Michael V of Byzantium (1015-24 August 1042) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1041 to 1042, succeeding Michael IV of Byzantium and preceding Zoe of Byzantium.
Biography[]
Michael was born in 1015 to the House of Kalaphates, a dynasty of Orthodox Christian Greeks. He was the nephew of Emperor Michael IV of Byzantium, who later adopted him as his heir. On 10 December 1041 he became Emperor of the Byzantine Empire at the age of 26, but he came into conflict with his uncle John Orphanotrophos, his uncle. Michael reversed his uncle's decisions and sent George Maniakes back to southern Italy to contain the Normans of Robert Guiscard, who were attacking Apulia and other Byzantine provinces. In 1042 he banished his adoptive mother Zoe of Byzantium, becoming the sole emperor. A popular revolt in favor of Zoe began when he announced her deposition, and he sought safety in the monastery of Stoudion. He took monastic vows, but he was arrested, blinded, and castrated, and in 1042 he died as a monk at the age of 27.