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Psellus
Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. Biography and political career The main sources of information about Psellos' life are his own works, which contain extensive autobiographical passages. Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and patrician elite among its ancestors. His baptismal name was Constantine; Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. "Psellos" ('the stammerer') probably was a personal by-na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudo-Psellos
Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. Biography and political career The main sources of information about Psellos' life are his own works, which contain extensive autobiographical passages. Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and patrician elite among its ancestors. His baptismal name was Constantine; Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. "Psellos" ('the stammerer') probably was a personal by-na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronographia (Psellos)
Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. Biography and political career The main sources of information about Psellos' life are his own works, which contain extensive autobiographical passages. Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and patrician elite among its ancestors. His baptismal name was Constantine; Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. "Psellos" ('the stammerer') probably was a personal by-na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Italus
John Italus or Italos ( el, , ''Iōánnēs ho Italós''; la, Johannes Italus) was a neoplatonic Byzantine philosopher of the eleventh century. He was Calabrian in origin, his father being a soldier. He came to Constantinople, where he became a student of Michael Psellus in classical Greek philosophy. He succeeded Psellus in his position as head of the philosophical school. Subsequently, some of his tenets were found heretic in 1076-77 by Patriarch Cosmas I of Constantinople, and in 1082 he was personally condemned, having come into conflict with Emperor . Life John Italus was born in ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodora (11th Century)
Theodora Porphyrogenita ( el, Θεοδώρα Πορφυρογέννητη, ''Theodōra Porphyrogenítē''; c. 98031 August 1056) was Byzantine Empress from 21 April 1042 to her death on 31 August 1056, and sole ruler from 11 January 1055. She was born into the Macedonian dynasty that ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for almost 200 years. Theodora was the youngest daughter of Emperor Constantine VIII. After Theodora's father died in 1028, her older sister Zoë co-ruled with her husbands Romanos III and Michael IV, keeping Theodora closely watched. After two foiled plots, Theodora was exiled to an island monastery in the Sea of Marmara in 1031. A decade later, the people of Constantinople rose against Michael IV's nephew and successor, Michael V, and insisted that Theodora return to rule alongside Zoë. After 65 days Zoë married again, to Constantine IX, who assumed the imperial responsibilities. Theodora seemingly retired to a convent after Zo� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael VI
Michael VI Bringas ( el, Μιχαήλ Βρίγγας), called Stratiotikos or Stratioticus ("the Military One", "the Warlike", or "the Bellicose") or Gerontas ("the Old"), reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1056 to 1057. Career Apparently a relative of the powerful courtier Joseph Bringas (influential during the reign of Romanos II),Norwich, p. 327 Michael Bringas was an elderly patrician and a member of the court bureaucracy who had served as military finance minister (and hence the epithet ''Stratiotikos'').Kazhdan, p. 1366 Michael Bringas was chosen by the empress Theodora as her successor shortly before her death on August 31, 1056. The appointment had been secured through the influence of Leo Paraspondylos, Theodora's most trusted adviser. Although Michael managed to survive a conspiracy organized by Theodosios, a nephew of the former emperor Constantine IX Monomachos,Norwich, p. 327 he was faced with the disaffection of the military aristocracy. His most cost ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine IX
Constantine IX Monomachos ( grc-x-medieval, Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, translit=Kōnstantinos IX Monomachos; 1004 – 11 January 1055), reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita chose him as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian. The couple shared the throne with Zoë's sister Theodora Porphyrogenita. Zoë died in 1050, and Constantine continued his collaboration with Theodora until his own death five years later. Constantine waged wars against groups which included the Kievan Rus', the Pechenegs and, in the East, the rising Seljuq Turks. Despite the varying success of these campaigns, the Byzantine Empire largely retained the borders established after the conquests of Basil II, even expanding eastwards when Constantine annexed the wealthy Armenian kingdom of Ani. Constantine accordingly may be considered the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Attaleiates
Michael Attaleiates or Attaliates ( grc-gre, Μιχαήλ Ἀτταλειάτης, Michaḗl Attaleiátēs, ; – 1080) was a Byzantine Greek chronicler, public servant and historian active in Constantinople and around the empire's provinces in the second half of the eleventh century. He was a younger contemporary (possibly even a student) of Michael Psellos and likely an older colleague of John Skylitzes, the two other Byzantine historians of the eleventh century whose work survives. Life and work Michael Attaleiates was probably a native of Attaleia (now Antalya, in Turkey) and moved to Constantinople some time between, approximately, 1030 and 1040 to pursue studies in law. During years of service in the empire's judicial system he built a small private fortune. Prominence on the judge's bench also brought him to the attention of a number of emperors who rewarded him with some of the highest honours available to civil servants (''patrikios'' and ''anthypatos''). In 1072, Attal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romanos IV
Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Διογένης), Latinized as Romanus IV Diogenes, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine Emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, where he died of his wounds. Accession to the throne Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine Diogenes and a member of a prominent and powerful Byzantine Greek family from Cappadocia, the Diogenoi,Norwich 1993, p. 344 connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor.Finla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, ''Isaakios Komnēnos''; – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty. The son of the general Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, he was orphaned at an early age, and was raised under the care of Emperor Basil II. He made his name as a successful military commander, serving as commander-in-chief of the eastern armies between and 1054. In 1057 he became the head of a conspiracy of the dissatisfied eastern generals against the newly crowned Michael VI Bringas. Proclaimed emperor by his followers on 8 June 1057, he rallied sufficient military forces to defeat the loyalist army at the Battle of Hades. While Isaac was willing to accept a compromise solution by being appointed Michael's heir, a powerful faction in Constantinople, led by the ambitious Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Keroularios, pressured Michael to abdicate. After Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine III Of Constantinople
Constantine III Leichoudes ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Λειχούδης), (? – 9 August 1063) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1059 to 1063. Born in Constantinople, he was a fellow student of Michael Psellus and John Xiphilinus. He rose to high court offices: appointed ''protovestiarios'', he later became ''proedros'' ("president") of the Senate and was one of the senior aides of emperors Michael V and Constantine IX. He also became abbot of the imperial Mangana Monastery, and in 1059, following the dismissal of Michael I Cerularius, he was elected into the patriarchal office, which he held until his death. He is considered a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ..., and is commemorated on 29 July. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine X
Constantine X Doukas Romanization of Greek, or Ducas ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δούκας, ''Kōnstantinos X Doukas'', 1006 – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder and first ruling member of the Byzantine Empire under the Doukas dynasty, Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy while in the Balkans the Hungarians occupied Belgrade. He also suffered defeats by the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan. Reign Constantine's parents are not mentioned in any primary sources, but some scholars theorize that he was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a nobleman who served as ''strategos'' of Preslav during the reign of Basil II (). Historians often give his bithdate as 1006, as he is said to have died aged "slightly over sixty years". He was an academic, addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, and he gained influence after he married, as his second wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
