Emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny was born in 905. He was the son of Leo VI, a native of the Macedonian dynasty. His figure is of particular interest to historians. The fact is that this ruler, during his tenure 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 heritage.
Heir to the throne
The only son of Leo VI Philosopher Konstantin Bagryanorodny was born from his marriage with 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, 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 the influence of all his nephew's supporters. It seemed that the new emperor firmly took power in his hands. However, already in 913, the still not old Alexander died of a long illness.
Loss of real power
Now Constantine finally became emperor. However, he was only 8 years old. Because of this, the Regency Council was established, which was headed by Patriarch Nikolai Mystic. Byzantine history has always been distinguished 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 naval commander Roman Lakapin to take charge of the state.
In 920, he declared himself emperor. At the same time, at first, the new autocrat declared himself only as the defender of the legitimate juvenile emperor. However, Lakapin was able to easily paralyze the will of Konstantin, who was not at all interested in the government and treated it as a burden.
Under Roman Lakapin
The new ruler did not belong to the previously reigning dynasty, so he decided to legitimize, marrying Constantine to his daughter Elena. The young man was removed from real power. He devoted his youth to science and reading books. At this time, Constantinople was one of the world centers of education. Here were stored thousands of unique tomes dedicated to various disciplines and cultures. They are the ones who have fascinated the young man for life.
At this time, Roman Lakapin surrounded Constantine with loyal people who watched the legitimate monarch. As the real ruler usurped power more and more, conspiracies directed against him began to appear among the aristocracy. Almost every year new traitors came to light with whom they dealt without special ceremonies. Any methods were used: intimidation, confiscation of property, tonsure of monks and, of course, execution.
The return of the imperial title
Konstantin Bagryanorodny 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 was what Father Leo VI wanted so much.
Konstantin Bagryanorodny most of his life was content with the fact that he was only present at formal ceremonies. He was not trained to manage the army, and therefore he was not interested in a military career. Instead, Konstantin was engaged in science. Thanks to his works, modern historians can make the most complete picture of the life of Byzantium in the X century.
In 944, the usurper Roman Lakapin was overthrown by his own sons. Riots began in the capital. Ordinary residents did not like the chaos in power. Everyone wanted to see at the head of state the legitimate heir to Konstantin Bagryanorodny, and not the usurper’s children. Finally, the son of Leo VI finally became emperor. He remained with them until 959, when he unexpectedly passed away. Some historians are supporters of the theory that the ruler was poisoned by his son Roman.
Literary works of Konstantin
The main book, which was left behind by Emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny, turned out to be a treatise on the management of the empire. This document was compiled by the ruler for his predecessors. The Byzantine emperor hoped that his advice on governing the state would help future autocrats 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 reached Europe. The name was also given by a German publisher (Konstantin VII Bagryanorodny did not give a title to a 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. Alien culture has always been the area that Konstantin Bagryanorodny was interested in. On 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 Princess Olga of Kiev to Constantinople. As you know, in Constantinople, the Slavic ruler received Christian baptism when her people still professed 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, Chernihiv, as well as Kiev. The emperor paid attention to other neighboring peoples: Bulgarians, Hungarians, Arabs, Khazars, etc. The original treatise was written in Greek. Later, the book was translated into Latin, and after that into other European languages. In this work, a variety of genres of narration are mixed, which Konstantin Bagryanorodny 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 of ceremonies. In it, the autocrat described all the rituals adopted in the Byzantine court. The compilation also includes a curious application dedicated to military tactics. According to the plan of Konstantin, these notes were to be a textbook for future rulers of a huge state.
Philanthropist and Enlightener
Konstantin not only wrote books, but also patronized various authors and institutions. Having matured, he was primarily engaged in processing the huge literary massif that the Orthodox Byzantium accumulated. These were the various lives of the saints stored in the libraries of the monasteries. Many of them existed in a single copy, and rare books were spoiled from antiquity and poor storage conditions.
In this enterprise, the emperor was assisted by a logofet and master Simeon Metafrast. It is in its processing that many Christian literary artifacts have survived to our times. The master received money from the emperor, for which he bought rare copies of books, and also contained 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 consisting of more than fifty volumes was published in Constantinople. This collection included knowledge from various fields of both the humanities and the natural sciences. The main merit of the encyclopedia of the era of Constantine was to codify and organize a huge array of disparate information.
A lot of knowledge was necessary for practical purposes. For example, Konstantin funded the compilation of a collection of articles on agriculture. The knowledge set forth in these documents helped for several generations to achieve the greatest harvest in the vast expanses of the Byzantine Empire.