At Basil's death (15 December 1025) the throne passed to his brother, Constantine VIII (1025-1028). The latter's daughters, Eudokia (a nun), Zoe, and Theodora (who became a nun), were the last members of the Macedonian house. Zoe (born ca. 978-980) married successively Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034) and Michael IV the Paphlagonian (1034-1041), then adopted the latter's nephew, Michael V Kalaphates ("the Calker" 1041-1042). When the last-named attempted to force Zoe into a convent, the mob overthrew him and brought forth Theodora from her nunnery; Zoe and Theodora briefly held joint sovereignty (April-June 1042). Zoe then married Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055), during whose reign she died (ca. 1050). At his death, Theodora again ruled briefly (1055-1056) and nominated as her successor a civil servant, Michael VI Stratiotikos (1056-1057). Thus ended the Macedonian dynasty.
A military rebellion raised Isaac I Komnenos (1057-1059) to the throne, but he abdicated in favor of a bureaucrat, Constantine X Doukas (1059-1067). To secure the succession for the latter's young children, his widow Eudokia married a leading general, Romanos IV Diogenes (1068-1071). Once the latter was captured by the Turks at Manztikert, the courtiers installed Constantine X's son, Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078), as their puppet. Another military revolt brought to power Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078-1081); he was displaced by the younger, more competent Alexios I Komnenos.
Few of these numerous rulers acted vigorously to confront the empire's difficulties. Michael IV proved abler than his low-born background suggested; Isaac I and Romanos IV tried to cope with the military situation, but Romanos' generalship was not suited to Turkish tactics. Constantine IX fostered art and learning; little else can be said in favor of these rulers.
Internally, one of the arks of the period was uprisings of subject national groups. The inhabitants of Samuil's former "West Bulgarian" realm rebelled vainly in 1040-1041, and again in 1072. The Serbs of Zeta (north of Lake Scutari), who joined the first revolt, succeeded in holding a precarious independence until late in the eleventh century. In Anatolia those Armenians subject to Byzantine rule were restless under oppressive tax collectors and intolerant Orthodox clerics. Fearing Turkish invasions, many migrated from the Armenian homeland into Cappadocia, Cilicia and northern Syria.
Rebellions by generals also characterized the period; we can mention only a few. George Maniakes, suddenly deprived of his command in Sicily, took his troops across the Adriatic but fell in battle (1043). Leo Tornikios failed in an attack on Constantinople in 1047; Isaac Komnenos, as indicated, was more successful. After Manztikert, revolts proliferated. In 1073-1074 the commander of Norman mercenaries, Roussel de Bailleul, moved against Constantinople, then tried to establish a principality in northern Anatolia. In 1077 there were simultaneous uprisings in the Balkans by Nikephoros Bryennios and in Anatolia by Nikephoros Botaneiates; with Turkish assistance the later triumphed. Botaneiates, however, in turn faced revolts by Nikephoros Basilakios (in the Balkans), Nikephoros Melissenos (in Anatolia) and Alexios Komnenos.
While rebels threatened Constantinople, conspiracies against the throne and intrigues to obtain a position of influence proliferated within the city and the palace. The post of chief minister or adviser was particularly important during the many weak reigns. The powerful eunuch, John the Orphanotrophos, influenced Zoe against her first husband and in favor of his own brother Michael; Romanos III perished under suspicious circumstances, and Michael wed the empress. As Michael IV suffered increasingly from epilepsy, John induced Zoe to adopt Michael Kalaphates. Upon attaining the title emperor, Michael V exiled the powerful eunuch. Around Zoe, Theodora and Constantine IX there gathered an imposing group of intellectuals, including Michael Psellos, Constantine Leichoudes, and John Xiphilinos, who vied with other factions for power. While Psellos and his friends remained influential during many of the following reigns, the eunuch Nikephoritzes became all powerful under Michael VII; his greed helped render that ruler unpopular. The Slavs Boril and Germanos dominated Nikephoros III's administration.
Underlying the conflicts of courtiers and the military revolts was a struggle between the great landowners and the civil bureaucracy. The death of Basil II ended efforts to protect the tax-paying villages of small holders; some of Basil's regulations were annulled, others ignored. Great landowners expanded their properties; through their control of the provinces and the army, they aimed at domination of the government. They desired further relaxation of imperial control and, thus, greater opportunities to enrich themselves. The bureaucrats of the capital wished to maintain their own power, and thus stood fr centralized authority. To weaken the generals, the administrators reduced the military budget and the size of the army. Emperors from the military party Isaac I, Romanos IV, and Nikephoros III found their efforts hampered by officials of the capital.
