#basilii

Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire

Pilgrimage in the Byzantine Empire involved the Christian faithful travelling often huge distances to visit such holy sites as Jerusalem or to see in person relics of holy figures and miraculous icons on show from Thessaloniki to Antioch. Well-worn routes resulted along which regular stopping points allowed pilgrims to sleep, eat, and be cared for in a network of monasteries and churches. For many pilgrims, their journey was the last they would ever make, and Jerusalem, especially, became a place where hospitals and hospices catered for the faithful until they were interred in the tombs they had pre-booked so as to rest in peace at the very centre of the Christian world.

Origins & Purpose of Pilgrimage

Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE), was one of the great founders of churches, notably in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and it was during her visit to the Holy Land in 326 CE that she claimed to have discovered the True Cross, that is the actual wooden cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Helena is widely credited with being one of the most important figures in making pilgrimage fashionable amongst devout Christians. The practice got another boost when Constantine himself made a visit to Jerusalem in 335 CE.

Pilgrimage really took off in the 5th and 6th centuries CE as other sacred sites sprang up across the empire. The skeletal remains, items of clothing, and tombs associated with holy figures, famous holy artworks and their potential for working miracles, the healing waters of sacred shrines, and even famous living holy men and women were all reasons for Christians to leave their homes and travel great distances. Pilgrimage in the Byzantine period was, though, less about making an arduous journey which had value in itself and more about getting to a final destination and being able to see and venerate Christianity's treasures in person, to actually be for a time in the places where wondrous things had occurred in the distant past, and by so doing reaffirm one's faith.

The travel plans of pilgrims were disrupted, if not actually ended, by the Arab conquest of the Levant by the mid-7th century CE. Byzantine armies reconquered parts of the Middle East in the 10th century CE, and the Crusaders, too, ensured a steady stream of pilgrims could still make the arduous journey to the Holy Land. Constantinople, too, was a major attraction to pilgrims from within and outside the empire's territories and remained so until the 15th century CE.

John I Tzimiskes

John I Tzimiskes was Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976 CE. Although he took the throne by murdering his predecessor Nikephoros II Phokas, John was a popular emperor. A skilled general and a competent politician, he is known for expanding Byzantium's borders to the Danube River in the west and further into Syria in the east.

Rise to Power

John was related to the landed military elite families of Byzantine Anatolia, including the powerful Phokas and Kourkouas families. He was married to a woman from the Skleros family, who died sometime before 969 CE. After John's uncle, Nikephoros Phokas, took command of the Byzantine armies in 955 CE, he gave a forward command appointment to John. John was described as a short but handsome general. He led multiple armies against the forces of Sayf al-Dawla (r. 945-967 CE), the powerful Emir of Aleppo, under Nikephoros' overall command. He was known for an aggressive style of command and, like Nikephoros himself, he was a highly successful general.

John was among the troops that proclaimed Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963-969 CE) emperor in 963 CE. Nikephoros appointed John domestikos, or commander, of the East. John was one of the main commanders under Nikephoros in Cilicia and Syria, but after 965 CE Nikephoros distrusted him, stripped him of his titles, and placed him under house arrest.

On the night of December 10-11, 969 CE, John broke into the imperial palace with inside help and murdered Nikephoros with his co-conspirators. John immediately summoned Basil Lekapenos, the parakoimomenos, or director of the palace, to help secure John as the new emperor. By the morning, John had been crowned co-emperor with the young princes of the Macedonian Dynasty, the future Basil II (r. 976-1025 CE) and Constantine VIII (r. 1025-1028 CE). John prevented any looting from taking place following the coup, and other members of the Phokas family were placed under arrest and exiled. The fact that Nikephoros was already dead and that he was so unpopular allowed John to be accepted as emperor without any public outcry.

The Patriarch of Constantinople, Polyeuktos, agreed to crown John emperor in exchange for him canceling Nikephoros' decrees about the Church and blaming Empress Theophano, the mother of Basil and Constantine and widow of Romanos II (r. 959-963 CE) and Nikephoros, for instigating the murder of Nikephoros. It was even alleged that Theophano had had an affair with John before Nikephoros' murder. Theophano was then exiled by Basil the parakoimomenos. After being crowned, John married one of Romanos II's (r. 959-963 CE) sisters, Theodora, connecting him to the reigning Macedonian Dynasty.