1078, Byzantine Empire, Michael Vii Ducas. Gold Histamenon Nomisma Coin. R For Sale

---

1078, Byzantine Empire, Michael VII Ducas. Gold Histamenon Nomisma Coin. R!

Mint period: 1071-1078
Emperor: Michael VII Ducas
Mint Place: Constantinople mint.
Condition: A nice, lustre AU-UNC!
Denomination: Gold Histamenon Nomisma
Reference: Friedberg 264, DOC III., SB 1868.
Diameter: 29mm
Material: Gold!
Weight: 4.34gm

Obverse: Crowned half-lenght bust of Michael VII facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger.
Legend: + MIX AHΛ RACIΛ E

Reverse: Nimbate half-lenght bust of Jesus Christ facing, Christogram (IC-XC) across field.
Comment: Large book of gospels with nine pellets, held by Christ in foreground!

In Eastern Christianity, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation, ICXC — a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ" (i.e., the first and last letters of each of the words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — written "IHCOYC XPICTOC" with a transliteration of the lunate sigma common in medieval Greek as "C"). On icons, this Christogram may be split: "IC" on the left of the image and "XC" on the right, most often with a bar above the letters (see titlos), indicating that it is a sacred name. It is sometimes rendered as "ICXC NIKA", meaning "Jesus Christ Conquers."

Authenticity unconditionally guaranteed. offer with confidence!

Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ζ΄ Δούκας, Mikhaēl VII Doukas), nicknamed Parapinakēs, 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.

On January 1, 1068, Eudokia married the general Romanos Diogenes, who now became senior co-emperor alongside Michael VII, Konstantios, and another brother, Andronikos. When Romanos IV was defeated and captured by Alp Arslan of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in August 1071, Michael VII remained in the background, while the initiative was taken by his uncle John Doukas and his tutor Michael Psellos. They conspired to keep Romanos from regaining power after his release from captivity. After the dispatch of Eudokia to a monastery, Michael VII was crowned again on October 24, 1071 as senior emperor.

Although still advised by Michael Psellos and John Doukas, Michael VII became increasingly reliant on his finance minister Nikephoritzes. The emperor's chief interests, shaped by Psellos, were in academic pursuits, and he allowed Nikephoritzes to increase both taxation and luxury spending without properly financing the army. In dire straits, imperial officials resorted to property confiscations and even expropriated some of the wealth of the church. The underpaid army tended to mutiny, and the Byzantines lost Bari, their last possession in Italy, to the Normans of Robert Guiscard in 1071. Simultaneously, they faced a serious revolt in the Balkans, where they faced an attempt for the restoration of the Bulgarian state in the same year. Although this revolt was suppressed by the general Nikephoros Bryennios, the Byzantine Empire was unable to recover its losses in Asia Minor.

After Manzikert the Byzantine government sent a new army to contain the Seljuk Turks under Isaac Komnenos, a brother of the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos, but this army was defeated and its commander captured in 1073. The problem was made worse by the desertion of the Byzantines' western mercenaries, who became the object of the next military expedition in the area, led by the Caesar John Doukas. This campaign also ended in failure and its commander was likewise captured by the enemy. The victorious mercenaries now forced John Doukas to stand as pretender to the throne. In this situation Michael VII's government was forced to recognize the conquests of the Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor in 1074, and to seek their support. A new army under Alexios Komnenos, reinforced by Seljuk troops sent by Malik Shah I, finally defeated the mercenaries and captured John Doukas in 1074.

These 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. Nikephoros 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.

Only 1$ shipping on each additional item purchased!

This item has been shown 448 times. 1078, Byzantine Empire, Michael Vii Ducas. Gold Histamenon Nomisma Coin. R: $590