael FV, who reigned after Roman, treated him with suspicion. At first, he, without showing his jealousy, was benevolent, but later, having invented some accusations and looking for false witnesses, he expelled Constantine from the capital to Lesbos. Hatred of Constantine was inherited by his nephew Mikhail V.

However, in 1042 everything changed: Zoya and her sister Theodora became rulers of the empire. None of them was of a mentality fit for the imperial power; they did not know how to make orders or make firm decisions, and for the most part they mixed with the tsar's concerns women’s trifles. For a noble and reasonable government and care of the state, it was necessary to immediately find a valiant and tried-and-true husband. Of the people around her, Zoya did not consider anyone worthy of her hand and dreamed of only Constantine. She opened herself to her retinue and household members, and when she saw that all of them, as one, stood for this husband, she communicated her will to the higher council. The syn-clitics also considered that this decision was from God, and Constantine was summoned from exile. On June 11, 1042, he was solemnly married to 64-year-old Zoya and after that he was proclaimed emperor. The first time after the wedding, he showed his wife all sorts of attention, but then he called his former mistress, Maria Skli-rena, with whom he lived during exile, from Lesbos. At first she was given a modest refuge and a small retinue, but then she was completely openly introduced into the inner royal chambers and began to be called mistress. While almost everyone was hurt by the Empress's humiliation, Zoya herself did not change anything and seemed to be pleased with what had happened. The emperor divided the time equally between the one and the other. Probably, Constantine intended to make Mary empress in the future, but his hopes were not given to be fulfilled - Sklirena died around 1045. Since Zoya was too old to communicate with her husband, the emperor soon got himself another beloved - a hostage from Alania. According to Psela, Constantine was generally obsessed with love affairs, he did not know how to satisfy passion with simple communication, but he constantly became agitated at the first joys of the bed. At first, both the people and the nobility liked the new sovereign, as he had a true gift to win the hearts of his subjects. He knew how to find an approach to everyone and at the same time did not fool people, did not play comedies in front of them, but sincerely tried to bring them something pleasant and thus attract them to himself. He was not arrogant and formidable in front of anyone, did not speak arrogantly and arrogantly, did not take revenge on his former ill-wishers. But those who expected that with the transfer of power into male hands, the position of the empire would strengthen, were greatly miscalculated. Having become sovereign, Constantine began to administer affairs without proper firmness and discretion. He immediately began to empty the treasury and cleaned it up to the last coin. He handed out the ranks without any sense: they were received by those who pestered the emperor with requests or caused him to laugh with an appropriately spoken word. In the end, he ranked almost all the market rabble as a synclite. Considering his power a rest from work, he transferred to others the care of the execution, the right to court and care for the army, he took on only a small part of the affairs and considered his life full of pleasures and joys as his legal lot. If someone came to him, flaunting a worried soul, then Constantine considered such a person bad.Therefore, in conversations with the emperor, people adapted to the peculiarities of his disposition, and if someone came to him with something serious, then they did not immediately lay out the case, but he preceded it with some jokes, or alternated one with the other and, as it were, forced the patient to swallow the bitter medicine, adding sweets to it. Over the years, those around him had to increasingly resort to this means, since the reign of Constantine turned out to be stormy, and everything was filled with wars and rebellions.

The first to revolt against him was George Maniak, who commanded troops in Italy. He landed with an army near Dyrrachi, but at the beginning of 1043 he was killed in a battle near Thessalonica. No sooner had this rebellion been suppressed than countless Russian ships appeared at Constantinople. The sea forces of the Romans were small at that time, and fire-carrying ships were scattered over the coastal waters. Somehow collecting the remnants of the former fleet, Konstantin dared to fight - the Russian fleet was partly burned, partly sunk, only a few were able to escape. Then, in 1047, Leo Tornik proclaimed himself emperor in Macedonia. With a large army, he soon approached Constantinople, but could not take it. His army scattered, and he himself was taken prisoner and blinded. Shortly thereafter, at the end of the 40s, the first attacks on the eastern borders of the empire were struck by the Turks. Then the Danube lands began to devastate the Pechenegs. The Serbian principalities freed themselves from the Roman dependence. It became obvious to everyone, even the most enthusiastic admirers of Constantine, that the power of the Romans was rapidly declining.

Several years before his death, the emperor developed a joint disease, so that his hands were completely weakened, and his legs could not walk and broke from unbearable pain. His stomach was completely spoiled and upset, and the whole body of Constantine was slowly extinguished and decayed. He died in the thirteenth year of his reign, leaving the state in an alarming and unstable state: the treasury was empty, the finances were upset, the army was neglected, while enemies from all sides began to storm the borders of the empire (Psellus: "Constantine the Ninth"; 5, 10, 14, 21, 29, 31, 33, 47, 53, 54, 59, 69, 81, 84, 90, 93, 95, 104, 106, 118, 123, 151).

