Michael I Rangabe
|
Michael I on a contemporary coin |
Michael I Rangabe (
Greek: Μιχαήλ Α΄ ΡαγγαβÎ,
MikhaÄ"l I Rangabe), (died
January 11,
844) was
Byzantine Emperor (
811 -
813).
Michael was the son of the patrician Theophylaktos Rangabe, the admiral of the
Aegean fleet. He married Prokopia, the daughter of the future Emperor
Nikephoros I, received the high court dignity of
kouropalatÄ"s after his father-in-law's accession in 802.
Michael survived Nikephoros' disastrous campaign against
Krum of Bulgaria, and was considered a more appropriate candidate for the throne than his severely injured brother-in-law
Staurakios. When Michael's wife Prokopia failed to persuade her brother to name Michael as his successor, Michael's supporters forced Staurakios to abdicate in his favor on
October 2, 811.
Michael I attempted to carry out a policy of reconciliation, abandoning the exacting taxation instituted by Nikephoros I. While reducing imperial income, Michael generously distributed money to the army, the bureaucracy, and the Church. Elected with the support of the
Orthodox party in the Church, Michael diligently persecuted the
iconoclasts and forced the
Patriarch Nikephoros to back down in his dispute with
Theodore of Stoudios, the influential abbot of the monastery of
Stoudios. Michael's piety won him a very positive estimation in the work of the chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor.
In 812 Michael I reopened negotiations with the
Franks, and recognized
Charlemagne as
"basileus (emperor) of the Franks", in exchange for the return of
Venice and
Istria to the Byzantine Empire. However, under the influence of Theodore, Michael rejected the peace terms offered by Krum and provoked the capture of Mesembria (
Nesebar) by the Bulgarians. After an initial success in spring 813, Michael's army prepared for a major engagement at
Versinikia near
Adrianople in June. The Byzantine army was turned to flight and the emperor's position was seriously weakened. With conspiracy in the air, Michael preempted events by abdicating in favor of the general
Leo the Armenian and becoming a monk (under the name Athanasios). His sons were castrated and relegated into monasteries, one of them, Niketas (renamed Ignatios), eventually becoming
Patriarch of Constantinople. Michael died peacefully in January 844.
By his wife Prokopia, Michael I had at least five children:
* Theophylaktos, co-emperor from 812 to 814.
* Staurakios
* Niketas, later Patriarch
Ignatios of Constantinople.
* Georgo
* Theophano
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
* Gibbon, Edward.
The History of the Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire Vol 4, 2005
