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Michael II

Michael II (c. 770 – 2 October 829), also known as Michael the Amorian or the Stammerer, was a Byzantine emperor who reigned from 25 December 820 until his death, becoming the founder of the Amorian dynasty that ruled until 867. Born in Amorium to a family of modest origins, he rose through military ranks under Emperor Leo V, whom he conspired against and whose assassination on Christmas Day 820 elevated him to the throne. His rule was defined by adherence to iconoclasm, the imperial policy prohibiting religious icons, though he adopted a relatively moderate stance compared to predecessors, permitting private veneration while enforcing public destruction. Michael II's reign faced immediate and severe challenges, most notably the widespread rebellion led by Thomas the Slav from 821 to 823, which nearly toppled his regime and drew support from iconophile factions opposed to iconoclasm. Thomas, a former ally under Leo V, proclaimed himself emperor and besieged Constantinople, but Michael's forces ultimately prevailed, capturing and executing the rebel in 823 after alliances with Arab emirs and internal divisions weakened Thomas's coalition. Despite these internal upheavals, Michael maintained Byzantine defenses against Arab incursions, though losses included Crete to Muslim forces in 824–827, marking a strategic setback. He married Euphrosyne, daughter of Constantine VI, in a politically motivated union to legitimize his rule, and their son Theophilos succeeded him as emperor in 829. Michael's legacy includes stabilizing the empire post-rebellion and initiating the Amorian line, which oversaw a revival in Byzantine fortunes, though his iconoclastic policies perpetuated religious divisions until the movement's official end in 843 under his granddaughter Theodora.

Early Life and Rise

Origins and Background

Michael II, also known as Michael the Amorian, was born around 770 in Amorium, a fortified city in the Phrygian region of central Anatolia that served as the capital of the Anatolikon military theme. His family originated from the stratum of professional peasant-soldiers, or stratiotai, who were granted hereditary land allotments by the state in exchange for military service, a system integral to the Byzantine thematic armies during the 8th and 9th centuries. This background placed him among the rural military class rather than the urban elite or aristocracy, reflecting the empire's reliance on such provincial forces amid ongoing Arab incursions. Little is documented about his immediate parentage or early childhood, with primary sources silent on specific familial ties beyond his humble Anatolian roots. Amorium's strategic position near the empire's eastern frontiers exposed inhabitants to frequent warfare, likely shaping Michael's initial exposure to military life from a young age. He entered imperial service as a common soldier, advancing through merit in an era when thematic commanders prioritized competence over noble birth amid the Iconoclastic controversies and defensive needs against the Abbasid Caliphate.

Military Career and Promotion

Michael II was born circa 770 in Amorium, Phrygia, into a family of stratiotai, professional peasant-soldiers granted land by the state in return for hereditary military service. He began his career as a common soldier in the thematic armies of Asia Minor, rising through the ranks due to demonstrated ability in an era of frequent internal strife and Arab incursions. Around 803, Michael entered the personal retinue of Bardanes Tourkos, strategos of the Anatolikon theme, serving as a spatharios, a role entailing duties as an armed attendant and bodyguard to high-ranking officers. Bardanes' rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros I that year collapsed after betrayal by allies, including Leo the Armenian, but Michael's exposure in this circle forged key connections; he married Thekla, daughter of a local theme commander, further elevating his status. Michael's alliance with Leo proved pivotal. He supported Leo's 813 coup against Emperor Michael I Rangabe, which installed Leo V on the throne amid Bulgarian threats and military discontent. Rewarded for loyalty, Michael advanced to senior positions, including oversight of the Excubitors tagma, one of the elite central guard units (tagmata) stationed in Constantinople, responsible for imperial protection and rapid deployment. This promotion underscored his transition from provincial soldier to key figure in the central military apparatus. By late 820, suspicions of disloyalty led Leo V to arrest Michael on conspiracy charges, sentencing him to death. However, his supporters preempted execution by assassinating Leo during Christmas liturgy, paving Michael's path to emperorship while highlighting the precarious, alliance-driven nature of Byzantine military promotions.

