The emperor who lost his sight and his throne to his mother
In short: Constantine VI was the last ruler universally recognized as a Roman emperor by both East and West. Yet, his reign was defined by brutal internal power struggles, a scandalous second marriage, and a violent coup that paved the way for a new European political order.
Constantine VI ascended to the throne in 780 at just nine years old. Because of his youth, his mother Irene governed as regent alongside her chief minister, Staurakios. While Constantine eventually took actual power in 790 after a rebellion against Irene, their relationship remained volatile. In 792, he restored her to the throne as co-ruler, but his subsequent reign was marked by military failure and erratic governance, including a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Marcellae in 792.
His domestic choices further eroded his authority. Constantine divorced his first wife, Maria of Amnia, because she failed to produce a male heir. He then married his mistress Theodote—a move deemed canonically illegal and unpopular by the public and the church. This sparked the "Moechian controversy," which Irene exploited to undermine her son's legitimacy. In retaliation for various plots, Constantine engaged in extreme violence, including blinding his uncle Nikephoros and cutting off the tongues of four other half-brothers.
The cycle of brutality ended in 797 when Irene organized a conspiracy to seize power. Constantine was captured, blinded, and imprisoned; he likely died shortly thereafter from the severity of his injuries. His downfall had profound geopolitical consequences: because the Papacy could no longer rely on Byzantine protection against Arab conquests, they turned to the Franks. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as 'Emperor of the Romans,' establishing a new Western polity independent of the East and laying the foundation for the Holy Roman Empire.
Modern scholarship generally dismisses the legend of Thomas the Slav claiming to be Constantine VI as a later fabrication.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Constantine VI
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