Michael III
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This coin struck during the regency of Theodora shows how Michael was less prominent than his mother, who is represented as ruler alone on the obverse, and even than his sister Thecla, who is depicted together with the young Michael on the reverse of this coin. |
Michael III the Drunkard (
Greek: Μιχαήλ Î"΄,
MikhaÄ"l III ), (
January 19,
840 – September 23/24,
867),
Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the
Amorian Dynasty.
Michael was the youngest child of Emperor
Theophilos and
Theodora. Already crowned co-ruler by his father in 840, Michael III had just turned two years old when he succeeded as sole emperor on
January 20,
842.
During his minority, the empire was governed by his mother Theodora, her uncle Sergios, and the minister Theoktistos. The empress had
iconodule sympathies and deposed
Patriarch John VII of Constantinople and replaced him with the iconodule
Methodios in 843. This put an end to the second spell of
Iconoclasm. The internal stabilization of the state was not matched on the frontiers. The Byzantine forces were defeated in
Pamphylia,
Crete, and on the border with
Syria by the
Abbasids, but the Byzantine navy did score a victory over the
Arabs in 853. The imperial government undertook the resettlement of
Paulicians from the eastern frontier into
Thrace (thus cutting them off from their coreligionists and populating another border region) and launched an expedition against the
Slavs in the
Peloponnese.
As the emperor was growing up, the courtiers around him fought for influence. Increasingly fond of his uncle
Bardas, Michael invested him as
kaisar (
Caesar) and allowed him to murder Theoktistos in November 855. With Bardas' support, Michael III overthrew the regency on
March 15,
856, and relegated his mother and sisters to a monastery in 857.
Bardas justified this usurpation by introducing various internal reforms; Michael III took an active part in the wars against the
Abbasids and their vassals on the eastern frontier in 856–863. In 859 he personally besieged
Samosata, but in 860 he had to abandon his expedition to repel a
Rus' attack on
Constantinople. Michael was defeated by the
Caliph al-Mutawakkil at Dazimon in 860, but in 863 his other uncle Petronas defeated the
amir of Melitene and celebrated a triumph in the capital.
Under the influence of Bardas and
Photios, Michael presided over the reconstruction of ruined cities and structures, the reopening of closed monasteries, and the reorganization of the imperial university at the Maganaura palace. Photios, originally a layman, had entered holy orders and was promoted to the position of patriarch on the dismissal of the troublesome
Ignatios in 858. This created a schism within the Church and, although a Constantinopolitan synod in 861 confirmed Photios as patriarch, Ignarios appealed to
Pope Nicholas I, who declared Photios illegitimate in 863. The conflict over the patriarchal throne and supreme authority within the church was exacerbated by the success of the active missionary efforts launched by Photios.
Under the guidance of Patriarch Photios, Michael sponsored the mission of
Saints Cyril and Methodios to the
Khazar Khagan in an effort to stop the expansion of
Judaism among the Khazars. Although this mission was a failure, their next mission in 863 secured the conversion of
Great Moravia and devised the
Glagolitic alphabet for writing in
Slavonic. Fearing the potential conversion of
Boris I of Bulgaria to
Christianity under
Frankish incluence, Michael III and the Caesar Bardas invaded
Bulgaria and imposed Boris' conversion according to the
Byzantine rite as part of the peace settlement in 864.
Michael III's marriage with Eudokia Dekapolitissa was childless, but the emperor did not want to risk a scandal by attempting to marry his mistress
Eudokia Ingerina. The solution he chose was to marry Eudokia Ingerina to his favorite courtier and chamberlain
Basil the Macedonian. While Michael carried out his relationship with Ingerina, Basil was kept satisfied with the emperor's sister Thekla, whom her brother retrieved from a monastery. Basil gained increasing influence over Michael, and in April 866 he convinced the emperor that the Caesar Bardas was conspiring against him and was duly allowed to murder Bardas. Now without serious rivals, Basil was crowned co-emperor in May 867 and was adopted by the much younger Michael III. This curious development may have been intended to legitimize the eventual succession to the throne of Eudokia Ingerina's son
Leo, who was widely believed to be Michael's son.
If this had been Michael's plan, it backfired. Ostensibly troubled by the favor Michael was beginning to show to another courtier, Basil had Michael
assassinated in his sleep in September 867, and succeeded as sole emperor.
Michael's unflattering reputation in later centuries was largely a result of Basil's propaganda, which sought to justify his usurpation of power.
Michael III had no children by his wife Eudokia Dekapolitissa, but was believed to have fathered one or two sons by his mistress
Eudokia Ingerina:
*
Leo VI, who succeeded as emperor in 886.
*
Stephen I, patriarch of Constantinople.
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
* Cyril Mango, "Eudocia Ingerina, the Normans, and the Macedonian Dynasty,"
Zbornik radova Vizantoloskog Instituta, XIV-XV, 1973, 17-27.
