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Byzantine - Class I Anonymous Byzantine Follis 22mm (4.5
grams)
Struck during the reign of Nikephoros III - Emperor: 24 March 1078 - 4 April
1081 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1889.
Bust of Christ facing, wearing nimbus crown, pallium and colobium, and raising
right hand in benediction, in left hand, the book of Gospels, IC to left, XC to
right; within border.
Latin cross, with X at center, and globule and two pellets at each extremity; in
lower field, on either side, floral ornament; in upper field, on either side,
crescent.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
Guarantee of Authenticity.
 Nikephoros
III Botaneiates, latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates (Greek:
Νικηφόρος Βοτανειάτης, died 10 December
1081,
Constantinople) was
Byzantine
emperor from 1078 to 1081. He belonged to a family which claimed descent
from the
Roman
Fabii and the Byzantine
Phokas family.
Nikephoros Botaneiates had served as general under
Constantine IX and
Romanos IV Diogenes. In 1064, he, together with
Basil Apocapes, doux
of
Paradounavon, defended the
Balkan frontiers against the invading
Oghuz Turks, but was
defeated and taken captive. However, the outbreak of epidemic soon began
decimating the Turks and the prisoners were recovered, while the survivors were
quickly recruited in the
Byzantine army.
Under
Michael VII Doukas he became governor of the
Anatolic theme and commander of the troops in
Asia Minor. In 1078 he revolted against Michael VII and his finance minister
Nikephoritzes, and with the connivance of the
Seljuk Turks marched upon
Nicaea, where he
proclaimed himself emperor. In the face of another rebellious general,
Nikephoros Bryennios (the father or grandfather of the Caesar
Nikephoros Bryennios), his election was ratified by the aristocracy and
clergy, while Michael VII abdicated and became a monk. In March or June of 1078,
Nikephoros III Botaneiates entered Constantinople in triumph and was crowned by
Patriarch Kosmas I of Constantinople. With the help of his general
Alexios
Komnenos, he drove Bryennios and other rivals out of the field, but failed
to clear the invading Turks out of
Asia Minor.
To solidify his position, Nikephoros III sought to marry
Eudokia Makrembolitissa, the mother of Michael VII and the widow of
Constantine X and Romanos IV. This plan was undermined by the Caesar John
Doukas, and Nikephoros instead married
Maria of Alania. They married in contravention of church canons, as Maria
was still at that time, the wife of Michael VII who had entered the monastery of
Stoudios. Nevertheless, Nikephoros did not recognize the succession rights of
Maria's son Constantine Doukas, which exposed him to the suspicion and plots of
the surviving portions of the Doukas faction at court. Nikephoros'
administration did not win him much support, as his favored courtiers alienated
much of the older court bureaucracy and failed to recover stop the devaluation
of the Byzantine currency.
Nikephoros became increasingly dependent on the support of Alexios Komnenos,
who successfully defeated the rebellion of Nikephoros Basilakes in the Balkans
(1079) and was charged with containing that of
Nikephoros Melissenos in Anatolia (1080). The Byzantine Empire also faced
foreign invasion, as the Norman Duke
Robert Guiscard of Apulia declared war under the pretext of defending the
rights of young Constantine Doukas, who had been engaged to Robert's daughter
Helena. As Alexios was entrusted with substantial armed forces to combat the
impending Norman invasion, the Doukas faction, led by the Caesar John, conspired
to overthrow Nikephoros and replace him with Alexios. Failing to secure the
support of either the
Seljuk Turks or Nikephoros Melissenos (both parties being his traditional
enemies), Nikephoros III was forced to abdicate in favour of Komnenos dynasty to
which he is connected with engagement of his grandson to daughter of Alexios
older brother Manuel. The deposed emperor retired into a monastery that he had
endowed, and died later the same year. |
