Infidelity, Infighting, Ineptitude and Invasion: The Disastrous Reign of Constantine IX Monomachos

Throughout its impressive longevity, the Byzantine Empire has had its fair share of terrible emperors who plunged Byzantium into chaos and ruin. While many of these candidates, such as Alexios IV Angelos and Phokas, are deserving of the moniker of ‘worst emperor’, one emperor has seemingly gone under the radar as being one of the, if not the worst, Byzantine emperors. This was Constantine IX Monomachos. He was arguably responsible for the major Byzantine collapse during the eleventh century due to his incompetent leadership and lacklustre policies. In short, his reign can be best described as being plagued by the four “I’s” which will be discussed in this article: Infidelity, Infighting, Ineptitude and Invasion.

Firstly, infidelity. A son of an imperial judge, Constantine was not born into power, nor did he take it via an armed coup. He completely owed it to a particular woman. The Empress Zoe. After ousting her adopted son, Michael V, an uneasy duopoly of power was created between her and her sister, Theodora, in 1042. Requiring a male spouse to strengthen her hold on power, Zoe recalled Constantine Monomachos from his exile and promptly married him. Constantine IX Monomachos soon became an ‘agreeable and attractive roué’ whilst his wife immediately spent the treasury on her pleasures. However, the emperor would not stay loyal to his martial oath for long. Even during his exile, Constantine IX Monomachos had been engaged in a rampant affair with Maria Skleraina, which only continued upon his ascension to the emperor. Contemporary Byzantine chronicler, Michael Psellus admits that ‘with his (Constantine IX) eyes he beheld Zoe, but in his mind’s eye was the image of his mistress’. Such was the common knowledge of this affair that even the common folk of Constantinople rioted in March 1044 because of their dislike for Skerlaina.

Even after the death of his mistress in 1045, Constantine IX Monomachos continued his extramarital affairs, even having a romance with an Alan princess. To add to the audacity of his adultery, when he died in 1055, instead of being buried next to his wife, who had died in 1050, the emperor was buried next to his favourite mistress, Maria Skleraina. Even after her death, the empress, who had raised him to the imperial purple, was still being betrayed by her spouse. However, it appeared that Zoe may have had the last laugh. Despite his constant sexual proclivities, Constantine IX Monomachos failed to accumulate an heir to continue his dynasty. Instead, power would fall to Zoe’s younger sister, Theodora.

His poor management skills, which had been ever-present in his marriage, could also be seen in his relations with several key generals and individuals of the empire. In 1042, Theophilos Erotikos, the military governor of Cyprus, was angered by excessive taxation and the ascension of Constantine IX Monomachos, so he incited a rebellion on the island. After several dead administrators, the Byzantine Navy was dispatched and quickly quelled the uprising. Comically as punishment, Erotikos was dressed in women’s clothing and paraded around the hippodrome before having his property confiscated. Whilst this was a minor revolt, it would encourage future dissenters to come out of the woodwork.

No sooner after this incident, George Maniakes, the military governor of Italy, was in open revolt in 1042. A seasoned commander, Maniakes had been a key asset to his former imperial sovereigns, serving in campaigns across the empire from Syria to Sicily. This rebellion began over the most menial of issues: a dispute over estates. This dispute was between Maniakes and Romanos Skleros, who happened to be the brother of Maria Skleraina, the Emperor’s mistress. Instead of being impartial in resolving the dispute, Constantine IX Monomachos stupidly sided with Skleros, which resulted in Maniakes raising his soldiers against the emperor. However, the emperor was saved from this major rebellion by pure luck. During the battle of Ostrovo in 1043, the rebel army utterly annihilated the Byzantine force sent against it but when the dust settled, Maniakes was dead after being mortally wounded in the chest by a lance. Without their inspiring leader dead, the rebels scattered.

Later in 1047, soldiers of the Western themes under Leo Tornikios rose up against Constantine IX Monomachos after the emperor had attempted to force the general into a monastery. Caught completely off guard, the emperor fought himself besieged within the capital whilst his loyal armies made their way from the eastern themes to fight Tornikios. It was only due to the resilience of the citizens of Constantinople, who repelled various assaults by the rebels, that Tornikios was forced to abandon the siege. Meanwhile, Constantine IX Monomachos made scant appearances on the city walls to rally the denizens as he was plagued by gout. Eventually, the rebels were cornered by Byzantine forces, and Tornikios, along with his co-conspirators, was blinded.

