Diplomacy gone to seed: a history of Byzantine foreign relations, A.D. 1047-57

International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan, 2004 by Paul A. Blaum

    More than once already I have remarked that Constantine was like a
    man who had fought the waves in a great storm, and then put in to a
    shore where all was peace, the calm waters of an imperial harbour,
    and he had no intention of sailing the high seas a second time. In
    other words, he wanted to rule his empire in peace, and not fight
    any wars, exactly like most of the emperors before him ... Affairs
    did not go as he had hoped. Waves of trouble, one after another,
    descended upon him. At one time the empire was gravely perturbed by
    civil wars, at another by the incursions of barbaric tribes, who
    plundered most of our provinces and returned to their own countries
    laden with useful articles of all kinds and with booty to their
    hearts' content." (6)

Yet in other places Psellus contradicts this assessment. A thorough sifting of facts reveals that Constantine IX was by no means a pacifist; he clearly desired to make his mark as ruler, by the sword if necessary. Psellus himself notes: "He [Constantine IX] was moody and inconsistent, but he had one object above all others: to make his country great and famous. I must admit that, in this respect, he was not altogether unsuccessful, for the boundaries of the Empire were much extended in the east, and a considerable part of Armenia was annexed. Certain kings of that country were deposed and forced to acknowledge Roman suzerainty." (7) Constantine IX issued miliaresia (silver coins worth one-twelfth of a gold nomisma or bezant) depicting the Emperor in armor on the reverse, his right hand holding the cross and his left hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword. (8) If we may judge by the disastrous annexation of the Bagratid capital of Ani, some of the travails that befell Byzantium during the Emperor's watch resulted from his pursuing the arts of war, not peace.

The Emperor nevertheless seems to have fancied himself an accomplished negotiator, strove to be an arbiter of nations, and engaged in a surprisingly wide range of diplomatic activity. One proof of this is the so-called Crown of Constantine Monomachus, discovered by a Hungarian plowman and now in the Hungarian National Museum. It consists of gold and enamel plaques representing Constantine IX, Zoe, Theodora, two dancing girls, two allegorical female figures, and the apostles St. Andrew and St. Peter. The crown was almost certainly a gift from Constantine IX to King Andrew I of Hungary, who came to his throne in 1046. (9) That same year, Constantine concluded a lasting peace with Yaroslav, the Russian prince of Kiev, whose vast expedition against Constantinople three years before had failed ignominiously by sea and land. The treaty with the Rus was sealed by the marriage of Yaroslav's son, Vsevolod, to an unnamed daughter of Constantine IX; the issue of this union was the celebrated Vladimir II Monomakh. Pleasant intercourse between Constantine and the German emperor Henry III is noted by the German ecclesiastical historian Adam of Bremen, remarkable for being the first European writer to note the existence of "Vinland" or North America. Adam of Bremen relates that in 1054 "the most powerful emperor of the Greeks" Constantine IX sent congratulations to Henry for the political triumphs he had achieved with the aid of his chief counselor, Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg. Henry, pleased with this compliment, responded that, as a descendant of Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano, he wished to rule in Byzantine fashion. These niceties bore solid fruit. In the following year, while tarrying in Italy, Henry sent Otho, bishop of Novara, to meet with Constantine IX in Constantinople and negotiate a treaty between the Western and Eastern Empires. In foreign affairs, Constantine's lack of jingoism and sectarian bigotry was much in his favor. He was an interesting mix of the devout and sensual, who loved Christ and his Church as much he loved charming and beautiful women. On the whole, he was refreshingly free of intolerance toward Monophysite Christians, Latin Christians or "Franks," and even Muslims. Because he was slave to no rigid ideologies, Constantine IX could embark upon diplomatic ventures with every prospect of success--as long as diplomacy alone was suffice for the task.