Other Events and Attributes:

• Burial: Istanbul, Turkey
• Appointments / Titles: Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
• Nickname: With Coal Black Eyes
• FSID: L5VF-CSX

Notes:

Zoe Karbonopsina, also Karvounopsina or Carbonopsina, lit. 'with the Coal-Black Eyes' (Greek: Ζωὴ Καρβωνοψίνα, romanized: Zōē Karbōnopsina), was a Byzantine Greek empress consort and regent of the Byzantine empire. She was the fourth spouse of the Byzantine Emperor  Leo VI the Wise and the mother of Constantine VII, serving as his regent from 914 until 919.[1]

Contents
Zoe Karbonopsina was born into a Greek family. She was a relative of the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor and a niece of the admiral Himerios.
Empress

Desperate to sire a son, Leo VI married his mistress Zoe on 9 January 906, only after she had given birth to the future Constantine VII at the end of 905. However, this constituted his fourth marriage and was therefore un-canonical in the eyes of the Eastern Orthodox Church,[2] which had already been reluctant to accept his third marriage to Eudokia Baïana, who died in childbirth in 901.

Although the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos reluctantly baptized Constantine, he forbade the emperor from marrying for the fourth time. Leo VI married Zoe with the assistance of a cooperative priest, Thomas, but Nicholas' continued opposition to the marriage led to his removal from office and replacement by Euthymios in 907. The new patriarch attempted a compromise by defrocking the offending priest but recognizing the marriage.

When Leo died in 912, he was succeeded by his younger brother Alexander, who recalled Nicholas Mystikos and expelled Zoe from the palace. Shortly before his death, Alexander provoked a war with Bulgaria. She returned upon Alexander's death in 913, but Nicholas forced her to enter the convent of St. Euphemia in Constantinople after obtaining the promise of the senate and the clergy not to accept her as empress. However, Nicholas' unpopular concessions to the Bulgarians later in the same year weakened his position and in 914 Zoe was able to overthrow Nicholas and replace him as regent.[3] Nicholas was allowed to remain patriarch after reluctantly recognizing her as empress.

Zoe governed with the support of imperial bureaucrats and the influential general Leo Phokas the Elder, who was her favorite. Zoe's first order of business was to revoke the concessions to Simeon I of Bulgaria, including the recognition of his imperial title and the arranged marriage between his daughter and Constantine VII. This renewed the war with Bulgaria, which began badly for the Byzantines who were distracted by military operations in Southern Italy and on the eastern frontier. In 915 Zoe's troops defeated an Arab invasion of Armenia, and made peace with the Arabs. This freed her hands to organize a major expedition against the Bulgarians, who had raided deep into Byzantine Thrace and captured Adrianople. The campaign was planned on a grand scale and intended the bribing and transportation of Pechenegs into Bulgaria by the imperial fleet from the north.

However, the Pecheneg alliance failed, and Leo Phokas was crushingly defeated in the Battle of Anchialus and again at Katasyrtai in 917. Zoe tried to ally with Serbia and the Magyarsagainst Simeon. This also failed to produce any concrete results, and the Arabs, encouraged by the empire's weakness, renewed their raids. A humiliating treaty with the Arabs of Sicily, who were asked to help subdue revolts in Italy, did little to improve the position of Zoe and her supporters.
Later life[

In 919, there was a coup involving various factions, but the opposition to Zoe and Leo Phokas prevailed; in the end the admiral Romanos Lekapenos took power, married his daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine VII, and forced Zoe back into the convent of Saint Euphemia.

Zoe married Macedonicos, Emperor Leo VI on 9 Jan 906 in Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. Leo (son of Macedonicos, Emperor Basileos I and Ingerina, Eudoxia) was born on 19 Sep 866 in Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey; died on 11 May 912 in Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey; was buried after 11 May 912 in Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• House: Macedonian
• FSID: LRQD-FS2
• Appointments / Titles: Between 913 and 959, Byzantine Empire (Historical); Emperor

Notes:

Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of Constantinople was the son of Leo VI 'the Wise', Emperor of Constantinople.1 He married Helen Lecapenus, daughter of Romanus I Lecapenus, Emperor of Constantinople, in 919.2 He died in 959.1
He held the office of Co-regent of Constantinople in 908.1 He succeeded as the Emperor Constantine VII of Constantinople in 913.1
Child of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of Constantinople
Romanus II, Emperor of Constantinople+1 d. 15 Mar 963
Citations
[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 52. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World.

Wikipedia

Constantine VII Flavius Porphyrogenitus (Byzantine Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ζ΄ Φλάβιος Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Kōnstantinos VII Flāvios Porphyrogennētos; 17/18 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor Emperor Alexander.

Most of his reign was dominated by co-regents: from 913 until 919 he was under the regency of his mother, while from 920 until 945 he shared the throne with Romanos Lekapenos, whose daughter Helena he married, and his sons. Constantine VII is best known for the Geoponika (τά γεοπονικά), an important agronomic treatise compiled during his reign, and his four books, De Administrando Imperio (bearing in Greek the heading Πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν Ῥωμανόν),[2] De Ceremoniis (Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως), De Thematibus (Περὶ θεμάτων Άνατολῆς καὶ Δύσεως), and Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου).[3][4]

The epithet porphyrogenitus alludes to the Purple chamber of the imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time. Nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimate son, as opposed to all others, who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born "in the purple".

