Michael Lachanodrakon
Encyclopedia
Michael Lachanodrakon was a distinguished Byzantine
general and fanatical supporter of Byzantine Iconoclasm under Emperor Constantine V
(r. 741–775). As a result of his iconoclast zeal, in 766 he rose to high office as governor of the Thracesian Theme
, and instigated a series of repressive measures against iconophile practices, particularly targeting the monasteries. A talented general, he also led a series of campaigns against the Arabs of the Abbasid Caliphate before being dismissed from office in about 782. Restored to imperial favour in 790, he fell at the Battle of Marcellae against the Bulgars
in 792.
Nothing is known of Lachanodrakon's origins and early life. He receives a very negative treatment in the historical sources, which were written after the final defeat of iconoclasm; some refer to him solely as ho Drakon ("the Dragon", alluding to his surname and the biblical Beast
). Their profoundly iconophile perspective means that reports of his actions, especially those relating to the suppression of icon worship, are potentially untrustworthy.
At the Council of Hieria
in 754, Constantine V had declared the adoration of icon
s to be a heresy, and had thereby elevated iconoclasm
to official imperial policy. No persecution of iconophiles was launched at first, but iconophile resistance grew, until from 765 on, Constantine began persecuting iconophiles, and especially monks. The discovery of a wide-ranging iconophile plot against him involving some of the highest civil and military officials of the state in 766 provoked an extreme reaction. Patriarch Constantine II
and other officials were deposed, jailed, publicly humiliated and finally executed, replaced by new, uncompromisingly iconoclast officials. In addition, the veneration of sacred relics and prayers to the saints and the Virgin Mary were condemned.
By 763 or 764, according to the iconophile Life of St Stephen the Younger hagiography
, Lachanodrakon had already distinguished himself by his iconoclast fervour. On the emperor's orders he led a group of soldiers on an invasion of the monastery of Pelekete on the Hellespont, where he arrested 38 monks and sent them to Constantinople
, and subjected the remainder to various tortures and mutilations. After burning down the monastery he took the captives to Ephesus
, where they were executed. In 766/767, as part of the emperor's reshuffle of the senior echelons of the empire, Lachanodrakon was rewarded with the important post of strategos
(governor) of the Thracesian Theme
, and given the rank of patrikios and imperial protospatharios
according to his seal. He soon began a harsh repression of the monasteries and iconophiles. According to Theophanes the Confessor
, in 769/770 he summoned the monks and nuns of his theme to Ephesus, gathered them in the city's tzykanisterion
and forced them to marry, threatening them with blinding and exile to Cyprus
if they refused. Although many resisted and "became martyrs" in Theophanes' words, many complied. Later reports of exiled monks in Cyprus becoming Arab captives seem to partly corroborate this story. Theophanes reports further that in 771/772, Lachanodrakon dissolved all monasteries in the theme, confiscated and expropriated their property, and sent the proceeds to the emperor, who replied with a letter thanking him for his zeal. Lachanodrakon allegedly had relics, holy scriptures and monks' beards set on fire, killed or tortured those who venerated relics, and finally prohibited the tonsure
. Although highly embellished, these reports probably reflect actual events. At any rate, by 772, in the words of historian Warren Treadgold, Lachanodrakon seems to have succeeded in "eradicating monasticism within his theme".
Lachanodrakon was a capable general, winning fame for his campaigns against the Abbasids on the empire's eastern frontier. During the reign of Constantine V's son Leo IV
(r. 775–780) he seems to have been the most prominent military commander, repeatedly leading expeditions comprising troops from several themes against the Arabs.
The first such expedition occurred in 778 when, preempting an anticipated Arab raid, Lachanodrakon led a large army against Germanikeia. Although the city did not fall (Theophanes claims that the Arab commander bribed Lachanodrakon), the Byzantine army defeated a relief force, plundered the region and took many captives, mostly Jacobites
, who were then resettled in Thrace
. In 780, Lachanodrakon ambushed and defeated an Arab invasion in the Armeniac Theme
, killing the brother of the Arab commander Tumama ibn al-Walid. The Arab historian al-Tabari records that in 781 Lachanodrakon forced another Arab invasion, under 'Abd al-Kabir, to withdraw without battle, although Theophanes ascribes the success to the sakellarios
John. In 782 however he was defeated by the Arab general al-Barmaqi during a large-scale invasion led by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
(r. 786–809), losing some 15,000 men according to Theophanes. In the aftermath of this defeat, and likely because of his iconoclast past, he was apparently removed from his command by the iconophile empress-regent Irene of Athens.
