Constantine VI
771 – ? · Generation XVIII · Emperor (r. 780–797) · Isaurian
Constantine (b. AD 771). Emperor (r. 780–797). Married Maria around AD 788; the marriage was dissolved in AD 795. Married Theodote around AD 795. Blinded and deposed 797; death year uncertain. Made co-emperor at five and sole emperor at nine, he spent his first decade under the regency of his mother Irene and her minister Staurakios, and even after coming of age he restored her in 792 as his colleague in power. His rule bred discontent — defeats in the field, and the blinding of Alexios Mosele, a general who had been loyal to him — which his mother turned to her own ends. He was the last ruler recognized as Roman emperor by east and west alike; after his fall the papacy, holding that a woman could not rule, crowned Charlemagne, laying foundations for what became the Holy Roman Empire. Decades on, the rebel Thomas the Slav claimed to be Constantine still living — a tale most scholars dismiss.
One of 6 people of Isaurian (680–803) in this archive. The iconoclast emperors, who held Constantinople through its longest siege.
Line of descent: Leo III → Constantine V → Leo IV → Constantine VI.
Parents
Partners
- Married Maria (771 – ?) in 788; the marriage was dissolved in 795 — one child together
- Married Theodote (771 – ?) in 795
Children
- Euphrosyne (790 – 839)
Life
- 771 — Born
- 788 — Married Maria
- 795 — Parted from Maria
- 795 — Married Theodote