Birth:
Born in the Purple

Constantine married Lekapenos, Princess Eleni on 27 Apr 919 in Istanbul, Turkey. Eleni (daughter of Lecapenus, Emperor Romanos I and Lekapenos, Theodora) was born in 906 in Istanbul, Turkey; died on 24 Sep 961 in Istanbul, Turkey; was buried on 19 Sep 961 in Istanbul, Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey; Princess of The Byzantine Empire
• FSID: L8YR-PKK

Family/Spouse: d'Aveugle, Louis III. Louis (son of de Provence, Boson and de Italy, Queen of Burgundy Ermengarde) was born in 880 in France; died on 5 Jun 928 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LBGF-H83
• Occupation: Emperor

Notes:

Romanus II, Emperor of Constantinople was the son of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of Constantinople.1
He married, firstly, Bertha of Italy, daughter of Hugh d'Arles, King of Italy.2
He married, secondly, Theophano (?) circa 956.2 He died on 15 March 963.1,2

He held the office of Co-regent of Constantinople in 945.1 He succeeded as the Emperor Romanus II of Constantinople in 959.1
Children of Romanus II, Emperor of Constantinople and Theophano (?)
Basil II Bulgaroctonus, Emperor of Constantinople+1 d. 1025
Constantine VIII, Emperor of Constantinople+1 d. 1028
Anna (?)+3
Citations
[S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 52. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World.
[S130] Wikipedia, online http;//www.wikipedia.org. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia.

Romanos II was a son of Emperor Constantine VII and Helena Lekapene, the daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos and his wife Theodora.[1] Named after his maternal grandfather, Romanos was married, as a child, to Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy to bond an alliance. She had changed her name to Eudokia after their marriage, but died an early death in 949 before producing an heir, thus never becoming a real marriage, and dissolving the alliance.[2] On January 27, 945, Constantine VII succeeded in removing his brothers-in-law, the sons of Romanos I, assuming the throne alone. On April 6, 945, Constantine crowned his son Romanos co-emperor. With Hugh out of power in Italy and dead by 947, Romanos secured the promise from his father that he would be allowed to select his own bride. Romanos chose an innkeeper's daughter named Anastaso, whom he married in 956 and renamed Theophano.

In November 959, Romanos II succeeded his father on the throne amidst rumors that he or his wife had poisoned him.[3] Romanos purged his father's courtiers of his enemies and replaced them with friends. To appease his bespelling wife, he excused his mother, Empress Helena, from court and forced his five sisters into convents. Nevertheless, many of Romanos' appointees were able men, including his chief adviser, the eunuch Joseph Bringas.

The pleasure-loving sovereign could also leave military matters in the adept hands of his generals, in particular the brothers Leo and Nikephoros Phokas. In 960 Nikephoros Phokas was sent with a fleet of 1,000 dromons, 2,000 chelandia, and 308 transports (the entire fleet was manned by 27,000 oarsmen and marines) carrying 50,000 men to recover Crete from the Muslims.[4] After a difficult campaign and nine-month Siege of Chandax, Nikephoros successfully re-established Byzantine control over the entire island in 961. Following a triumph celebrated at Constantinople, Nikephoros was sent to the eastern frontier, where the Emir of Aleppo Sayf al-Dawla was engaged in annual raids into Byzantine Anatolia. Nikephoros liberated Cilicia and even Aleppo in 962, sacking the palace of the Emir and taking possession of 390,000 silver dinars, 2,000 camels, and 1,400 mules. In the meantime Leo Phokas and Marianos Argyros had countered Magyar incursions into the Byzantine Balkans.

Death of Romanos II

After a lengthy hunting expedition Romanos II took ill and died on March 15, 963. Rumor attributed his death to poison administered by his wife Theophano, but there is no evidence of this, and Theophano would have been risking much by exchanging the secure status of a crowned Augusta with the precarious one of a widowed Regent of her very young children. Romanos II's reliance on his wife and on bureaucrats like Joseph Bringas had resulted in a relatively capable administration, but this built up resentment among the nobility, which was associated with the military. In the wake of Romanos' death, his Empress Dowager, now Regent to the two co-emperors, her underage sons, was quick to marry the general Nikephoros Phokas and to acquire another general, John Tzimiskes, as her lover, having them both elevated to the imperial throne in succession. The rights of her sons were safeguarded, however, and eventually, when Tzimiskes died at war, her eldest son Basil II became senior emperor

Romanos married Phocus, Empress of Byzantine Theophano in 956 in Istanbul, Turkey. Theophano (daughter of Phocas, Emperor Nicephoros II) was born in 932 in Byzantine Empire (Historical); died on 15 Jun 991 in Istanbul, Turkey; was buried after 15 Jun 991 in Byzantine Empire (Historical). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Comte de Vienne
• FSID: G8XV-QXF
• Appointments / Titles: Between 928 and 930; Count

Notes:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Constantin_de_Vienne

Charles-Constantin de Vienne est un comte de Viennois. Charles Constantin est le fils de Louis III l'Aveugle et d'Anne de Constantinople.

