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Byzantine Empire
Anonymous Class
D
Bronze Follis 31mm (9.89 grams)
Struck during the reign of Constantine IX 1042-1055 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1836
Christ
seated facing on throne with back, wearing nimbus crown, pallium and colobium,
and holding
book of Gospels with both hands; in field to left, IC; to
right, XC.
IS XS / bASILЄ / bASIL (“Jesus Christ King of Kings”) in three lines; above,
cross.
This type is often overstruck on folles of Class C. In the
Dumbarton Oaks Catalogue it is suggested that Class D was introduced by
Constantine IX following the death of Empress Zoe in 1050. It is further
suggested that the type remained in issue for about a decade, throughout the
three succeeding reigns, until finally superseded by Class E under Constantine
X, circa 1060.
For more than a century, the production of Follis denomination Byzantine coins
had religious Christian motifs which included included
Jesus Christ, and even Virgin Mary. These coins were designed to honor Christ
and recognize the subservient role of the Byzantine emperor, with many of the
reverse inscriptions translating to “Jesus Christ King of Kings” and “May Jesus
Christ Conquer”. The Follis denomination coins
were the largest bronze denomination coins issued by the Byzantine empire, and
their large size, along with the Christian motif make them a popular coin type
for collectors. This series ran from the period of Byzantine
emperors John I (969-976 A.D.) to Alexius I (1081-1118 A.D.). The accepted
classification was originally devised by Miss Margaret Thompson with her study
of these types of coins. World famous numismatic
author, David R. Sear adopted this classification system for his book entitled,
Byzantine Coins and Their Values. The references about this coin site Mr. Sear’s
book by the number that they appear in that work. The class types of coins
included
Class A1,
Class A2,
Class B,
Class C,
Class D,
Class E,
Class F,
Class G,
Class H,
Class I,
Class J,
Class K. Read more and see examples of these coins by reading the
JESUS CHRIST
Anonymous Class A-N Byzantine Follis Coins Reference.
Click here to see all the Jesus Christ Anonymous Follis coins for sale.
Click here to see all coins bearing Jesus Christ or related available for sale.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
Guarantee of Authenticity.
Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5 BC/BCE – c. 30 AD/CE), also
referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure
of
Christianity. Most
Christian denominations
venerate him as
God the
Son
incarnated
and believe that he
rose from the dead
after being
crucified
.
The
principal sources of information regarding Jesus are the four
canonical gospels, and most
critical scholars
find them, at least the
Synoptic Gospels, useful for reconstructing Jesus’ life and
teachings. Some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the
Gospel of Thomas and the
Gospel according to the Hebrews
are also
relevant
.
Most critical historians agree that Jesus was a
Jew
who was regarded as a teacher and
healer
, that he
was baptized
by
John the Baptist, and
was crucified
in
Jerusalem
on the orders of the
Roman Prefect
Judaea,
Pontius Pilate, on the charge of
sedition
against the Roman Empire
. Critical Biblical scholars and
historians have offered competing descriptions of Jesus as a self-described
Messiah,
as the leader of an apocalyptic movement, as an itinerant sage, as a charismatic
healer, and as the founder of an independent religious movement. Most
contemporary scholars of the
Historical Jesus consider him to have been an independent,
charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating an imminent
apocalypse. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus’ “Kingdom
of God” meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a
future apocalypse.
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was
born of a virgin
:529–32
performed
miracles
,:358–59
founded
the Church
,
rose from the dead
, and
ascended
into
heaven,:616–20
from which he
will return
.:1091–109
Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in
the
Old Testament and as God, arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic
prophecies of the Old Testament
. The majority of Christians
worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, one of three divine persons of
a reject Trinitarianism
Trinity, wholly or partly,
believing it to be non-scriptural.
Constantine IX Monomachos, c. 1000–January 11, 1055, reigned as
Byzantine emperor
from June 11, 1042 to January 11, 1055. He had been chosen
by
Zoe
as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for
conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor
Michael IV the Paphlagonian
. They ruled together until Zoe died in 1050.
//
Life
Constantine Monomachos was the son of Theodosios Monomachos, an important
bureaucrat under
Basil II
and
Constantine VIII
. At some point Theodosios had been suspected of conspiracy
and his son’s career suffered accordingly. Constantine’s position improved after
he married, as his second wife, a niece of Emperor
Romanos III Argyros
. Catching the eye of the Empress Zoe, Constantine was
exiled to the island of
Lesbos
by her
second husband, Michael IV. He was retrieved from exile in 1042, when he was
appointed judge in Greece, but before he undertook his appointment, Constantine
was summoned to
Constantinople
as Zoe’s choice for husband. The pair were married on June
11, 1042, without the participation of
Patriarch
Alexius I of Constantinople
, who refused to officiate over a third marriage
(for both spouses). On the following day Constantine was formally proclaimed
emperor together with Zoe and her sister Theodora.
Constantine purged the relatives of Michael IV from the court. The new
emperor was pleasure-loving and prone to violent outbursts on suspicion of
conspiracy. He was heavily influenced by his mistress, Maria Skleraina, a niece
of his second wife, and Maria’s relatives. In August 1042, under the influence
of the Skleroi, the emperor relieved General
George Maniakes
from his command in
Italy
, and
Maniakes rebelled, declaring himself emperor in September. He transferred his
troops into the Balkans
and was about to defeat Constantine’s army in battle, when he was
wounded and died on the field, ending the crisis in 1043.
