Alexios V Doukas
| Alexios V Doukas | |
|---|---|
Baldwin I (Latin Empire) Theodore I (Nicaea) Michael I (Epirus) Alexios I (Trebizond) Alexios III (Mosynopolis) | |
| Born | Date unknown |
| Died | December 1204 |
| Spouse | Philokalina[1] Greek Orthodox |
Alexios V Doukas (
Origins and character
Though in possession of the surname used by a leading Byzantine aristocratic family, there is very little definitely known concerning the ancestry of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos. The noble Doukas clan were not the only Doukai, as the surname was also employed by many families of humble origins. It has been claimed that Alexios Doukas was a great-great-grandson of the emperor
The contemporary historian Niketas Choniates was dismissed from office as logothete of the sekreta by Mourtzouphlos. His assessment of the emperor's character might therefore be biased; however, Choniates allows that he was extremely clever by nature, though arrogant in his manner and lecherous.[6]
Political intrigues and usurpation
The participation of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos in the attempted overthrow of Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203) by John Komnenos the Fat in 1200 had led to his imprisonment. Mourtzouphlos was probably imprisoned from 1201 until the restoration to the throne of Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204), the brother and predecessor of Alexios III. Isaac II, along with his son Alexios IV Angelos, were restored to the throne through the intervention of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in July 1203. On release, Mourtzouphlos was invested with the court position of protovestiarios (head of the imperial finances). He had been married twice but was allegedly the lover of Eudokia Angelina, a daughter of Alexios III.[7]
By the beginning of 1204, Isaac II and Alexios IV had inspired little confidence among the people of Constantinople with their efforts to protect the city from the Latin crusaders and their Venetian allies, and the citizens were becoming restless. The crusaders were also losing patience with the emperors; they rioted and set fires in the city when the money and aid promised by Alexios IV was not forthcoming. The fires affected about a sixth of the area of Constantinople and may have made up to a third of the population homeless; the dislocation and desperation of those affected eventually sapped the will of the people to resist the crusaders. Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos emerged as a leader of the anti-Latin movement in the city. He won the approval of the populace by his valour in leading an attack on the Latins at "Trypetos Lithos"; in this clash his mount stumbled and he would have been killed or captured had a band of youthful archers from the city not defended him. Mourtzouphlos exploited the hatred of the people for the Latins to serve his personal ambition.[8][9][10]
The citizens of Constantinople rebelled in late January 1204, and in the chaos an otherwise obscure nobleman named Nicholas Kanabos was acclaimed emperor, though he was unwilling to accept the crown. The two co-emperors barricaded themselves in the Palace of Blachernae and entrusted Mourtzouphlos with a mission to seek help from the crusaders, or at least they informed him of their intentions. Instead of contacting the crusaders, Mourtzouphlos, on the night of 28–29 January 1204, used his access to the palace to bribe the "ax-bearers" (the Varangian Guard), and with their backing arrest the emperors. Choniates states that Mourtzouphlos, when bribing the guards, had the help of a eunuch with access to the imperial treasury. The support of the Varangians seems to have been of major importance in the success of the coup, though Mourtzouphlos also had help from his relations and associates. The young Alexios IV was eventually strangled in prison; while his father Isaac, both enfeebled and blind, died at around the time of the coup, his death variously attributed to fright, sorrow, or mistreatment. Kanabos was initially spared and offered an office under Alexios V, but he refused both this and a further summons from the emperor and took sanctuary in the Hagia Sophia; he was forcibly removed and killed on the steps of the cathedral.[11][12][13]
Emperor
The timing of the deaths of the deposed emperors and of Kanabos, and their relation to the coronation of Alexios V are problematic. Alexios V appears to have been acclaimed emperor as early as the night he moved against the
Finding the treasury empty, the new emperor confiscated money from the aristocracy and high officials to be put to public use. These actions endeared Alexios V to the citizens, but alienated his relations and other prominent supporters. Once in firm control, Alexios V closed the gates of the city to the crusaders and strengthened the
The loss of the icon, traditionally seen as a physical embodiment of divine protection for the city, was a severe psychological blow. Its possession by the crusaders convinced many of the population of Constantinople that the victory of the Westerners was now divinely sanctioned, as a punishment for the sins of the Byzantines.[18]
Around 8 February, Alexios V met the
The fall of Constantinople, flight and death
The defenders of Constantinople held out against a crusader assault on 9 April.
Alexios V and his companions eventually reached
The new, alien, Latin regime of conquerors in Constantinople may have viewed the public trial and execution of the man who murdered the last "legitimate emperor" as a way to cast an aura of legitimacy on themselves. Alexios V was the last Byzantine Emperor to reign in Constantinople before the establishment of the Latin Empire, which controlled the city for the next 57 years, until it was recovered by the Nicaean Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261.[27]
See also
- List of Byzantine emperors
- Sack of Constantinople (1204)
References
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, p.113.
- ^ Choniates, p. 307, (see also: Head, p. 238) says that Alexios Doukas gained the name 'Mourtzouphlos' in his youth from his companions on account of his eyebrows meeting and overhanging his eyes.
- ISBN 9789633862971.
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 111
- ^ Akropolites, p. 112
- ^ Choniates, pp. 311, 314
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 112-113
- ^ Choniates, pp. 303–304, 307
- ^ Madden (1992)
- ^ Madden (1995) p. 742
- ^ Choniates, pp. 307–309
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 118-120
- ^ Runciman, pp. 120–121
- Alexios V"2 months and 16 days". Regnal dates for these emperors are calculated reckoning from the fall of Constantinople on 12 April.
- ^ Novgorod Chronicle)
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 120–122
- ^ Choniates, pp.311–312
- ^ Giarenis, p. 78
- ^ Choniates, p.312
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 123–124
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 124–125
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 121–127
- ^ Choniates, p.p. 313-314
- ^ Falk, p. 163
- ^ Akropolites, p. 117
- ^ Choniates, p. 334
- ^ Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 127–131
Bibliography
- Akropolites, G. The History, trans. Ruth Macrides (2007) Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199210671
- ISBN 0-8143-1764-2.
- Falk, A. (2010) Franks and Saracens: Reality and Fantasy in the Crusades, Karnac Books ISBN 9781855757332
- Giarenis, I. (2017) "The Crisis of the Fourth Crusade in Byzantium (1203–1204) and the Emergence of Networks for Anti-Latin Reaction and Political Action", Mediterranean World, 23, pp. 73–80. ISSN 1343-9626
- Head, C. (1980) "Physical Descriptions of the Emperors in Byzantine Historical Writing", Byzantion, Vol. 50, No. 1 (1980), Peeters Publishers, pp. 226–240
- Hendrickx, B. and Matzukis, C. (1979) "Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos: His Life, Reign and Death (?–1204)", in Hellenika (Έλληνικά) 31: 111–117
- Madden, T.F. (1992) "The Fires of the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople, 1203- 1204: A Damage Assessment", Byzantinische Zeitschrift, lxxxiv–v, pp. 72–93.
- Madden, T.F. (1995) "Outside and Inside the Fourth Crusade", The International History Review, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Nov., 1995), Taylor and Francis, pp. 726–743
- ISBN 0-14-013705-X.
Further reading
- Jonathan Harris, Byzantium and the Crusades (London and New York, 2nd ed., 2014). ISBN 978-1-78093-767-0
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Jonathan Phillips (2004). The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (London and New York, 2004)
- Savignac, David. "The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade – A New Annotated Translation".
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 578.
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