Vem daterade Constantine IX Monomachos?

Constantine IX Monomachos (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, romanized: Kōnstantīnos Monomachos; c. 980/c. 1000 – 11 January 1055) reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. A member of the urban aristocracy, Constantine became emperor through marriage to the ruling empress Zoë Porphyrogenita in 1042. The couple shared the throne with Zoë's sister Theodora Porphyrogenita. Constantine's energetic rule was one of the most consequential in the Byzantine Empire's tumultuous 11th century.

Fiscally, Constantine's reign was marked by prodigality, and he depleted the abundant imperial treasury he had inherited from Basil II (r. 976–1025) and his successors. For reasons that remain obscure Constantine debased the gold currency of the empire, the first permanent debasement of the coinage since its introduction by Constantine the Great. In Constantinople Constantine spent lavishly on both personal gifts and religious projects. Presiding over a period of economic expansion, Constantine encumbered the state by his massive expansion of the aristocracy.

In matters of provincial administration, Constantine attempted a series of reforms to varying levels of success. In the power struggle between the urban elite and the Dynatoi which was waged throughout the 11th century, Constantine made overtures towards both. He granted tax exemptions to the Dynatoi through an early form of the pronoia system and freely granted titles, privileges, and gifts of money to the civil elite. In response to the rising importance of civil judges (known as kritai) over theme commanders (strategoi) Constantine created the office of the Epi ton kriseon. Constantine attempted to reform the empire's legal system, centering on the creation of a law school headed by a nomophylax, but had limited success.

Constantine was victorious in two civil wars, foiled several coup attempts and successfully fought off a raid by the Kievan Rus', but was humiliated by the Pechenegs in the West and failed to stop the rising Seljuq Turks in the East. Though the Byzantine Empire largely retained the borders established after the conquests of Basil II — even expanding eastwards through the annexation of the Armenian kingdom of Ani — Constantine is often blamed for the poor state of the army in the years leading up to Manzikert.

In 1054 Constantine oversaw the decisive events of the Great Schism between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. His treatment of the papal legates of Leo IX exacerbated tensions between the legates and the patriarch Michael I Cerularius of Constantinople. He died one year later of an infection related to his chronic arthritis.

Traditionally, Constantine Monomachos has been viewed as an incapable, militarily inept emperor and one of the architects of the Byzantine decline of the late 11th and 12th centuries. However, recent scholarship has done much to rehabilitate his reputation as a civil administrator and reformer. He was perhaps the only emperor between Basil II and the Battle of Manzikert to attempt a coherent program of reform, even if this program was flawed and unsuccessfully carried out. Constantine accordingly may be considered the last effective emperor of the Macedonian Renaissance.

Maria Skleraina, död 1045, var en bysantinsk mätress, känd för sin relation till kejsar Konstantin IX Monomachos.

Hon var barnbarnsbarn till Bardas Skleros, syster till Romanos Skleros och änka efter en oidentifierad man med titeln protospatharios. Hon gifte sig med Konstantin många år innan han blev kejsare, delade hans exil och gav honom finansiellt stöd. Konstantin omtalade henne som sin hustru. De betraktades dock inte som gifta av kyrkan, eftersom ett tredje äktenskap inte sågs som giltigt av kyrkan.

När Konstantin blev kejsare tack vare sitt giftermål med kejsarinnan Zoë år 1042, var han öppen med sitt äktenskap med Maria och bad med framgång Zoe att acceptera henne vid hovet. Maria levde öppet med Konstantin vid hovet och ska ha kommit väl överens även med Zoe, som hon ska ha smickrat. Hon agerade som Konstantins politiska rådgivare och hade stort inflytande i palatset. Hon gynnade också sin brors karriär. Formellt sett var hon dock inte kejsarinna utan betraktades officiellt som kejsarens mätress.

När kejsaren gav henne titeln kejsarinna (om än en annan version av ordet kejsarinna), utbröt upplopp i Konstantinopel i mars 1044 till förmån för kejsarinnan Zoë Porphyrogenita, då de fruktade att kejsaren planerade att förskjuta henne och döda henne och hennes syster.

Hon var mor till en dotter med Konstantin, som 1046 gifte sig med Vladimir II Vsevolod av Kiev.