Michael I Rangabe

770 – 844 · Generation XIX · Emperor (r. 811–813)

Michael (AD 770 – 844). Emperor (r. 811–813). Married Prokopia. Abdicated, became monk. A courtier under Nikephoros I, he came through the catastrophe of the Bulgar campaign unhurt and was preferred for the throne over the gravely wounded Staurakios. His government leaned conciliatory, guided by the iconodule churchmen Nikephoros and Theodore the Stoudite, and he warmed relations with the Franks — conceding Charlemagne the title of emperor, though not “of the Romans.” His faltering conduct of the Bulgar war ended in defeat at Versinikia, where the general Leo the Armenian deserted him mid-battle and was hailed emperor by the soldiers in his place; never again would the army overthrow a reigning Byzantine emperor. His sons were castrated to bar his line from the throne.

Partners

Married Prokopia (770 – 813) — 2 children together

Children

Theophylact (793 – 849)
Staurakios (795 – 812)