4 – Leo V (The Armenian) (820)
The eighth and ninth centuries were dangerous times to be a Byzantine Emperor. In 811, Nikephoros I had the indignity of having his skull turned into a drinking vessel by Khan Krum after dying at the Battle of Pliska. Although Leo V didn’t suffer the same indignity, his demise was no more pleasant.
Leo reached the position of commander of the foederati under Nikephoros I but was expelled for supporting a rebel named Arsaber and also for personal enrichment. Emperor Michael, I recalled him from exile in 811 and gave him the important position of strategos of the Anatolikon. Leo wasn’t exactly in Belisarius’ league when it came to commanding his army. For instance, his troops were the first to flee the battlefield in the disaster at Versinika in 813.
Just a few weeks later, these troops proclaimed Leo as Emperor after deposing Michael I. They also castrated Michael’s two sons. Leo was able to extend Constantinople’s walls at Blachernai and improve the defenses at Thrace because the Bulgars and the Arabs allowed some breathing space. Leo reinstated Iconoclasm in 815 and appointed Thomas the Slav and Michael II the Amorian to positions of high command. He would regret this decision within a few years.
In 820, Leo sentenced Michael II to death on charges of treason, but on the following day, Michael’s supporters burst into the Hagia Sophia on Christmas Day where Leo was attending the Matins service. He called on his troops to defend him, but his attackers barred the doors and sliced off his arm. Leo fell before the Communion table, and his body was cut into pieces. The men went to Michael’s cell and released him. However, they could not find the keys to free him, so he was named Emperor while still in chains.