Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus was born in 905. He was the son of Leo VI, originally from the Macedonian dynasty. His figure is of particular interest to historians. The fact is that this ruler during his time on the throne was not so much involved in politics as he devoted his time to science and the study of books. He was a writer and left behind a rich literary legacy.
Heir to the Throne
The only son of Leo VI the Philosopher Constantine Porphyrogenitus was born from his marriage to his fourth wife. Because of this, according to Christian rules, he could not occupy the throne. Nevertheless, Leo wanted to see his son as emperor and therefore, during his lifetime, he made him his co-ruler. With his death in 912, a dynastic crisis began. As a result, the younger brother of the deceased Alexander came to power. He removed the young Constantine from managing affairs, and also deprived all his nephew's supporters of influence. It seemed that the new emperor firmly took power into his own hands. However, already in 913, not yet old Alexander died of a long illness.
Loss of realauthorities
Now Constantine is finally emperor. However, he was only 8 years old. Because of this, a regency council was established, headed by Patriarch Nikolai Mystik. Byzantine history has always been characterized by the instability of power, which was passed from hand to hand through conspiracies and military coups. The precarious position of the regency council allowed the naval commander Roman Lakapin to stand at the head of the state.
In 920, he declared himself emperor. At the same time, at first, the new autocrat declared himself only as a defender of the legitimate minor emperor. However, Lakapinus managed to paralyze the will of Constantine without much difficulty, who was not at all interested in power and treated it as a burden.
Under Romanus Lecapine
The new ruler did not belong to the previously reigning dynasty, so he decided to legitimize himself by marrying Constantine to his daughter Elena. The young man was removed from real power. He devoted his youth to science and reading books. At that time, Constantinople was one of the world centers of education. Thousands of unique tomes dedicated to various disciplines and cultures were stored here. It was they who captivated the young man for life.
At this time, Roman Lecapenus surrounded Constantine with people loyal to himself, who followed the legitimate monarch. As the real ruler usurped power more and more, conspiracies began to appear among the aristocracy directed against him. Almost every year, new traitors were identified, who were de alt with withoutspecial ceremonies. Any methods were used: intimidation, confiscation of property, monastic tonsure and, of course, executions.
Return of the imperial title
Konstantin Porphyrogenitus received his nickname in honor of the name of the hall in the imperial palace in which he was born. This epithet emphasized his legitimacy, which Father Leo VI wanted so much.
Konstantin Porphyrogenitus for most of his life was content with only attending formal ceremonies. He was not trained to manage the army, so he was not interested in a military career. Instead, Konstantin was engaged in science. Thanks to his work, modern historians can get the most complete picture of the life of Byzantium in the 10th century.
In 944, the usurper Romanus Lekapenos was overthrown by his own sons. Riots broke out in the capital. Ordinary residents did not like the chaos in power. Everyone wanted to see the legitimate heir of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, and not the children of the usurper, at the head of the state. Finally, the son of Leo VI finally became emperor. He remained so until 959, when he died unexpectedly. Some historians are supporters of the theory that the ruler was poisoned by his son Roman.
Literary works of Constantine
The main book that Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus left behind was the treatise "On the Administration of the Empire". This document was compiled by the ruler for his predecessors. The Byzantine emperor hoped that his advice ongovernance of the state will help future autocrats to avoid conflicts within the country. The book was not intended for the general public. It was printed after the fall of Byzantium, when several copies miraculously found their way to Europe. The title was also given by the German publisher (Konstantin VII Porphyrogenitus did not give a title to the secret treatise).
In his book, the author examined in detail the life and foundations of the state. It has 53 chapters. Many of them are dedicated to the peoples who inhabited the empire or neighboring it. Foreign culture has always been the area that Konstantin Porphyrogenitus was interested in. About the Slavs, he left unique essays that are no longer found in any source of that era. It is curious that the emperor even described the visit of the Kievan princess Olga to Constantinople. As you know, in Constantinople, the Slavic ruler received Christian baptism, when her people still professed the pagan faith.
In addition, the author examined the administrative and economic structure of Ancient Russia. In different chapters there are descriptions of Slavic cities: Novgorod, Smolensk, Vyshgorod, Chernigov, and also Kyiv. The emperor also paid attention to other neighboring peoples: Bulgarians, Hungarians, Arabs, Khazars, etc. The original treatise was written in Greek. The book was later translated into Latin and after that into other European languages. This work mixes the most diverse genres of narration, which Konstantin Porphyrogenitus skillfully used. "On the management of the empire" - a unique example of medieval literature.
About the ceremonies
Another important book written by the emperor was the collection On Ceremonies. In it, the autocrat described all the rituals adopted in the Byzantine court. The collection also includes an interesting appendix on military tactics. As conceived by Konstantin, these notes were to become a teaching aid for the future rulers of a huge state.
Philanthropist and educator
Konstantin not only wrote books, but also patronized various authors and institutions. Having matured, he first of all took up the processing of a huge literary array that Orthodox Byzantium had accumulated. These were various lives of saints kept in the libraries of monasteries. Many of them existed in a single copy, and rare books were damaged from antiquity and poor storage conditions.
The logothete and master Simeon Metafrast helped the emperor in this enterprise. It was in his processing that many Christian literary artifacts have come down to our times. The master received money from the emperor, with which he bought rare copies of books, and also maintained an office with a large staff of employees: clerks, librarians, etc.
Encyclopedia of Constantine
The Emperor became the inspirer and sponsor of other similar educational events. Thanks to him, an encyclopedia was published in Constantinople, consisting of more than fifty volumes. This collection included knowledge from a wide variety of fields, both humanities and natural sciences. homethe merit of the encyclopedia of the era of Constantine was the codification and ordering of a huge array of disparate information.
Much knowledge was needed for practical purposes as well. For example, Konstantin funded the compilation of a collection of articles on farming. The knowledge contained in these documents helped for several generations to achieve the greatest harvest in the expanses of the Byzantine Empire.
