Representing the Oath of Joseph Bringas in Theophanes Continuatus VI
Representing the Oath of Joseph Bringas in Theophanes Continuatus VI

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on a particular passage in Theophanes Continuatus which relates an oath imposed by Constantine VII just before his death on his minister Joseph Bringas to guard his son and heir Romanos II. The discussion reviews the debates around the redaction of the Book VI where this passage appears, the political context of Romanos II’s reign as it is presented in the Book VI and compares this passage with the representation of oaths in a selection of historiographic sources from the 10th and 11th centuries. Through these considerations, it is proposed first that this passage poses anomalies that call into question the legal nature of this oath, and second that the inclusion of the reference to an oath may have had a particular legitimizing function, not for the emperor, but rather for his ministers and Bringas in particular. This could indicate the presence of political tensions prevalent under Romanos II which could have opposed Bringas to other groups in the immediate political entourage, perhaps those that lost their positions with the change of regime.

• Details
• Contents