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Romanus de Byzantie, II

Male 940 - 962  (22 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Romanus de Byzantie 
    Suffix II 
    Birth 940  Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Death 15 Mar 962 
    Siblings 3 Siblings 
    Person ID I14728  Geneagraphie | Voorouders HW, Ahnen BvS
    Last Modified 19 Mar 2010 

    Father Konstantinos de Byzantie, VII, 'Porphyrogenetos',   b. Nov 905, Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Nov 959, Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Mother Eleni Lekapene,   b. 906, Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Sep 961 (Age 55 years) 
    Marriage 27 Apr 919 
    Family ID F5199  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Bertha de Vienne   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 942 
    Family ID F32912  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 15 Oct 2004 

    Family 2 Theophana,   b. 941, Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown 
    Marriage 956 
    Children 
     1. Emperor Basileios de Byzantie, II, 'Boulgaroktonos',   b. 958   d. 15 Dec 1025 (Age 67 years)
    +2. Anna Porphyrogenita,   b. 13 Mar 962-963, Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1011 (Age 47 years)
    +3. Constantine de Byzantie, VIII,   b. 961   d. 15 Nov 1028 (Age 67 years)
    Family ID F5198  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 19 Mar 2010 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 940 - Constantinople, Thrace, Byzantium Empire Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • Acceded: 959.
      Named after his maternal grandfather, Romanos was married, as a child, to Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy. On April 6, 945, after the fall of the Lekapenoi, Constantine VII associated his son Romanos on the throne. With Hugh out of power in Italy and dead by 947 , and Bertha herself dead in 949 , Romanos secured the promise from his father that he would be allowed to select his own bride. Romanos' choice fell on an innkeeper's daughter named Anastaso, whom he married in 956 and renamed Theophano.
      In November 959 Romanos II succeeded his father on the throne, among rumors that he or his wife had sped up the end of Constantine VII by poison. Romanos carried out a virtual purge of his father's courtiers and replaced them with his own friends and those of his wife. Among the persons removed from court were the Empress Mother, Helena, and her daughters, all of them being relegated to a monastery. Nevertheless, many of Romanos' appointees were able men, including his chief adviser, the eunuch Joseph Bringas.
      The pleasure-loving sovereign could also leave military matters in the adept hands of his generals, in particular the brothers Leo and Nikephoros Phokas . In 960 Nikephoros Phokas was sent to recover Crete from the Muslims. After a difficult campaign and the 9-month siege of Candia , Nikephoros successfully re-established Byzantine control over the entire island in 961. Following a triumph celebrated at Constantinople, Nikephoros was sent to the eastern frontier, where he conquered Cilicia and even Aleppo in 962. In the meantime Leo Phokas and Marianos Argyros had countered Magyar incursions into the Byzantine Balkans.
      After a lengthy hunting expedition Romanos II took ill and died on March 15 , 963 . Rumor attributed his death to poison administered by his wife Theophano. Romanos II's reliance on his wife and on bureaucrats like Joseph Bringas had resulted in a relatively capable administration, but built up resentment among the nobility, which was associated with the military.

  • Sources 
    1. [S14] Brian Tompsett, University of Hull Royal Database (England), (copyright 1994, 1995, 1996 , , Repository: WWW, University of Hull, Hull, UK HU6 7RX bct@tardis.ed.ac.uk).



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