- Katılım
- 4 Şub 2022
- Mesajlar
- 7,855
- Beğeni
- 12,315
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus
ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Ζ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΟΓΕΝΝΗΤΟΥ
Constantine Porphyrogenitus was the son of Leo VI by his fourth wife, Zoe Carbonopsina, and shared the status of co-emperor with his uncle Alexander from the age of four. Following the death of Leo in 912, Constantine retained his status under Alexander until the latter's death the following year. As Constantine was by now only the age of seven, the government was assumed by his mother Zoe for the next six years. In 919 Constantine married Helena, the daughter of his admiral Romanus Lecapenus, who assumed the regency and became Augustus the following year. For almost a quarter of a century, Constantine was to be allowed no part in government and relegated in the line of succession behind the sons of Romanus: Christopher, Stephen and Constantine.
The son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus [purple-born] reigned for nearly half a century, although he held actual power for the last quarter of that span. As a child he was under the regency of his mother Zoe and the Patriarch Nicholas. A crisis occasioned by war with Bulgaria in AD 920 brought the capable admiral Romanus I to the throne as co-emperor. Romanus proceeded to advance his own sons in the succession, keeping Constantine in the background. But Constantine learned much during his long apprenticeship and, in, AD 944, he cannily managed a palace coup that deposed Romanus and his sons, leaving Constantine as sole ruler. In 950 he raised his son Romanus II to the rank of co-ruler; both are seen on the reverse of this gold solidus. By nature a scholar, Constantine wrote several treatises and guidebooks on government that survive to this day. Learning, art and literature throve, and the Macedonian Renaissance gained strength under his firm and conscientious rule.