In these struggles the populace of Constantinople and leading churchmen participated. Michael V's attempt to exile Zoe was thwarted by a spontaneous uprising; an armed mob besieged and captured he palace. Patriarch Alexios encouraged the rebellion. In 1057 Patriarch Michael Keroullarios used his influence with the people to turn them in favor of Isaac Komnenos and assure his peaceful entry into the city. Nikephoros III, too, succeeded in his usurpation because he won over a portion of the people, who opened the gates to him. Guilds of craftsmen and merchants often provided organization and leadership to these outbreaks.
While the empire was distracted by internal conflicts and ruled usually by weak emperors, some provinces were lost to invaders and others suffered devastation. Early in the eleventh century Norman mercenaries appeared in southern Italy, serving anyone for hire. After Maniakes' revolt, Norman leaders began to carve out principalities for themselves. Members of the Hauteville family, notably Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger, assumed leadership; in 1059 Robert obtained the title "Duke of Apulia" from the Pope. Guiscard's conquests culminated in the capture of Bari (1071), Byzantium's last possession in Italy.
The Danube-Sava frontier, attained by Basil II, proved insecure. The Pechenegs (Patzinaks), a Turkic people from the north shore of the Black Sea, raided in the empire's Balkan territories in 1033, 1036, and from 1048 to 1053. In 1043 a Russian fleet attacked Constantinople, but was beaten off with the aid of Greek fire. In 1059 a joint Pecheneg-Hungarian expedition was checked by Isaac I, but in 1064 an immense force of Ouzes (Oghuz Turks) ravaged the Balkans. Only an outbreak of disease halted them. Hungarians who had previously supported the rebel Serbs, made a serious attack in 1071, when they occupied Belgrade and Nia.
On the eastern frontier the situation was perilous. In the early eleventh century Turkoman bands had begun to move westward from the region of the Aral sea. Their ravages helped induce Sennacherib, the Armenian ruler of the kingdom of Van (Vaspurakan) to surrender his territory to Basil II (1021-1022). For a time the Byzantines continued to press forward on the eastern frontier: George Maniakes occupied Edessa in 1021 and the Armenian Gagik II surrendered the kingdom of Ani to Constantine IX in 1045.
Meanwhile, Oghuz Turks of central Asia, led by the descendants of Seljuk Tughril-Beg (fl. 1035-1062), Alp Arslan (1063-1072) and Malikshah (1072-1092) occupied Iran and Mesopotamia; diverting their undisciplined Turkoman followers against Armenia, Georgia and the Byzantine Empire was sound policy. An initial Seljuk onslaught (1048-1049) was defeated, but the Armenian kingdom of Kars was devastated. Subsequently Turkish raids became more frequent. Byzantium's absorption of the Armenian buffer states, the demilitarization and disaffection of the Armenians, the unreliable nature of the army's mercenary forces (Franks, Russians, Turks of all kinds, and others), and the heavy losses incurred in civil conflicts left Asia Minor open to Seljuk attack. In the early 1050's the Armenian borderlands suffered most, but in 1057 Melitene was pillaged, and in 1059, Sebaste. Ani and Kars were sacked in 1064. While Edessa and Antioch were repeatedly attacked, the Turkish raiders pushed westward: in 1067 Caesarea was plundered; in 1069, Iconium (Konya); and in 1070 the Turks were at Chonai (Colossae) in west-central Anatolia.
Romanos IV made a determined effort to repel the Turks. His heavily armed troops moved slowly unfortunately, thus while he campaigned in Cappadocia and Syria (1068-1069), Turks ravaged Pontus and Phrygia. When, in 1071, Romanos marched to recover the important fortress of Manztikert (north of Lake Van), Alp Arslan himself confronted him; because of treachery of members of the Doukas house within his army, Romanos was crushingly defeated and taken captive (19 August 1071). Once released, he was cruelly blinded by Michael VII's representatives and, as a result, died.
The Battle of Manztikert marked a turning point in Byzantine history: the end of the expansion begun under Michael III and the loss of the bulk of Anatolia, the empire's chief recruiting ground. During the decade 1071-1081, Turkish bands ravaged every part of Asia Minor. With the consent of the usurpers Botaneiates and Melissenos, Turkish troops occupied Nicaea, where a branch of the Seljuk family established itself. The Norman Roussel and the Armenian Philaretos (former commanders in Romanos IV's army) took advantage of the confusion to attempt, unsuccessfully, to establish independent principalities in Pontus and Cilicia, respectively.
During this period of incompetent rulers, civil strife and military disaster, important changes took place. As the army was reduced by Constantinopolitan officials, mercenaries became more prominent than in the past. The civil bureaucracy grew; Constantine IX and his successors enlarged the Senate with members of the Constantinopolitan middle class. Expenditures mounted and revenues declined; from the time of Michael IV, the nomisma (gold piece) began to be debased. From a theoretical twenty-four carat purity, maintained since Constantine the Great, the nomisma reached eighteen to twenty-one carats under Constantine IX, twelve to fourteen under Michael VII, and eight carats under Nikephoros III.
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Last modified: Thurs Dec 10, 1998