Lachanodrakon reappears in 790, when the young emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797) conspired to overturn the tutelage of Irene. The general was sent by Constantine to the Armeniac Theme to secure the allegiance of its soldiers. Constantine succeeded in toppling his mother in December 790; it was probably then that Lachanodrakon was rewarded with the supreme non-imperial title, that of magistros. According to the account of Theophanes, he participated in the imperial campaign against the Bulgars in 792 that led to the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Marcellae on 20 July, where he was killed. The history of John Skylitzes
records his death in the Battle of Versinikia
, again against the Bulgars, in 813, but this is clearly an error.
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
general and fanatical supporter of Byzantine Iconoclasm under Emperor Constantine V
Constantine V
Constantine V was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775; ); .-Early life:...
(r. 741–775). As a result of his iconoclast zeal, in 766 he rose to high office as governor of the Thracesian Theme
Thracesian Theme
The Thracesian Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Thracesians , was a Byzantine theme in western Asia Minor , comprising the ancient regions of Ionia, Lydia and parts of Phrygia and Caria....
, and instigated a series of repressive measures against iconophile practices, particularly targeting the monasteries. A talented general, he also led a series of campaigns against the Arabs of the Abbasid Caliphate before being dismissed from office in about 782. Restored to imperial favour in 790, he fell at the Battle of Marcellae against the Bulgars
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
in 792.
Persecution of the iconophiles
The Beast (Bible)
The Beast of Revelation, may refer to two beasts in the apocalyptic visions by John of Patmos, as written in the Book of Revelation. The first beast comes from "out of the sea". The second beast comes from "out of the earth" and directs all peoples of the earth to worship the first. This first...
). Their profoundly iconophile perspective means that reports of his actions, especially those relating to the suppression of icon worship, are potentially untrustworthy.
At the Council of Hieria
Council of Hieria
The iconoclast Council of Hieria was a Christian council which viewed itself as ecumenical, but was later rejected by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. It was summoned by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V in 754 in the palace of Hieria opposite Constantinople. The council...
in 754, Constantine V had declared the adoration of icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s to be a heresy, and had thereby elevated iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
to official imperial policy. No persecution of iconophiles was launched at first, but iconophile resistance grew, until from 765 on, Constantine began persecuting iconophiles, and especially monks. The discovery of a wide-ranging iconophile plot against him involving some of the highest civil and military officials of the state in 766 provoked an extreme reaction. Patriarch Constantine II
Patriarch Constantine II of Constantinople
Constantine II was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 754 to 766. He was deposed and jailed after the discovery of an iconophile plot against Emperor Constantine V in June 766. In autumn 767, he was paraded through the Hippodrome of Constantinople, and finally beheaded....
and other officials were deposed, jailed, publicly humiliated and finally executed, replaced by new, uncompromisingly iconoclast officials. In addition, the veneration of sacred relics and prayers to the saints and the Virgin Mary were condemned.
By 763 or 764, according to the iconophile Life of St Stephen the Younger hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, Lachanodrakon had already distinguished himself by his iconoclast fervour. On the emperor's orders he led a group of soldiers on an invasion of the monastery of Pelekete on the Hellespont, where he arrested 38 monks and sent them to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, and subjected the remainder to various tortures and mutilations. After burning down the monastery he took the captives to Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, where they were executed. In 766/767, as part of the emperor's reshuffle of the senior echelons of the empire, Lachanodrakon was rewarded with the important post of strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
(governor) of the Thracesian Theme
Thracesian Theme
The Thracesian Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Thracesians , was a Byzantine theme in western Asia Minor , comprising the ancient regions of Ionia, Lydia and parts of Phrygia and Caria....