The domestic policies proved equally fruitless during Constantine IX Monomachos’ reign. Immediately, underlings were brought into high office or provided honorary titles, while more officials were brought into government. This created an extremely bloated bureaucracy, which only drained the finances of the Empire. Whilst significant funds were spent on the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the creation of schools of philosophy and law, these were mostly ‘costly vanity projects’ which simply diverted important funds into unnecessary ventures, especially with the empire being in one of its lowest nadirs during this period.

Meanwhile, prisons became overcrowded, with tax collectors being harsher on debtors whilst the emperor blew the imperial treasury on lavish pleasures and gifts to courtiers. Worse of all, the coinage was debased by a quarter in the hopes of decreasing the regular pay of the thematic soldiers who had defended the empire for centuries. Not only did this anger many soldiers within the imperial themes, but it also created a major dependency on foreign mercenaries whose loyalties were questionable at best. Under Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantium only continued to stagnate further.

The external problems were just as bad, if not even worse, as the internal ones. Constantine IX Monomachos began his reign with a poorly organised invasion into Serbia in 1042, which ended in the annihilation of the Byzantine force in an ambush. This was followed by a trade dispute with the Russians, resulting in a large Russian fleet raiding across the Byzantine heartlands and threatening Constantinople in 1043. Only thanks to the use of Greek fire (a proto-napalm substance) was the Russian navy defeated and forced to negotiate with the Byzantines.

In 1044, there was a major success with the conquest of Ani, an important trade centre in Armenia. Unfortunately, Constantine IX Monomachos used this opportunity to attack his Shaddadid allies, which severely weakened them and soured relations with an important client state in the east. In addition, this opened the floodgates for Seljuk raids into the Eastern themes as attacks in 1047-1048 and 1054 left much devastation. Byzantine forces proved completely useless in chasing down mobile units of Seljuk horsemen, which only emboldened more raids and even invasions during the reigns of future emperors.

In the west, the nomadic Pechenegs had crossed the Danube in 1047 and began raiding across the provinces of Bulgaria and Thrace. Like the Seljuks, the Pechenegs practiced a fast-paced style of warfare, relying on their composite bows for effective skirmishing against the enemy. After several Byzantine defeats, Constantine IX Monomachos was forced to sue for peace in 1053, allowing the Pechenegs to settle within the empire. Moreover, 1048 saw the beginning of Norman incursions into Byzantine holdings in Sicily and southern Italy, which saw a decline in Byzantine influence within the region. Finding itself harassed from all sides by external forces, the Byzantine Empire desperately needed competent allies to prevent its potential downfall.

Whilst relations with the Fatimid Caliphate proved fruitful as gifts such as exotic animals were exchanged between rulers, relations with Catholic Europe reached a new low. Taking a laissez-faire approach to religious affairs, Constantine IX Monomachos gave free rein to the Orthodox patriarch, Michael Keroularios. Extremely aggressive and ambitious, Keroularios quickly positioned the Greek Orthodox Church staunchly against the Latin Catholic Church in disputes over clerical celibacy, the unleavened bread and the filioque. Moreover, he openly challenged the authority of Pope Leo IX by closing Catholic churches in Constantinople and sending inflammatory letters. This ultimately culminated in the Great Schism of 1054, with both Keroularios and the Latin delegates excommunicating each other. This humiliating debacle created a major rift between the Byzantine Empire and the kingdoms of Western Europe, which deprived the beleaguered Byzantium of valuable Christian allies against the onslaught of Seljuk aggression.

In conclusion, the reign of Constantine IX Monomachos was full of incompetent blunders. Firstly, he failed to produce an heir to maintain his family’s grip on power after being gifted it through marriage, despite having numerous affairs. Secondly, his constant disputes with the army created an environment of instability within the empire and also deprived Byzantium of competent commanders like Maniakes, only to replace them with loyal but inept cronies. Thirdly, his unrestricted spending on construction projects and pursuit of personal pleasures drained the imperial treasury. Finally, his foreign policy, apart from relations with the Fatimids, proved utterly lacklustre, as it left the empire exposed to invasion and alienated potential allies. Thus, Constantine IX Monomachos undoubtedly can be considered a contender for the title of the worst Byzantine emperor.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

John Skylitzes, A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811-1057, trans. by John Wortley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Matthew of Edessa, Mathew of Edessa’s Chronicle, volume 1, trans. by Robert Bedrosian (Los Angeles: Sophene Books, 2023)

Michael Attaleiates, The History, trans. by Anthony Kaldellis and Dimitris Krallis (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2012)

Michael Psellus, Fourteen Byzantine Rulers: The Chronographia of Michael Psellus, trans. by E.R.A. Sewter (London: Penguin Books, 1966)

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