- Description
- Specifications
ID Number: | AC02-0105 |
Description: | Michael VII Ducas |
Country or State: | Byzantine Empire (Constantinople) |
Period: | 1071-1078 AD |
Head of State/Ruler: | Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ζ΄ Δούκας); Mikhaēl VII Doukas, nicknamed Parapinakēs (Παραπινάκης) |
Reign: | Byzantine Emperor from 1071 to 1078 |
Obverse: | Cross crosslet on globus resting on three steps, x at center of cross, pellet within crescent on shaft; in field to left, facing bust of Michael, bearded, wearing crown and jewelled chlamys; to right, facing bust of Maria, wearing crown and loros |
Obverse Legend: | EN TOVTW NIKATE MIXAHΛ S MAPIA |
Reverse: | Legend in five lines; above and below inscription, -.-; triple border |
Reverse Legend: | MIXAHΛ KAI MAPIA ΠICTOI RACIΛEIC PWMAIWN |
Composition: | Silver miliaresion |
Diameter: | ~20.0 mm (Irregular) |
Thickness: | ~2.0 mm |
Weight: | 2.80 grams |
Catalog Number: | DOC III 2, 811, 6b; Sear 369, SB 1874; Ratto 2047 |
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ζ΄ Δούκας, Mikhaēl VII Doukas), nicknamed Parapinakēs (Παραπινάκης), was Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. Michael VII was the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa, and was born c. 1050, in Constantinople. He had been associated with his father on the throne late in 1059, together with or shortly before his newly born brother Konstantios Doukas. When Constantine X died in 1067, Michael VII was 17 years old and should have been able to rule by himself. He exhibited little interest in politics, and his mother Eudokia and uncle John Doukas governed the empire as effective regents. Several misfortunes caused widespread dissatisfaction, exacerbated by the devaluation of the currency, which gave the emperor his nickname Parapinakēs, "minus a quarter". In 1078 two generals, Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates, simultaneously revolted in the Balkans and Anatolia, respectively. Botaneiates gained the support of the Seljuk Turks and first reached Constantinople. Michael VII resigned the throne with hardly a struggle on March 31, 1078 and retired into the monastery of Stoudios. He later became metropolitan archbishop of Ephesus and died in Constantinople in c. 1090. |