Constantine VII of Byzantium (2 September 905-9 November 959) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 913 to 920, suceeding Alexander of Byzantium and preceding Romanus I of Byzantium and 945 to 959, succeeding Stephen Lekapenos and preceding Romanus II of Byzantium.
Biography[]
Constantine was born in 905 to the House of Makedon, a dynasty of Orthodox Christian Greeks. He was the son of Leo VI of Byzantium, and he was the nephew of Alexander of Byzantium. He became the junior co-emperor in 908 and reigned until 913, reigning as the sole emperor under regency from them until 920. In 944, Stephen Lekapenos deposed Emperor Romanus I of Byzantium, but Constantine overthrew him and had Stephen exiled to Lesbos. Constantine sent 100 ships against the Emirate of Crete in 949 but failed to take the island back from the Arabs, and in 952 the Byzantines crossed the Upper Euphrates after seizing Germanicia in 949 and repeatedly defeating Abbasid Caliphate armies. In 958 Nicephorus Phokas conquered Hadath and John Tzimiskes took Samosata the year after. In November 959 he died at Constantinople and was succeeded by his son Romanus II of Byzantium.