Byzantine - Anonymous Class C Bronze Follis 29mm (5.8 grams)
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Struck during the reign of Michael IV 1034-1041 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1825
+ЄMMANOVHΛ - Three-quarter length figure of Christ Antiphonetes standing facing,
wearing nimbus crown, pallium and colobium, and raising right hand in
benediction; in left hand, book of Gospels; in field to left, IC; to right, XC.
Jeweled cross, with pellet at each extremity; in the angles, IC -XC / NI - KA.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
Guarantee of Authenticity.
Michael
IV the Paphlagonian (Greek: Μιχαήλ
Δ΄ Παφλαγών, Mikhaēl IV Paphlagōn), (1010 – December 10, 1041), was
Eastern Roman Emperor from April 11, 1034 to December 10, 1041. He owed his
elevation to Empress
Zoe, daughter of Emperor
Constantine VIII
and wife of
Romanos III Argyros.
Michael came from a family of
Paphlagonian peasants, one of whom, the
parakoimomenos
John the Eunuch
had come to preside over the woman's quarters at the imperial palace. John
brought his younger brothers into the court and there the empress Zoe became
enamoured of Michael, who became her chamberlain. Zoe and Michael decided to use
a slow poison to kill Zoe's husband Romanos III. However, becoming impatient
with the poison, they drowned him and Zoe immediately married Michael, on April
11, 1034. Michael IV was also proclaimed emperor and reigned together with Zoe
until his death in 1041.
Michael IV was handsome, clever, and generous, but he was uneducated and
suffered from
epileptic fits. Therefore he left the government in the hands of his brother
John, who had already become an influential minister of Constantine VIII and
Romanos III. John's reforms of the army and financial system revived for a while
the strength of the Empire, which held its own successfully against its foreign
enemies. But the increase in taxation caused discontent among both nobles and
commoners. John's monopoly of the government led to several failed conspiracies
against him in 1034, 1037, 1038, and 1040 one of which was led by the Empress
Zoe herself. The last conspiracy involved the patrician
Michael Keroularios, who became a monk to save his life and was later
elected as
patriarch of Constantinople.
On the eastern frontier the important fortress of
Edessa
was relieved after a prolonged siege. On the western front the
Muslims were almost driven out of
Sicily by
George Maniakes (who campaigned there between 1037 and 1040). Maniakes fell
out with his Lombard allies, however, and lost the support of the Lombards and
Normans. After the recall of Maniakes most of the Sicilian conquests were lost
(1041), and a subsequent expedition against the
Italian
Normans
suffered several defeats.
In the north the
Serbs revolted successfully in 1040, as did the
Bulgarians
in western Bulgaria and
Macedonia in the same year. This revolt was partly caused by the heavy
taxation in coin imposed on Bulgaria at the time, but it aimed at the
restoration of the Bulgarian state under the leadership of
Peter Delyan. Although Michael IV was chased out of the vicinity of
Thessalonica by the rebels, he returned with an army of 40,000 men in 1041
assisted by Norse mercenaries including the future King
Harald III of Norway. The military success of the Romans was aided by
internal dissention among the Bulgarians and eventually their leaders were
defeated and captured. Michael IV returned to Constantinople in triumph but he
was now decrepit with illness and died on December 10, 1041. |