Immediately after the victory, Constantine
was attacked by a fleet
from
Kievan Rus’
; it is “incontrovertible that a Rus’ detachment took part in the
Maniakes rebellion”.[1]
They too were defeated, with the help of
Greek fire
.
Constantine married his daughter Anna (see below) to the future Prince
Vsevolod I of Kiev
, the favorite son of his dangerous opponent
Yaroslav I
the Wise
by
Ingegerd Olofsdotter
.
In 1045 Constantine annexed the
Armenian
kingdom of
Ani
, but this expansion merely exposed the empire to new enemies. In 1046
the Byzantines came into contact for the first time with the
Seljuk Turks
. They met in battle in
Armenia
in
1048, and settled a truce the following year. However, Constantine foolishly
disbanded the Armenian troops to save money in 1053, leaving the eastern
frontier poorly defended at precisely the moment when its defences should have
been strengthened. Even if Seljuk rulers were willing to abide by the treaty,
their unruly Turcoman allies showed much less restraint. Thus Constantine
weakened the Byzantine forces, which in turn led to their cataclysmic defeat at
the
battle of
Manzikert
in 1071.
In 1047 Constantine was faced by the rebellion of his nephew
Leo
Tornikios
in
Adrianople
. Tornikios gained support in most of
Thrace
and
vainly attempted to take Constantinople. Forced to retreat, Tornikios failed in
another siege, and was captured during his flight. The revolt had weakened
Byzantine defenses in the Balkans and in 1048 the area was raided by the
Pechenegs
,
who continued to plunder it for the next five years. The emperor’s efforts to
contain the enemy through diplomacy merely exacerbated the situation, as rival
Pecheneg leaders clashed on Byzantine ground, and Pecheneg settlers were allowed
to live in compact settlement in the Balkans, making it difficult to suppress
their rebellion. Faced with such difficulties, Constantine may have sought
Hungarian
support.
Internally, Constantine sought to secure his position by favoring the
nobility (dynatoi) and granted generous tax immunities to major
landowners and the church. Similarly, he seems to have taken recourse to the
pronoia
system, a sort of Byzantine feudal contract in which tracts of land (or the tax
revenue from it) were granted to particular individuals in exchange for
contributing and maintaining military forces. Both expedients gradually
compromised the effectiveness of the state and contributed to the development of
the crisis that engulfed Byzantium in the second half of the 11th century.
In 1054 the centuries-old differences between the
Greek
and
Roman
churches led to their final separation. Legates from
Pope Leo
IX
excommunicated
the
Patriarch of Constantinople
Michael Keroularios when Keroularios would not agree to adopt western church
practises, and in return Keroularios excommunicated the legates. This sabotaged
Constantine’s attempts to ally with the Pope against the
Normans
, who
had taken advantage of Maniakes’ disappearance to take over
Southern Italy.
Constantine tried to intervene, but he fell ill and died on January 11 of the
following year.
Theodora
, the elderly daughter of
Constantine VIII
who had ruled with her sister Zoe since 1042, was recalled
from her retirement and named empress.
Overall, his reign was a disaster for the Byzantine empire; in particular,
the military weakness for which he was largely responsible greatly contributed
to the subsequent loss of Asia Minor to the Turks, and the ultimate fall of
Constantinople to the Muslim
Ottomans
in 1453.
Architecture
and Art
Constantine IX was also a patron of the arts and literature, and during his
reign the university in Constantinople expanded its juridical and philosophical
programs. The literary circle at court included the philosopher and historian
Michael Psellos
, whose Chronographia records the history of
Constantine’s reign. Psellos left a physical description of Constantine in his
Chronographia: he was “ruddy as the sun, but all his breast, and down
to his feet… [were] colored the purest white all over, with exquisite
accuracy. When he was in his prime, before his limbs lost their virility, anyone
who cared to look at him closely would surely have likened his head to the sun
in its glory, so radiant was it, and his hair to the rays of the sun, while in
the rest of his body he would have seen the purest and most translucent crystal.“
Immediately upon ascending to the throne in 1042, Constantine IX set about
restoring the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem, which had been substantially
destroyed in 1009 by Calif
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
. Permitted by a treaty with al-Hakim’s son
Ali
az-Zahir
and Byzantine Emperor
Romanus III
, it was Constantine IX who finally funded the reconstruction of
the Church and other Christian establishments in the Holy Land.[2]
The reconstruction took place during the reign of the Caliph
Ma’ad al-Mustansir Billah
.
Family
Constantine Monomachos was married three times:
- to a wife of unknown identity.
- to Helena Skleraina, daughter of Basil Skleros, great-granddaughter of
Bardas Skleros
,
and niece of Emperor
Romanus III
.
- to the Empress Zoe
After the death of his second wife, Constantine also took her first cousin
Maria Skleraina as his mistress.
He had no children with his first wife or with the aging Zoe. With either
Helena or Maria Sklerina he had a daughter named Anastasia, who married
Vsevolod I of Kiev
in 1046. Constantine’s family name Monomachos
(“one who fights alone”) was inherited by his Kievan grandson,
Vladimir
II Monomakh
.
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