22. THE EARLY NINTH CENTURY

The restoration of ikons by Irene had not solved the problems that confronted the state.  Rather, these problems continued into the early part of the ninth century and various solutions were suggested to deal with them.  The first of these successors, a rather unlikely figure, has been seen as the Byzantine "savior" of Greece and he carried out the kind of heroic (but also tragic) feats associated with Herakleios and several other emperors.

A. Nikeforos (Nicephorus) I (802-11)

1. There was considerable opposition to Irene because of a) the weakness of the military situation, b) her apparent willingness to form an alliance with Charlemagne and the Franks, and c) her support for the restoration of ikons.

2. Irene was overthrown in a bloodless coup and she was sent to a monastery.

3. Nikeforos was selected as emperor; he was a high-ranking civil official (logothete tou genikou) and an Iconophile.

3. There were many religious disagreements and opposing "parties."

a. The Iconoclasts were opposed to current imperial policy after the decision of 787.

b. The "political" party (supported by Irene and then by Nikeforos) maintained the veneration of ikons, but did not seek to punish the Iconoclasts.

c. The "Zealots" or "monastic" party strongly opposed compromise in religious issues.

• They sought the exclusion of all Iconoclasts from positions in the church and state.
• They opposed what they considered to be interference in the affairs of the church by the emperor.
• They strongly condemned what they considered to be immorality in the imperial palace: in the present instance this involved the so-called Moechian Controversy.  This referred to the divorce of Constantine VI and his subsequent re-marriage, which they considered to be adultery (moechian = adultery).  The zealots wanted to condemn the former emperor for his "sin" but the government opposed this.

4. Nikeforos, although an Iconophile, strongly opposed the Zealots and appointed the layman Nikeforos as patriarch in 806.

5. He completely refused to acknowledge Charlemagne as emperor.

B. The Reforms of Nikeforos.

1. One should remember that Nikeforos was, himself, an administrator and he sought to improving the working of the state machinery, especially in the aftermath of Irene's laxness and her policy of handing out lavish grants in order to win support for her policy in support of ikons.

2. Ostrogorsky argues that Nikeforos' policy was not really a reform, but rather simply a determination to enforce the collection of taxes.

3. The basic tax structure of Byzantium in the early ninth century:

a. Customs duties (taxes on goods brought into Byzantium--mainly luxury goods): very high and reasonably well-regulated, in part because the state was able to force goods to enter the Empire through a reasonably small number of border crossings.

b. Land tax: levied on the quantity and quality of agricultural and pastoral land.

• Default in payment was to be covered by the village community (an institution called allelelngyon), an important and generally beneficial system, since it was designed to keep land in the hands of the small farmers).
• Villagers were liable to contribute to the outfitting of soldiers.

c. Poll tax (kapnikon), payable by all rural inhabitants of the Empire, even if they had no land.

4. Nikeforos made people take loans from the state at 16^2/3%, although private citizens were forbidden from charging interest.

C. Nikeforos' Military Activities

1. These were primarily carried out in the Balkans, especially against Bulgaria.

2. He continued some of the policies of his predecessors:

a. Population transfers, settling "loyal" groups and tribes near the frontier and removing possibly disloyal elements from areas where they might pose a dander.

b. Creation of new themes: Thrace, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Kephalonia, Dyrrachium, Peloponnesos, all of these in the Balkans.

3. Byzantine forces, under the strategos of the Peloponnesos, defeated the Slavs at Patras (northwest Peloponnesos), signaling the revival of Byzantine power in Greece.

4. War with Bulgaria.

a. Khan Krum attacked Byzantine territory in 809.

b. Nikeforos counter-attacked in 811 and destroyed Pliska, the Bulgar capital, and burned the Khan's palace.

c. Krum sued for peace, but Nikeforos pressed on.

d. The Byzantine army was trapped in an ambush on 26 July 811, and Nikeforos was killed (his skull later used as a drinking-cup by the victorious Krum!).

e. This was a tremendous blow to Byzantine prestige and power.

B. Michael I Rangabe (811-13)

1. He seized the throne after the defeat of Nicephorus and was not a particularly effective ruler.

2. His family was from Greece (Athens) and, as such, he was the first emperor from the European part of the empire in centuries.

3. He was also the first Byzantine emperor with a "last name."

4. Michael sided with the zealots and recalled those Studite monks whom Nicephoros had exiled.

a. Zealots were people who opposed any compromise in religious and moral matters.

b. They were led by monks of the monastery of St. John of Studion in Constantinople, so the "party" itself is sometimes called "Studites."

c. The "politicians" or moderates supported the policy of oikonomia, which allowed some compromise on religious matters. Oikonomia was a theological concept by which God himself is supposed to have "looked the other way" when weighing man’s sinfulness.

d. This conflict between zealots and politicians was to plague Byzantium for some time to come.

e. Notice that they were all iconophiles--there was no disagreement about religious doctrine.

3. Michael also reversed the policy of Nicephorus by agreeing to Charlemagne's use of the imperial title in 812.

4. Ultimately he was deposed when the troops led by Leo, strategos of the Anatolikon theme, revolted against him.

a. Since the death of Nicephoros, the Bulgars had posed a serious threat.

b. They were led by their notorious Kahn, Krum--who had defeated Nicephorus and used his skull as a drinking cup!

c. Leo's troops deserted the emperor during a campaign in the Balkans.

d. Leo became emperor as Leo V.

B. Leo V the Armenian (813-20)

1. The military history of the empire since the restoration of ikons had been nothing but disaster; Leo and his supporters concluded a cause and effect relationship: the empire had failed militartily because God was angry at the return of ikon veneration.

2. Fortunately for Leo, Khan Krum died suddenly in 814 and the Bulgarian threat was relieved.

3. The Council of 815.

a. The patriarch Nicephoros was deposed and replaced by a bishop amenable to iconoclasm.

b. The Council of 815 condemned the veneration of ikons and the Second Council of Nicaea (787).

4. Ultimately Leo V was assassinated--the famous monkey story!! (come to class)

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