Ascension to Power

Conspiracy Against Leo V

In late 820, Emperor Leo V discovered a conspiracy orchestrated by his general Michael of Amorium to seize the throne, leading to Michael's arrest and death sentence. Agents of the postal logothete uncovered the plot, after which Leo V imprisoned Michael and ordered his execution by burning. Tensions between the two had escalated due to Michael's growing influence and Leo's suspicions of disloyalty, exacerbated by the emperor's reinstatement of iconoclasm, which alienated some military and clerical factions. On Christmas Eve 820, Leo V scheduled Michael's public execution for the following day but allowed him a final confession during the Christmas liturgy in Hagia Sophia, under the guise of seeking reconciliation. Michael's supporters, including members of the excubitors and disguised as monks or choristers, exploited this opportunity to launch the assassination. During the service on December 25, 820, the conspirators attacked Leo V in the imperial loge, striking him down with swords before he could flee to the skeuophylakion. The assassination succeeded due to the element of surprise amid the religious observance and the hesitation of Leo's guards, who were unprepared for the assault during the sacred rite. Following Leo's death, Michael was hastily proclaimed emperor as Michael II by his adherents, who secured the palace and eliminated remaining opposition. Contemporary accounts, such as those in Theophanes Continuatus, attribute the plot's success to Michael's personal charisma and alliances within the Anatolian themes, though later iconophile sources portray the event as divine retribution against Leo's iconoclastic policies. The conspiracy marked a pivotal shift, ending Leo's brief dynasty and initiating the Amorian era amid ongoing religious strife.

Proclamation and Initial Consolidation

On December 25, 820, during the Christmas Day liturgy in the Hagia Sophia, Emperor Leo V was assassinated by conspirators within his personal guard, who were supporters of Michael the Amorian. Michael, arrested the previous day on charges of treason amid suspicions of plotting against Leo, was released from prison following the murder and immediately acclaimed as emperor by the assassins and assembled troops in Constantinople. This swift proclamation capitalized on Michael's existing military connections from his service under prior emperors and his role as Leo's logothetes tou dromou (minister of posts), positioning him as a continuity figure despite his low-born origins in Amorium. Later that same day, Patriarch Theodotus I—an iconoclast appointee of Leo V—crowned Michael as Emperor Michael II, formalizing his legitimacy through ecclesiastical endorsement in the capital's key institutions. To consolidate power amid potential factional unrest, Michael II adopted a pragmatic approach to the ongoing iconoclastic controversy, releasing prominent iconophile prisoners such as Theodore Studites and easing restrictions on icon veneration without fully abandoning the policy, thereby appealing to both iconoclast military elites and moderate iconophile clergy. He also initiated diplomatic overtures, including an alliance with Bulgarian Khan Omurtag to counter emerging threats, and began issuing solidi bearing his image and titles to affirm imperial authority across the provinces. These measures secured initial loyalty from the Constantinopolitan tagmata (elite guards) and Anatolian themes, where Michael's Phrygian roots provided a base of support, but his hold remained precarious as rival general Thomas the Slav, initially involved in the anti-Leo plot, quickly mobilized opposition forces in the European themes. By early 821, Thomas's defection underscored the fragility of Michael's consolidation, though control of the capital and core army units allowed him to withstand the immediate challenge.

Reign

Revolt of Thomas the Slav (821–823)

Thomas the Slav, serving as tourmarches of the foederati in the Anatolikon theme, initiated his revolt against Michael II shortly after the emperor's ascension on December 25, 820, with troops in Asia Minor proclaiming him basileus in early 821. Discontent over Leo V's assassination and Michael's irregular seizure of power fueled rapid support from the Anatolikon, Thrakesion, Kibyrrhaiotai, and Opsikion themes, while only the Bukellarion initially remained loyal to the emperor. Thomas assembled an army estimated at 80,000 men, incorporating diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Persians, Armenians, and Slavs, and advanced westward, defeating imperial forces sent against him. By late 821, Thomas crossed into Thrace and laid siege to Constantinople in December, blockading the city by both land and sea with support from naval themes he had won over. The defenders, numbering fewer than 35,000, repelled assaults, reportedly employing Greek fire against the rebel fleet. To bolster his forces, Thomas secured an alliance with the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun, who permitted recruitment from Arab territories and provided naval aid, though the caliph's support was opportunistic rather than ideological. Michael II, confined to the capital, fortified its defenses and dispatched envoys to Khan Omurtag of Bulgaria, leveraging a prior peace treaty to gain Bulgarian intervention against the rebel. In November 822, Omurtag invaded Thrace, compelling Thomas to lift the siege and engage the Bulgarians, whom he defeated but at the cost of heavy losses and diverted resources. Michael exploited this respite to import reinforcements from Asia Minor, repairing the city's walls and rallying loyalist troops. Renewed rebel assaults in spring 823 failed, and by late April or early May, imperial forces under Michael advanced, crushing Thomas's army near Heraclea on the plain of Keduktos before besieging him in Arkadiopolis. After five months, in October 823, the townsfolk surrendered Thomas to imperial authorities, who executed him, thereby ending the revolt and solidifying Michael's rule despite the widespread devastation in Anatolia and Thrace.

