NICEPHORUS I

This article appears in Volume V19, Page 647 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NEW-NUM

NICEPHORUS I ., emperor 802-81I, was a native of Seleucia in Pisidia, who was raised by the empress Irene to the office of logothetes or lord high treasurer. With the help of the

patricians

and eunuchs he contrived to dethrone and

exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

Irene, and to be elected emperor in her

stead

STEAD, WILLIAM
THOMAS
(1849– )

. His sovereignty was endangered by Bardanes, one of his ablest generals, who revolted and received support from other commanders, notably the later emperors Leo the Armenian and Michael the Amorian. But Nicephorus gained over the latter two, and by inducing the rebel army to disperse achieved the submission of Bardanes, who was relegated to a monastery. A conspiracy headed by the patrician Arsaber had a similar issue. Nicephorus, who needed large sums to strengthen his military force, set himself with

great

GREAT

energy to increase the empire's revenue. By his rigorous imposts he alienated the favour of his subjects, and especially of the clergy, whom he otherwise sought to

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

firmly. In 803 and 8ro he made a treaty with Charlemagne, by which the limits of the two empires were amicably fixed. Venice, Istria, the Dalmatian coast and

South

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

Italy were assigned to the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

, while Rome, Ravenna and the Pentapolis were included in the Western realm. By with-holding the tribute which Irene had agreed to pay to Harun al-Rashid, Nicephorus committed himself to a war with the Saracens. Compelled by Bardanes's disloyalty to take the field himself, he sustained a severe defeat at Crasus in Phrygia (8o5), and the subsequent inroads of the enemy into Asia

Minor

induced him to make peace on condition of paying a yearly contribution of 30,000 gold pieces. By the death of Harun in 809, Nicephorus was left free to deal with the Bulgarian king, Krum, who was harassing his northern frontiers. In 811 Nicephorus invaded Bulgaria and drove Krum to ask for terms, but in a night attack he allowed himself to be surprised and was slain along with a large portion of his army. Krum is said to have made a drinking-cup of Nicephorus's skull.

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