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{{Short description|Byzantine emperor in 912–913}}
{{Short description|Byzantine emperor from 912 to 913}}
{{For|other emperors named [[Alexander]]|Emperor Alexander (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox royalty
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Alexander
| name = Alexander
| image = Alexander of Constantinople.jpg
| image = Alexandros mosaic.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Byzantine Mosaic portrait of Emperor Alexander in [[Hagia Sophia|Istanbul]]. In his left hand he holds a ''[[globus cruciger]]'', and in his right the ''[[akakia]]''.
| caption = Mosaic of Emperor Alexander in [[Hagia Sophia]]. He wears a ''[[loros]]'' and holds the ''[[akakia]]'' in his right hand.
| succession = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| succession = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| reign = 11 May 912 – 6 June 913
| reign = 11 May 912 – 6 June 913
| cor-type = [[Coronation of the Byzantine emperor|Coronation]]
| coronation = {{circa}} September 879{{efn|There is some evidence that Alexander was already crowned by August 879, but most sources agree that he was appointed co-emperor following the death of his brother [[Constantine (son of Basil I)|Constantine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexandros (#20328) |url=https://www.degruyter.com/database/PMBZ/entry/PMBZ22381/html |publisher=De Gruyter}}</ref>{{Sfn|Tougher|1996|pp=475–476}} He was certainly made co-emperor before November 879.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mango|first=Cyril|author-link=Cyril Mango|title=The Homilies of Photius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0etFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA179|year=2018|orig-date=1958|series=Dumbarton Oaks studies|volume=3|page=179|isbn=9781532641381}}</ref>}}
| predecessor = [[Leo VI the Wise|Leo VI]]
| predecessor = [[Leo VI the Wise|Leo VI]]
| successor = [[Constantine VII]]
| successor = [[Constantine VII]]
| dynasty = [[Macedonian dynasty|Macedonian]]
| dynasty = [[Macedonian dynasty|Macedonian]]
| regnal name = Alexander Augustus<ref>[https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/alexander/i.html Coinage from 912-913], unlike the coins issued during his co-rules, refers to him as ''Alexandros Augustos''</ref>
| father = [[Basil I]]
| father = [[Basil I]]
| mother = [[Eudokia Ingerina]]
| mother = [[Eudokia Ingerina]]
| birth_date = {{circa}} 870
| birth_date = 23 November 870{{sfn|Grierson|1973|p=475}}
| birth_place =
| birth_place = [[Constantinople]]<br />(now [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|913|06|06|870|11|23}}
| death_date = 6 June 913 (aged 42)
| death_place =
| death_place =
| burial_date =
| burial_date =
Line 21: Line 24:
}}
}}


'''Alexander'''{{efn|The only emperor of his name, Alexander is most commonly not assigned a regnal number.{{Sfn|Browning|1980|p=297}}{{Sfn|Haldon|2005|p=176}}{{Sfn|Lawler|2015|p=37}} If assigned a number, he is rarely regarded as '''Alexander I''' (though there was no later emperor by the name),{{Sfn|Tougher|1996|p=209}} or even more rarely enumerated as '''Alexander II''', after [[Severus Alexander]] ({{reign}}222–235).{{Sfn|Jenkins|1999|p=101}}}} ({{lang-gr|Αλέξανδρος}}, ''Alexandros'', {{Circa}} 870 {{spaced ndash}} 6 June 913) was [[Byzantine emperor]] from 912 to 913.
'''Alexander{{efn|Alexander is most commonly not assigned a regnal number.{{Sfn|Browning|1980|p=297}}{{Sfn|Haldon|2005|p=176}}{{Sfn|Lawler|2015|p=37}} If assigned one, he is rarely regarded as '''Alexander II''', after [[Severus Alexander]] ({{reign}}222–235){{Sfn|Jenkins|1999|p=101}} or even more rarely as '''Alexander III'''{{Sfn|Granier|2018|p=224}} after both Severus Alexander and [[Domitius Alexander]] ({{reign}}308–310). He has also been called '''Alexander I'''.{{Sfn|Tougher|1996|p=209}}}}''' ({{langx|el|Άλέξανδρος}}, ''Alexandros'', 23 November 870{{spaced ndash}}6 June 913) was briefly [[Byzantine emperor]] from 912 to 913, and the third emperor of the [[Macedonian dynasty]].