Religious Policy on Iconoclasm

Michael II, having ascended the throne on December 25, 820, following the assassination of Leo V, upheld the iconoclastic policies reintroduced by his predecessor in 815 but pursued them with greater moderation than the preceding reign's severities. He halted systematic persecutions of iconophiles, permitting the return of numerous exiles who had been banished under Leo V, thereby easing internal religious tensions without conceding doctrinal ground. This approach contrasted with the earlier phase's forced conversions and icon destructions, prioritizing administrative stability over zealous enforcement. Public veneration of icons remained strictly prohibited under Michael's edicts, which banned their display in churches and liturgical contexts to prevent what was deemed idolatrous practices, though private ownership and artisanal production of images were tolerated as non-liturgical matters. Such distinctions allowed iconophiles limited space for personal devotion while upholding the state's official stance against material representations in worship, a position rooted in the synodal definitions of Hieria (754) that Michael implicitly endorsed. A key articulation of this policy appeared in the 824 letter co-authored by Michael II and his son Theophilos to the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious, which defended iconoclasm by decrying the "invention of evil things" in icon veneration—such as circumambulations of images and excessive honors—as departures from apostolic norms and scriptural prohibitions against idolatry. The document lamented the post-Nicaea II (787) resurgence of these customs, portraying them as corruptions introduced by misguided clergy and laity, and sought fraternal alignment with the West against such deviations. This correspondence underscored Michael's commitment to iconoclasm as a corrective theology, even as his leniency toward exiles signaled pragmatic efforts to mitigate schism and rebellion in a divided empire.

Military Engagements with Arabs

Michael II's military engagements with Arab forces were overshadowed by internal strife and resulted in territorial losses that weakened Byzantine naval power in the Mediterranean. During the revolt of Thomas the Slav (821–823), Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun allied with the rebel, dispatching naval support that facilitated Arab raids into Asia Minor and strained imperial resources further. These incursions exploited Byzantine divisions, with Arab fleets operating in coordination with Thomas's land forces until his defeat in late 823. Following the revolt's suppression, Michael II dispatched reinforcements to frontier themes, but Arab initiatives soon overwhelmed these efforts. In summer 824, approximately 40 ships carrying Andalusian exiles—fleeing civil unrest in Umayyad Córdoba—landed on Crete's southern coast under leaders including Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Iqritishi al-Balluti. These forces, numbering several thousand, rapidly overran local garrisons and established fortified positions, initiating a conquest that severed Byzantine control despite repeated counterattacks. Byzantine responses proved ineffective; an expedition under protospatharios Damian, dispatched around 826–827, suffered defeat in open battle against the entrenched Arabs, who leveraged the island's terrain and internal divisions among defenders. Crete fell fully by 827–828, transforming it into an Abbasid-aligned pirate base that enabled sustained raids on the Aegean islands, Hellas, and Peloponnese, with annual tributes demanded from affected regions. Simultaneously, in 827, Aghlabid Arabs from Ifriqiya under Asad ibn al-Furat launched an invasion of Sicily, landing near Mazara and defeating Byzantine strategos Palata in initial clashes. Michael II's attempts to reinforce the island failed amid logistical constraints, marking the onset of Sicily's gradual conquest and further eroding Byzantine influence in the western Mediterranean. These defeats, compounded by ongoing border skirmishes under al-Ma'mun's campaigns, highlighted the empire's post-civil war vulnerabilities without achieving decisive Byzantine victories during Michael's reign.

Domestic Policies and Administration

Michael II's administration relied on the established Byzantine theme system, emphasizing military governors (strategoi) to maintain order and fiscal collection in the provinces amid ongoing threats. Around 820, Paphlagonia emerged as a distinct administrative district under a dux, separating from the Opsikion theme to enhance frontier defense and local governance in the region bordering the Black Sea and Asia Minor. Similarly, in 821, Michael II referred to Chaldia as a ducatus in correspondence with Louis the Pious, indicating its reorganization as a semi-autonomous unit carved from the Armeniakon theme to bolster control over northeastern Anatolian territories vulnerable to Arab incursions. In economic policy, Michael II initiated reforms to the bronze follis coinage, introducing issues from circa 821 that featured joint portraits of himself and his son Theophilos as co-emperor, signaling dynastic continuity and aiming to restore public confidence in the currency following the instability of Leo V's reign and the Thomas the Slav revolt. These folles, struck at Constantinople, maintained the nominal value of 40 nummi while adapting designs to imperial propaganda, though production levels reflected cautious fiscal management rather than expansive minting. Gold solidi continued unchanged, preserving the empire's international trade standards. Overall, these measures prioritized administrative consolidation and monetary stability over radical innovation, enabling recovery from civil strife without evidence of major tax reforms or infrastructural projects in surviving records.