Family/Spouse: de Troyes, Teutberga. Teutberga (daughter of Sens, Garnier and Bosonid, Thietburge) was born in 903 in Troyes, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died on 14 Feb 961 in Troyes, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• House: House of Macedon, Macedonian dynasty
• FSID: 94BP-X4Z
• Appointments / Titles: 964; Princess of The Byzantine Empire
• Appointments / Titles: 977; Grand Princess of Kievan Rus
• Burial: 1011, Church of the Tithes, Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine

Notes:

Anna Porphyrogenita (Анна Византийская in Russian) (March 13, 963 – 1011) was a Grand Princess consort of Kiev; she was married to Grand Prince Vladimir the Great.[1]
Anna was the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Romanos II and the Empress Theophano. She was also the sister of Emperors Basil II Bulgaroktonos (The Bulgar-Slayer) and Constantine VIII. Anna was a Porphyrogenita, a legitimate daughter born in the special purple chamber of the Byzantine Emperor's Palace. Anna's hand was considered such a prize that Vladimir became Christian just to marry her.[2]
Anna did not wish to marry Vladimir and expressed deep distress on her way to her wedding. Grand Prince Vladimir was impressed by Byzantine religious practices, this factor, along with his marriage to Anna led to his decision to convert to Eastern Christianity. Due to these two factors, Grand Prince Vladimir also began Christianizing his kingdom. By marriage to Grand Prince Vladimir, Anna became Grand Princess of Kiev, but in practice, she was referred to as Queen or Czarina, probably as a sign of her membership of the Imperial Byzantine House. Anna participated actively in the Christianization of Rus: she acted as the religious adviser of Vladimir and founded a few convents and churches herself. It is not known whether she was the biological mother of any of Vladimir's children, although some scholars have pointed to evidence that she and Vladimir may have had as many as three children together

a granddaughter of Otto the Great (possibly Rechlinda Otona (Regel

Birth:
Byzantine Emperor's Palace

Anna married Svyatoslavich, Vladimir I in 977. Vladimir (son of Igorevich, Svyatoslav I and of Lyubech, Malusha Malkovna) was born in 960 in Budyatychi, Volyn', Ukraine; was christened in 988 in Korsun'-Shevchenkivs'kyy, Cherkasy, Ukraine; died on 15 Jul 1015 in Chortitza, Zaporizʹkyy Rayon, Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine; was buried after 15 Jul 1015 in Church of the Tithes, Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LYB4-75S
• Alternate Birth: 935, Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
• Alternate Birth: 935, Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Constantine_of_Vienne

Charles-Constantine (died 962) was the Count of Vienne and son of Louis the Blind, the latter of whom was King of Provence and Holy Roman Emperor.

Life[edit]
When Charles' father Louis died in 929, Hugh of Arles, who was already king of Italy, took over Provence and gave it, in 933, to King Rudolf II of Burgundy.[1] Charles-Constantine for whatever reason, did not inherit the imperial throne or Provence.[2] This has led many to believe he was, in fact, illegitimate.[3] He was awarded the county of the Viennois in 931, by Rudolph of France.[4]
He was married to Thiberge de Troyes.[4] They had two sons:
• Richard[4]
• Hubert[4]
and possibly a daughter:
• Constance of Vienne, married to Boson II count of Arles.
Name and ancestry[edit]
This count appears simply as "Carolus" (Charles) in his own charters.[5] Flodoard, writing his annals during the count's lifetime, called him Karolo Constantino Ludovici orbi filii (Charles Constantine, son of Louis the Blind), and this added byname also appears in the writings of 10th-century historian Richerus, who used Flodoard as a source.[5][6] The implications of this byname, Constantine, have been subject to debate. Poole considered it a toponymic name of Flodoard's devising, reference to Arles (sometimes called Constantina urbs),[5] but Previté-Orton sees in it a reference to his parentage.[7] A surviving letter by Patriarch Nicholas I Mystikos testifies that Emperor Leo VI the Wise of Byzantium, father of Constantine VII, had betrothed his daughter to a Frank prince, a cousin of Bertha (of Tuscany), to whom came later a great misfortune. That unfortunate prince could only be Louis III, whose mother Ermengard of Italy was a first cousin of Bertha, and who was blinded on 21 July 905, while the prospective bride would have been Emperor Leo's only surviving daughter at that time, Anna, born to his second wife Zoe Zaoutzaina.[7] Charles Constantine would thus have been given names reflecting his paternal and maternal imperial heritage.[8] However, it is still questioned whether the planned marriage ever took place,[9] and there are chronological difficulties (not insurmountable in the opinion of Previté-Orton) in making Anna the mother of Charles Constantine.[7]  Richerus suggested that the ancestry of Charles Constantine was tainted by illegitimacy back to five generations,[7] although the meaning of this is disputed.

Constance married d'Arles, Boson II in 953 in France. Boson was born in 920 in Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France; died in Jul 965 in Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]