==Life==
==Life==
Alexander was the third son of Emperor [[Basil I]] and [[Eudokia Ingerina]]. Unlike his older brother [[Leo VI the Wise]], his paternity was not disputed between Basil I and [[Michael III]] because he was born years after the death of Michael.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitz|first=Leonhard|title=Alexander|editor=William Smith|editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer)|encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]|volume=1|pages=115|publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]]|location=Boston|year=1867|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=130}}</ref> As a child, Alexander was [[coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned as co-emperor]] by his father around 879.<ref>{{Cite book|author-link=George Ostrogorsky|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|title=History of the Byzantine State|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=1969|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/233 233]|isbn=0-8135-0599-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/233}}</ref>
[[Born in the purple]], Alexander was the third son of Emperor [[Basil I]] and [[Eudokia Ingerina]]. Unlike his older brother [[Leo VI the Wise]], his paternity was not disputed between Basil I and [[Michael III]] because he was born years after the death of Michael.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitz|first=Leonhard|title=Alexander|editor=William Smith|editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer)|encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]|volume=1|pages=115|publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]]|location=Boston|year=1867|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=130}}</ref> As a child, Alexander was [[coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned as co-emperor]] by his father in early 879, following the death of Basil's son [[Constantine (son of Basil I)|Constantine]].{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=233}}
[[File:Emperor Alexander deposes Patriarch Euthymios.jpg|thumb|Alexander ordering the dismissal of Patriarch [[Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymius]].]]

Upon the death of his brother Leo on 11 May 912, Alexander succeeded as senior emperor alongside Leo's young son [[Constantine VII]]. He was the first Byzantine emperor to use the term "''[[autocrator]]''" ({{lang|grc|αὐτοκράτωρ πιστὸς εὑσεβὴς βασιλεὺς}}) on coinage to celebrate the ending of his thirty-three years as co-emperor.<ref>Ostrogorsky (1969), pp. 261ff.</ref> Alexander promptly dismissed most of Leo's advisers and appointees, including the admiral [[Himerios (admiral)|Himerios]], the patriarch [[Patriarch Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymios]], and the Empress [[Zoe Karbonopsina]], the mother of Constantine VII whom he locked up in a nunnery.<ref>Ostrogorsky (1969), p. 261.</ref> The patriarchate was again conferred on [[Nicholas Mystikos]], who had been removed from this position because he had opposed Leo's fourth marriage. During his short reign, Alexander found himself attacked by the forces of [[Al-Muqtadir]] of the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]]ate in the East, and provoked a war with [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]] by refusing to send the traditional tribute on his accession. Alexander died of exhaustion after a game of ''[[Polo#History|tzykanion]]'' on June 6, 913, allegedly fulfilling his brother's prophecy that he would reign for 13 months.
Upon the death of his brother Leo on 11 May 912, Alexander succeeded as senior emperor alongside Leo's young son [[Constantine VII]]. He was the first Byzantine emperor to use the term "''[[autocrator]]''" ({{lang|grc|αὐτοκράτωρ πιστὸς εὑσεβὴς βασιλεὺς}}) on coinage to celebrate the ending of his thirty-three years as co-emperor.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=261}} Alexander promptly dismissed most of Leo's advisers and appointees, including the admiral [[Himerios (admiral)|Himerios]], the patriarch [[Patriarch Euthymius I of Constantinople|Euthymios]], and the empress [[Zoe Karbonopsina]], the mother of Constantine VII, whom he locked up in a nunnery.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1969|p=261}} The patriarchate was again conferred on [[Nicholas Mystikos]], who had been removed from this position due to his opposition to Leo's fourth marriage.
[[File:Emperor Alexander receives the Bulgarian envoys.jpg|thumb|Emperor Alexander rebuffs the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian]] envoys, refusing to pay tribute.]]
During his short reign, Alexander found himself attacked by the forces of [[Al-Muqtadir]] of the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]]ate in the east, and provoked a war with [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]] by refusing to send the traditional tribute on his accession. Alexander died soon after, allegedly from a [[stomach disease]] caused by excessive eating and alcohol.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Skylitzes|first=Ioannes|url=https://archive.org/details/skylitzes-2010/page/190|title=Synopsis of History|year=2010|pages=190|translator-last=John Wortley|author-link=John Skylitzes|orig-date=1100|quote=[Alexander] came down to play ball (''[[tzykanion]]''). A pain arose in his entrails which had been overloaded with an excess of food and excessive drinking. He went back up into the palace haemorrhaging from his nose and his genitals; after one day he was dead.}}</ref>