Family and Dynastic Arrangements

Michael II's first wife was Thekla, daughter of the general Bardanes Tourkos, with whom he had allied during earlier military service before Bardanes' failed rebellion against Nikephoros I in 803. The couple produced one son, Theophilos, born in 813. Thekla died around 823, possibly from illness or complications related to her health. To enhance the legitimacy of his rule amid challenges from rivals claiming ties to prior dynasties, Michael II married Euphrosyne, daughter of the deposed Isaurian emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797), circa 823. Euphrosyne had been tonsured as a nun following her father's blinding and deposition in 797, and Michael forcibly removed her from the convent for the union, which produced no children but symbolically linked the new Amorian dynasty to the Iconoclast emperors of the previous century. Michael arranged for dynastic continuity by crowning Theophilos co-emperor in 822, shortly after suppressing Thomas the Slav's revolt, thereby associating his heir with imperial authority and deterring potential usurpers. This measure ensured a peaceful transition: upon Michael's death from dysentery on 2 October 829, Theophilos, then aged sixteen, succeeded unopposed as sole emperor, with Euphrosyne briefly acting as advisor during his minority.

Death and Succession

Final Years and Demise

In the closing years of his reign, Michael II confronted escalating threats from Arab forces that resulted in enduring territorial losses. Crete was seized by a contingent of Andalusian and Cretan Arab exiles under Abu Hafs around 826–827, transforming the island into a persistent base for Muslim piracy and raids against Byzantine shipping and coasts. Concurrently, Aghlabid Arabs initiated incursions into Sicily starting in 827, exploiting internal Byzantine discord to establish footholds that foreshadowed the island's piecemeal conquest over subsequent decades. Michael II succumbed to kidney failure on 2 October 829, aged approximately 59. His death occurred without violence or contestation, a rarity amid the era's frequent usurpations, allowing seamless dynastic continuity.

Transition to Theophilos

Michael II had elevated his son Theophilos to co-emperor in 822, ensuring dynastic stability amid ongoing threats from internal revolts and external invasions. This association on imperial seals and coinage from the early 820s onward signified Theophilos's formal role in governance, though Michael retained primary authority. The emperor died of natural causes on 2 October 829, marking the first peaceful death of a reigning Byzantine ruler in nearly six decades, free from assassination or battlefield demise. Theophilos, aged approximately sixteen, immediately succeeded as sole emperor without contest, reflecting the effectiveness of the prior co-rulership in forestalling challenges. Theophilos's youth prompted his stepmother Euphrosyne—Michael II's second wife and daughter of former emperor Constantine VI—to provide advisory support during the initial phase of his reign. This arrangement leveraged Euphrosyne's imperial lineage to bolster legitimacy, though Theophilos quickly asserted independent rule, continuing his father's iconoclastic policies while pursuing administrative reforms. The transition maintained continuity in the Amorian dynasty's hold on power, averting the violent successions that had plagued Byzantium since the Iconoclastic Controversy's onset.

Assessment and Legacy

Achievements and Strengths

Michael II's most notable achievement was the successful suppression of the revolt led by Thomas the Slav, which posed an existential threat to the Byzantine Empire from 821 to 823. Thomas, a high-ranking general of Armenian-Slavic origin, proclaimed himself emperor with widespread support in Anatolian and European themes, besieging Constantinople by both land and sea forces. Michael II fortified the city and secured a critical alliance with Bulgar khan Omurtag, whose invasions disrupted Thomas's rear lines, enabling the Byzantines to repel the siege. Subsequent campaigns culminated in the capture of Arcadioupolis, Thomas's final stronghold, leading to his surrender and execution in October 823. This victory stabilized the empire after the assassination of Leo V and preserved central authority, preventing a potential shift to a rebel-led regime with possible Slavic or Armenian dominance. Michael's military experience, gained through rising ranks under previous emperors, proved instrumental in coordinating defenses and leveraging external alliances effectively. In religious policy, Michael adopted a pragmatic moderation of iconoclasm, distinguishing his rule from the more aggressive persecutions under Leo V. He restored most iconophile exiles and clergy previously targeted, while issuing edicts that banned public veneration of icons but permitted private possession, and prohibited further theological debates to avoid deepening divisions. This tepid stance reduced internal strife and allowed tentative reconciliation between iconoclasts and iconodules, contributing to short-term ecclesiastical stability. As founder of the Amorian dynasty, Michael established a line that endured until 867, with his son Theophilos succeeding him seamlessly in 829 upon his death. This dynastic continuity provided a foundation for administrative reforms and military recoveries in subsequent reigns, marking a recovery from the instability of the early ninth century. Seals issued jointly with Theophilos from 821 onward reflect this emphasis on hereditary legitimacy and governance continuity.