Monarchs. 2012

Origin

History is not exactly known about the origin of the Monomakhs (the generic nickname comes from the Greek word for "combatant"). Representatives of this family have been known since the end of the 10th century; several famous military leaders came from it. According to one version, the Monomakhs come from the Armenian aristocracy, which became Constantinople officials. According to another version, Monomakh is of Greek origin. Basic information about the genus is contained in the letters of the Byzantine historian Michael Psellus. Stories are known Monomakhs are not of the highest rank of officialdom.

The first of the Monomakhs, known at the moment, Eustathius, lived during the reign of Emperor Theophilos (828-842) and served as a judge. Constantine's father, Theodosius Monomakh, held a high position in the administrative hierarchy under Vasily II the Bolgar-fighter (976-1025). Armenian historian of the XI century. Aristakes Lastivertzi wrote: "His father held the position of the supreme judge in the palace, so he appointed judges throughout the country." This passage is not entirely clear: the position of "supreme judge" in Byzantium at the beginning of the 11th century. did not exist. Undoubtedly, the Armenian author was not well versed in the organization of the empire's judicial system. It is only possible to assume that Theodosius was a member of the highest judicial board of judges of the hippodrome in Constantinople. Thus, representatives of the Monomakh family traditionally occupied judicial posts.

"The ancient family of Monomakhs" (as Michael Psellus wrote about it) probably came from Dalas (Dalas or Dalassa), a city located on the Euphrates River. It is possible that there were several settlements with this name, but at least from the city of Dalas (Talash) a family of famous military men (Dalassenoi) originated, for example, Anna Dalassene, the mother of Alexei I Komnenos.

Career up to 1034

Until recently, almost nothing was known about the career and rise to power of Constantine, except for a short message from Michael Psellus. Monomakh became emperor at the age of forty, and this was to be preceded by a long service in the capital and provincial governing bodies of the Empire.

Mikhail Psellus briefly mentioned the participation of Theodosius Monomakh (father of Constantine) in the preparation of a conspiracy against Basil II. This happened, apparently, at the beginning of the 1920s. XI century. Theodosius was executed, and Constantine inherited "the hatred of the emperors" from his father. Vasily II and his younger brother and co-ruler Constantine VIII did not appoint Monomakh to positions in the capital. They "disowned him and, although they did not do any harm, they did not honor a better fate either." By the time of his father's death, Constantine was a member of the Synclite, which means that he had a court title not lower than protospafari.

The career of Konstantin Monomakh can be approximately reconstructed from sphragistic data. To date, four lead seals have been published that belonged to Monomakh. On the obverse of all these molivdovuls there is a circular inscription Κύριε βοήθει τῷ σῷ δούλῳ ("Lord, help your slave") and the same image of St. George. To the right of the saint's figure is the inscription ῾Ο ἅγιος Γεώργιος ("Saint George"). J.-C. Chenet convincingly proved that these seals belong to the same owner - Konstantin Monomakh.

Favorite of the Empress. Link

Reign

After the overthrow of Michael V, Monomakh was summoned to Constantinople, where he married Zoe and was crowned emperor. Constantine was about 20 years younger than his wife, and by the time of marriage she was already over sixty. For both, this marriage was already the third. Such a marriage is not approved by the Orthodox Church, therefore the wedding, albeit solemn, was performed not by the patriarch, but by the “first of the presbyters” of the Cathedral of St. Sophia - Stip. Patriarch Alexy " under the pressure of circumstances and, one might say, the will of God, he yielded and, although he himself did not lay his hands on those who were to be married, he hugged them, who were already married and were married". According to Psellus, he did this, perhaps flatteringly, since he adhered to the palace party of the Empress Theodora. In her manifesto after the wedding, Zoe stated that this marriage abhorred her notions of honor and was committed solely for the interests of the empire.

Opposition and uprisings

Constantine's clear connection with the representative of the powerful aristocratic family of Sklirov, Maria Sklirena, who lived in the palace and on solemn occasions ranked first after Zoya and Theodora, led to intrigues on the part of Constantine's relatives, dissatisfied with the rise of the Sklirov clan, and on the part of the adherents of the Macedonian dynasty, who feared overthrow Zoe and Theodora and Constantine's marriage to Skliren. The uprising of the commander Georgy Maniak, the personal enemy of Sklirov (1042-1043), was suppressed by troops sent by Constantine under the command of the eunuch Stephen Sevastopher. The latter, in turn, was soon sent into exile, accused of intending to enthrone the ruler of the Euphrates province of Melitina, Lev Lampros, who was blinded and died of torture. An uprising of Lev Tornik broke out in the city, around which the Macedonian party was grouped and almost all Macedonian cities joined. Leo laid siege to the capital, but had to retreat; many of his followers cheated on him, he was captured by cunning and blinded. Two palace conspiracies and attempts on the life of Constantine in 1050-1051 were also unsuccessful.

Domestic policy

Constantine built the monastery of St. George in Mangani, under which hospice and shelters for the elderly and the poor were arranged. Also, he and the sisters-empresses Zoya and Theodora founded the Nea Moni monastery on Chios.

Of the internal measures of Monomakh's time, it is important to establish a special institution for the study of Roman law, with a special teacher - "nomophilax" - at the head, and a new "secret" (as institutions like ministries were called in Byzantium) of judicial affairs, headed by a special "minister justice ".