[[File:Emperor Alexander on his deathbed hands over power to his nephew Constantine.jpg|thumb|On his deathbed, Alexander finally concedes power to his nephew [[Constantine VII]].]]
The sources are uniformly hostile towards Alexander, who is depicted as lazy, lecherous, drunk, and malignant, including the rumor that he planned to castrate the young Constantine VII in order to exclude him from the succession. At least that charge did not come to pass, but Alexander left his successor a hostile regent (Nicholas Mystikos) and the beginning of a [[Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927|long war]] against [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]]. The sources also accused the Emperor of idolatry, including making [[pagan]] sacrifices to the [[gold]]en statue of a [[boar]] in the [[Hippodrome]] in hope of curing his [[Erectile dysfunction|impotence]].<ref>Runciman S., ''A history of the First Bulgarian empire'', London, G.Bell & Sons, 1930, p. 155</ref>
The sources are uniformly hostile towards Alexander, who is depicted as lazy, lecherous, drunk, and malignant, including the rumor that he planned to castrate the young Constantine VII in order to exclude him from the succession. He did not, but Alexander did leave his successor a hostile [[regent]] ([[Nicholas Mystikos]]) and the beginning of a [[Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927|long war]] against [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]]. The sources also accused the emperor of idolatry, including making [[pagan]] sacrifices to the [[gold]]en statue of a [[boar]] in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople|Hippodrome]], and providing it with new teeth and genitals, in hope of curing his [[Erectile dysfunction|impotence]].{{sfn|Karlin-Hayter|1969}}


==See also==
==See also==
Line 41: Line 46:


===Sources===
===Sources===
*{{Cite journal|title=The Emperor Alexander's Bad Name|first=P.|last=Karlin-Hayter|journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]]|volume=44|number=4|pages=585–596|year=1969|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2850385|doi=10.2307/2850385|jstor=2850385 |s2cid=161599458 }}
*{{Cite book|title=[[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1991}}
*{{Cite book|author-link=George Ostrogorsky|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|title=History of the Byzantine State|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=1969|isbn=0-8135-0599-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti00ostr/page/233}}
* {{Cite book|last=Granier|first=Thomas|title=Transformations of Romanness: Early Medieval Regions and Identities|publisher=De Gruyter|year=2018|editor1-last=Pohl|editor1-first=Walter|chapter=Rome and Romanness in Latin southern Italian sources, 8th–10th centuries|editor2-last=Gantner|editor2-first=Clemens|editor3-last=Grifoni|editor3-first=Cinzia |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-059838-4}}
*{{Cite book|author-link=Philip Grierson|last=Grierson|first=Philip|title=Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection
|volume=3, Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717–1081.|year=1973|isbn=0-88402-012-6|page=475|url=https://archive.org/details/docoins-3}}
*{{citation | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan | title = [[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6|chapter=Alexander|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/odb_20210521/page/56/mode/1up|pages=56–57}}
*{{Cite book|last=Browning|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAlcKDsubMgC|title=The Byzantine Empire|publisher=The Catholic University of America Press|year=1980|isbn=978-0813207544|edition=Revised|location=|pages=}}
*{{Cite book|last=Browning|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAlcKDsubMgC|title=The Byzantine Empire|publisher=The Catholic University of America Press|year=1980|isbn=978-0813207544|edition=Revised|location=|pages=}}
*{{Cite book|last=Haldon|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xjAWDAAAQBAJ&q=Constantius+III+Doukas&pg=PA176|title=The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2005|isbn=978-0230243644|location=|pages=|ref=CITEREFHaldon2005}}
*{{Cite book|last=Haldon|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xjAWDAAAQBAJ&q=Constantius+III+Doukas&pg=PA176|title=The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2005|isbn=978-0230243644|location=|pages=}}
*{{Cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Everett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giEkCQAAQBAJ|title=The Muslim Diaspora: A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas (Volume 1: 570-1500)|publisher=McFarland|year=1999|isbn=978-0786447138}}
*{{Cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Everett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giEkCQAAQBAJ|title=The Muslim Diaspora: A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam|volume=1|publisher=McFarland|year=1999|isbn=978-0786447138}}
*{{Cite book|last=Lawler|first=Jennifer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEWeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Tiberius+I+Constantine%22&pg=PA323|title=Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire|publisher=McFarland|year=2015|isbn=978-0-7864-6616-0|place=Jefferson|pages=|ref=CITEREFLawler2015|orig-year=2004}}
*{{Cite book|last=Lawler|first=Jennifer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEWeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22Tiberius+I+Constantine%22&pg=PA323|title=Encyclopedia of the Byzantine Empire|publisher=McFarland|year=2015|isbn=978-0-7864-6616-0|place=Jefferson|pages=|orig-year=2004}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor1-link=Ralph-Johannes Lilie
| editor1-last = Lilie | editor1-first = Ralph-Johannes | editor2-last = Ludwig | editor2-first = Claudia | editor3-last = Zielke | editor3-first = Beate | editor4-last = Pratsch | editor4-first = Thomas|title=[[Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit]]|language = de |publisher = [[De Gruyter]] |year = 2013 |ref = {{harvp|PmbZ}}}}
*{{Cite book|title=Byzantium, The Apogee|author= John Julius Norwich|author-link= John Julius Norwich|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1993|isbn=0140114483}}
*{{Cite book|title=Byzantium, The Apogee|author= John Julius Norwich|author-link= John Julius Norwich|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1993|isbn=0140114483}}
*{{Cite book|last=Tougher|first=Shaun|title=The Reign of Leo VI (886-912): Politics and People|year=1996|location=Leiden; New York; Köln|publisher=Brill|isbn=9004108114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPquae5A4zIC&pg=PA219}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Tougher|first=Shaun F.|date=1996|title=The bad relations between Alexander and Leo|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/byzantine-and-modern-greek-studies/article/abs/bad-relations-between-alexander-and-leo/B7CF8BED21E23A301864C15A3E6E15E8|journal=Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies|volume=20|pages=209–212|doi=10.1179/byz.1996.20.1.209}}


{{S-start}}
{{S-start}}

Latest revision as of 05:17, 23 October 2024

Alexander
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Mosaic of Emperor Alexander in Hagia Sophia. He wears a loros and holds the akakia in his right hand.
Byzantine emperor
Reign11 May 912 – 6 June 913
Coronationc. September 879[a]
PredecessorLeo VI
SuccessorConstantine VII
Born23 November 870[4]
Constantinople
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died6 June 913 (aged 42)
Regnal name
Alexander Augustus[5]
DynastyMacedonian
FatherBasil I
MotherEudokia Ingerina

Alexander[b] (Greek: Άλέξανδρος, Alexandros, 23 November 870 – 6 June 913) was briefly Byzantine emperor from 912 to 913, and the third emperor of the Macedonian dynasty.

