In the Byzantine Empire, Monophysites were primarily Armenians residing in the eastern provinces bordering the Seljuk Turks' expanding empire. Eventually, this policy would backfire by cooling Monophysite support for Byzantium. The Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos willingly aided Constantine's policies, exiling or imprisoning leading Monophysite churchmen and threatening Monophysites in the eastern provinces such as the city of Melitene. When Isaac lay dying two years later, he appointed Constantine as his successor, possibly through the machinations of the minister and historian Michael Psellos, whose history is in large part a panegyric of the Doukas family.Ĭonstantine's piety led him to intensify persecutions against non-Orthodox Christians, namely the Monophysites, who had differing beliefs about the nature of Christ. 1056-1057 CE), but it is unclear what position, if any, he held in Isaac's administration. 1057-1059 CE) during his rebellion against Michael VI (r. Constantine supported Isaac I Komnenos (r. However, Constantine disappeared from the historical record for the next two decades, which saw the final end of the ruling Macedonian Dynasty in 1056 CE and the emergence of a period of uncertainty as to who would rule Byzantium. 1034-1041 CE) for supporting a suspected rebel. Constantine had been imprisoned by John the Orphanotrophus, the effective power behind the throne, back during the reign of Michael IV the Paphlagonian (r. For example, he was married to Eudokia Makrembolitissa, the niece of Michael Keroularios, the Patriarch of Constantinople. Succession & ReignĬonstantine was from a powerful landed family in Anatolia and was connected through marriage to other leading Byzantine families. Although Constantine was a poor emperor, it was his successors who would have to bear his unhelpful legacy. Constantine's policies isolated the Monophysite Armenians, downsized the army at the worst possible moment, and contributed to the general decline of Byzantium during the second half of the 11th century CE. During his reign, the Byzantine Empire was attacked by emerging enemies on all sides, including the Normans in Italy and the Seljuk Turks in Armenia and Anatolia.

Constantine X Doukas was the ruler of the Byzantine Empire from 1059 to 1067 CE.

Fourteen byzantine rulers