Criticisms and Failures

Michael II's inability to swiftly quell the of (821–823) exposed weaknesses in his early and command. , a under V, rallied widespread in and the themes, proclaiming himself and capturing Thessalonica before besieging from and for nearly a year. Michael's forces, stretched thin, endured a prolonged stalemate until Bulgarian khan Omurtag intervened with troops in 823, providing the decisive edge that forced Thomas's surrender in October of that year; this reliance on foreign aid, secured through cessions of territory and diplomatic concessions, humiliated the emperor and highlighted his failure to unify loyalist factions independently. The civil war's aftermath left the empire vulnerable to external aggression, culminating in the permanent loss of Crete in 826 or 827. A force of around 10,000 Andalusian Arabs, fleeing Cordoba's unrest via Egypt and armed with 40 ships, exploited Byzantine disarray to seize the island unopposed, transforming it into an Abbasid-aligned emirate and pirate haven that raided Aegean shipping for generations. Michael's depleted armies, still recovering from internal conflict, mounted no effective counteroffensive, marking a strategic oversight that eroded naval dominance and imperial prestige. Concurrently, Aghlabid invasions of Sicily from 827 onward capitalized on similar instability, overrunning much of the island despite initial Byzantine resistance at Syracuse, and initiating its piecemeal conquest. Michael's iconoclast policies, while less zealous than Leo V's, sustained ecclesiastical strife and alienated iconophile majorities. He prohibited icon debates and veneration but pardoned select exiles selectively, fostering resentment without resolution; this tepid enforcement, coupled with a 824 letter to Louis the Pious decrying image worship as idolatrous, underscored ongoing theological rigidity amid broader instability. His 823 marriage to Euphrosyne, extracted forcibly from a convent in violation of her vows, provoked Patriarch Michael I's resignation and replacement with the compliant Theodore, prioritizing dynastic legitimacy over canonical norms and eroding church support.

Long-Term Impact and Historical Views

Michael II's establishment of the Amorian dynasty in 820 initiated a phase of dynastic continuity that endured until 867, bridging the iconoclastic Isaurian era to the iconophile Macedonian dynasty and contributing to internal stabilization after the assassination of Leo V and the subsequent rebellion of Thomas the Slav. This lineage, originating from Phrygian military stock, emphasized administrative pragmatism over ideological fervor, fostering recovery from civil strife despite ongoing external pressures. The dynasty's rule coincided with a temporary halt to major territorial disintegration on the eastern frontiers, allowing resources to focus on defense rather than expansion, though ultimate revival awaited Basil I's usurpation in 867. Militarily, the reign's long-term repercussions stemmed primarily from the Arab seizure of Crete in 827, when Andalusian exiles under Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi established an emirate after evading Byzantine fleets. This loss transformed Crete into a persistent pirate stronghold, enabling raids that disrupted Aegean commerce, devastated coastal settlements in Greece and the Cyclades, and compelled Byzantium to divert naval forces for over 130 years until Nikephoros II Phokas's reconquest in 961. Concurrently, the initiation of Sicily's Muslim conquest from 827 onward eroded Byzantine Mediterranean dominance, culminating in the island's full subjugation by 902 and exposing southern Italy to repeated incursions. These setbacks, attributable to inadequate interception of refugee fleets amid domestic rebellions, weakened economic resilience and naval projection, effects compounded by iconoclastic policies that alienated potential Western allies opposed to image destruction. Historically, Byzantine chroniclers like John Skylitzes depicted Michael II as a resourceful usurper who decisively crushed Thomas the Slav's 821–823 uprising, preserving imperial unity through alliances with provincial themes, yet condemned his iconoclasm for enforcing conformity via exile and property seizure, albeit with less zeal than predecessors. Post-843 Orthodox historiography, emphasizing the Triumph of Orthodoxy under his daughter-in-law Theodora, marginalized Amorian iconoclasts as misguided but acknowledged Michael's moderation—such as permitting private icon retention—as a pragmatic pivot that eased the policy's abrupt reversal without widespread reprisals. Modern assessments, drawing from numismatic evidence of stabilized coinage and thematic fortifications, credit him with averting collapse amid compounded crises, though his era's territorial hemorrhages underscored the limits of iconoclastic governance in sustaining Byzantine primacy.

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