Life

[edit]

Born in the purple, Alexander was the third son of Emperor Basil I and Eudokia Ingerina. Unlike his older brother Leo VI the Wise, his paternity was not disputed between Basil I and Michael III because he was born years after the death of Michael.[12] As a child, Alexander was crowned as co-emperor by his father in early 879, following the death of Basil's son Constantine.[13]

Alexander ordering the dismissal of Patriarch Euthymius.

Upon the death of his brother Leo on 11 May 912, Alexander succeeded as senior emperor alongside Leo's young son Constantine VII. He was the first Byzantine emperor to use the term "autocrator" (αὐτοκράτωρ πιστὸς εὑσεβὴς βασιλεὺς) on coinage to celebrate the ending of his thirty-three years as co-emperor.[14] Alexander promptly dismissed most of Leo's advisers and appointees, including the admiral Himerios, the patriarch Euthymios, and the empress Zoe Karbonopsina, the mother of Constantine VII, whom he locked up in a nunnery.[14] The patriarchate was again conferred on Nicholas Mystikos, who had been removed from this position due to his opposition to Leo's fourth marriage.

Emperor Alexander rebuffs the Bulgarian envoys, refusing to pay tribute.

During his short reign, Alexander found himself attacked by the forces of Al-Muqtadir of the Abbasid Caliphate in the east, and provoked a war with Simeon I of Bulgaria by refusing to send the traditional tribute on his accession. Alexander died soon after, allegedly from a stomach disease caused by excessive eating and alcohol.[15]

On his deathbed, Alexander finally concedes power to his nephew Constantine VII.

The sources are uniformly hostile towards Alexander, who is depicted as lazy, lecherous, drunk, and malignant, including the rumor that he planned to castrate the young Constantine VII in order to exclude him from the succession. He did not, but Alexander did leave his successor a hostile regent (Nicholas Mystikos) and the beginning of a long war against Bulgaria. The sources also accused the emperor of idolatry, including making pagan sacrifices to the golden statue of a boar in the Hippodrome, and providing it with new teeth and genitals, in hope of curing his impotence.[16]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ There is some evidence that Alexander was already crowned by August 879, but most sources agree that he was appointed co-emperor following the death of his brother Constantine.[1][2] He was certainly made co-emperor before November 879.[3]
  2. ^ Alexander is most commonly not assigned a regnal number.[6][7][8] If assigned one, he is rarely regarded as Alexander II, after Severus Alexander (r. 222–235)[9] or even more rarely as Alexander III[10] after both Severus Alexander and Domitius Alexander (r. 308–310). He has also been called Alexander I.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Alexandros (#20328)". De Gruyter.
  2. ^ Tougher 1996, pp. 475–476.
  3. ^ Mango, Cyril (2018) [1958]. The Homilies of Photius. Dumbarton Oaks studies. Vol. 3. p. 179. ISBN 9781532641381.
  4. ^ Grierson 1973, p. 475.
  5. ^ Coinage from 912-913, unlike the coins issued during his co-rules, refers to him as Alexandros Augustos
  6. ^ Browning 1980, p. 297.
  7. ^ Haldon 2005, p. 176.
  8. ^ Lawler 2015, p. 37.
  9. ^ Jenkins 1999, p. 101.
  10. ^ Granier 2018, p. 224.
  11. ^ Tougher 1996, p. 209.
  12. ^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Alexander". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 115.
  13. ^ Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 233.
  14. ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1969, p. 261.
  15. ^ Skylitzes, Ioannes (2010) [1100]. Synopsis of History. Translated by John Wortley. p. 190. [Alexander] came down to play ball (tzykanion). A pain arose in his entrails which had been overloaded with an excess of food and excessive drinking. He went back up into the palace haemorrhaging from his nose and his genitals; after one day he was dead.
  16. ^ Karlin-Hayter 1969.

Sources

[edit]
Alexander
Born: 870 Died: 6 June 913
Regnal titles
Preceded by Byzantine emperor
11 May 912 – 6 June 913 		Succeeded by
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