Michael VII Doukas, Eastern Roman Emperor

Michael VII Doukas 'Parapinakēs'

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Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ζ΄ Δούκας, Mikhaēl VII Doukas), nicknamed Parapinakēs, Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078.

[edit]Reign

Michael VII was the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa, and was born c. 1050, in Constantinople. He had been associated with his father on the throne late in 1059, together with or shortly before his newly born brother Konstantios. When Constantine X died in 1067, Michael VII was 17 years old and should have been able to rule by himself. He exhibited little interest in politics, and his mother Eudokia and uncle John Doukas governed the empire as effective regents.

On January 1, 1068, Eudokia married the general Romanos Diogenes, who now became senior co-emperor alongside Michael VII, Konstantios, and another brother, Andronikos. When Romanos IV was defeated and captured by Alp Arslan of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in August 1071, Michael VII remained in the background, while the initiative was taken by his uncle John Doukas and his tutor Michael Psellos. They conspired to keep Romanos from regaining power after his release from captivity. After the dispatch of Eudokia to a monastery, Michael VII was crowned again on October 24, 1071 as senior emperor.

Although still advised by Michael Psellos and John Doukas, Michael VII became increasingly reliant on his finance minister Nikephoritzes. The emperor's chief interests, shaped by Psellos, were in academic pursuits, and he allowed Nikephoritzes to increase both taxation and luxury spending without properly financing the army. In dire straits, imperial officials resorted to property confiscations and even expropriated some of the wealth of the church. The underpaid army tended to mutiny, and the Byzantines lost Bari, their last possession in Italy, to the Normans of Robert Guiscard in 1071. Simultaneously, they faced a serious revolt in the Balkans, where they faced an attempt for the restoration of the Bulgarian state in the same year. Although this revolt was suppressed by the general Nikephoros Bryennios, the Byzantine Empire was unable to recover its losses in Asia Minor.

After Manzikert the Byzantine government sent a new army to contain the Seljuk Turks under Isaac Komnenos, a brother of the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos, but this army was defeated and its commander captured in 1073. The problem was made worse by the desertion of the Byzantines' western mercenaries, who became the object of the next military expedition in the area, led by the Caesar John Doukas. This campaign also ended in failure and its commander was likewise captured by the enemy. The victorious mercenaries now forced John Doukas to stand as pretender to the throne. In this situation Michael VII's government was forced to recognize the conquests of the Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor in 1074, and to seek their support. A new army under Alexios Komnenos, reinforced by Seljuk troops sent by Malik Shah I, finally defeated the mercenaries and captured John Doukas in 1074.

These misfortunes caused widespread dissatisfaction, exacerbated by the devaluation of the currency, which gave the emperor his nickname Parapinakēs, "minus a quarter". In 1078 two generals, Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates, simultaneously revolted in the Balkans and Anatolia, respectively. Nikephoros Botaneiates gained the support of the Seljuk Turks and first reached Constantinople. Michael VII resigned the throne with hardly a struggle on March 31, 1078 and retired into the monastery of Stoudios. He later became metropolitan archbishop of Ephesus and died in Constantinople in c. 1090.

[edit]Family

Michael VII Doukas had married Maria of Alania, daughter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia. By her he had at least one son:

Constantine Doukas, co-emperor from c. 1075 to 1078 and from 1081 to 1087/8, died c. 1095.

Miguel VII Ducas, emperador de Bizancio (1067 - 1078). Se le conoció también como Miguel Parapinaces ("menos de un cuarto"), por la devaluación que durante su reinado sufrió la moneda bizantina.

Miguel VII era hijo del emperador Constantino X y de su esposa Eudocia. Al morir su padre el 21 de mayo de 1067, Eudocia asumió la regencia del Imperio. Poco después contrajo matrimonio con Romano IV Diógenes, que fue coronado nuevo emperador el 1 de enero de 1068.

Romano IV fue derrotado por los selyúcidas en la batalla de Manzikert (1071) (en gran parte debido a la escasa belicosidad demostrada por el primo de Miguel, Andrónico Ducas, lo que ha hecho pensar a los historiadores en una conspiración de la aristocrática familia de los Ducas para acabar con el poder de Romano IV). El césar Juan Ducas, padre de Andrónico, consiguió que su sobrino Miguel fuese proclamado emperador y coronado en Santa Sofía, en tanto que su madre, Eudocia, era recluida en un convento. Los ejércitos mandados por Juan y Andrónico vencieron a los restos de las tropas derrotadas de Romano IV, quien fue cegado, y murió poco después a consecuencia de sus heridas.

Miguel VII se negó a aceptar el tratado que su predecesor, Romano IV, había firmado con el sultán selyúcida, Alp Arslan. Como consecuencia, las invasiones turcas continuaron y en 1080 se constituyó el sultanato de Rüm, que dominaba la mayor parte de Anatolia.

Durante el reinado de Miguel, la situación del Imperio se fue progresivamente deteriorando: además de las incursiones selyúcidas, aumentó el hostigamiento en Occidente de pechenegos y magiares, la inflación aumentó considerablemente (origen del apodo del emperador, Parapinaces, "menos de un cuarto"), y se produjeron varias insurrecciones militares.

La primera fue la del mercenario normando Roussel de Bailleul, quien fundó un estado independiente en Anatolia, aunque fue derrotado por el general y futuro emperador Alejo Comneno. Más adelante, en noviembre de 1077, se levantó contra Miguel Nicéforo Brienio, que fue aclamado emperador en Adrianópolis, y, en Oriente, condujo una nueva insurrección Nicéforo Botaniates, strategos del thema de Anatolikon. Al mismo tiempo, estallaron revueltas en Constantinopla, y Miguel se vio obligado a abdicar y refugiarse al monasterio de Studion. Nicéforo Botaniates entró triunfalmente en la capital, e hizo cegar a su rival Nicéforo Brienio.