Encyclopedia > Leo V

  Article Content

Leo V

Leo V, surnamed The Armenian, was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820, after first distinguishing himself as a general in the reigns of Nicephorus I and Michael I.

After rendering good service on behalf of the latter in a war with the Arabs in 812, he was summoned in 813 to co-operate in a campaign against the Bulgarians. Taking advantage of the disaffection among the troops, he left Michael in the lurch at the Battle of Adrianople and subsequently led a successful revolution against him. Leo justified his usurpation by repeatedly defeating the Bulgarians who had been contemplating the siege of Constantinople (814-817).

His vigorous measures of repression against the Paulicians and image-worshippers roused considerable opposition, and after a conspiracy under his friend Michael Psellus had been foiled by the imprisonment of its leader, Leo was assassinated in the palace chapel on Christmas Eve, 820.

Preceded by:
Michael I
Byzantine emperors Followed by:
Michael II

Slightly edited from an entry in a 1911 encyclopedia



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Flapper

... of "step-in" panties. They also wrapped cloth across their breasts in order to flatten them. Flapper dresses were straight and loose, leaving the arms bare and dropping the ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 41 ms