, and given the rank of patrikios and imperial protospatharios
Protospatharios
Prōtospatharios was one of the highest court dignities of the middle Byzantine period , awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to foreign princes.-History:...
according to his seal. He soon began a harsh repression of the monasteries and iconophiles. According to Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
, in 769/770 he summoned the monks and nuns of his theme to Ephesus, gathered them in the city's tzykanisterion
Tzykanisterion
The tzykanisterion was a stadium for playing the tzykanion , a kind of polo adopted by the Byzantines from Sassanid Persia....
and forced them to marry, threatening them with blinding and exile to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
if they refused. Although many resisted and "became martyrs" in Theophanes' words, many complied. Later reports of exiled monks in Cyprus becoming Arab captives seem to partly corroborate this story. Theophanes reports further that in 771/772, Lachanodrakon dissolved all monasteries in the theme, confiscated and expropriated their property, and sent the proceeds to the emperor, who replied with a letter thanking him for his zeal. Lachanodrakon allegedly had relics, holy scriptures and monks' beards set on fire, killed or tortured those who venerated relics, and finally prohibited the tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
. Although highly embellished, these reports probably reflect actual events. At any rate, by 772, in the words of historian Warren Treadgold, Lachanodrakon seems to have succeeded in "eradicating monasticism within his theme".
Military activities
Leo IV the Khazar
Leo IV the Khazar was Byzantine Emperor from 775 to 780 CE.Leo was the son of Emperor Constantine V by his first wife, Irene of Khazaria , the daughter of a Khagan of the Khazars...
(r. 775–780) he seems to have been the most prominent military commander, repeatedly leading expeditions comprising troops from several themes against the Arabs.
The first such expedition occurred in 778 when, preempting an anticipated Arab raid, Lachanodrakon led a large army against Germanikeia. Although the city did not fall (Theophanes claims that the Arab commander bribed Lachanodrakon), the Byzantine army defeated a relief force, plundered the region and took many captives, mostly Jacobites
Jacobite Syrian Christian Church
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church is part of the Syriac Orthodox Church, located in Kerala, India. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, currently Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, as its supreme head. It functions as a largely autonomous archdiocese within the church, under the authority...
, who were then resettled in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. In 780, Lachanodrakon ambushed and defeated an Arab invasion in the Armeniac Theme
Armeniac Theme
The Armeniac Theme , more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs was a Byzantine theme located in northeastern Asia Minor .-History:...
, killing the brother of the Arab commander Tumama ibn al-Walid. The Arab historian al-Tabari records that in 781 Lachanodrakon forced another Arab invasion, under 'Abd al-Kabir, to withdraw without battle, although Theophanes ascribes the success to the sakellarios
Sakellarios
Sakellarios is an official entrusted with administrative and financial duties . The title was used in the Byzantine Empire with varying functions, and remains in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
John. In 782 however he was defeated by the Arab general al-Barmaqi during a large-scale invasion led by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth Arab Abbasid Caliph in Iraq. He was born in Rey, Iran, close to modern Tehran. His birth date remains a point of discussion, though, as various sources give the dates from 763 to 766)....
(r. 786–809), losing some 15,000 men according to Theophanes. In the aftermath of this defeat, and likely because of his iconoclast past, he was apparently removed from his command by the iconophile empress-regent Irene of Athens.
Lachanodrakon reappears in 790, when the young emperor Constantine VI (r. 780–797) conspired to overturn the tutelage of Irene. The general was sent by Constantine to the Armeniac Theme to secure the allegiance of its soldiers. Constantine succeeded in toppling his mother in December 790; it was probably then that Lachanodrakon was rewarded with the supreme non-imperial title, that of magistros. According to the account of Theophanes, he participated in the imperial campaign against the Bulgars in 792 that led to the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Marcellae on 20 July, where he was killed. The history of John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes was a Greek historian of the late 11th century. He was born in the beginning of 1040's and died after 1101.- Life :Very little is known about his life...
records his death in the Battle of Versinikia
Battle of Versinikia
The Battle of Versinikia was fought in 813 between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire, near the city of Adrianople in contemporary Turkey....
, again against the Bulgars, in 813, but this is clearly an error.