Leo V the Armenian
Byzantine emperor (lived 775-820) · Historical Figures · Died at 45
Leo V the Armenian is read about 209 times a day, in 32 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to September 16, 2026
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Something wrong?He seized the Byzantine throne after a battlefield disaster, held Constantinople against a Bulgar siege, then reignited the empire's war on religious images - a campaign that would outlast him by decades. The price: murdered in a chapel on Christmas morning by men loyal to the general he'd jailed.
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Spouse: TheodosiaHistorical Figures born in the 770s 6
About this person
Leo was a senior general of Armenian descent who rose under emperors Nikephoros I and Michael I Rhangabe, eventually commanding the Anatolic Theme. When Michael lost the Battle of Versinikia in 813, Leo forced his abdication and took the throne himself. He withstood Krum of Bulgaria's blockade of Constantinople, and after Krum died, negotiated a 30-year peace with the new khan Omurtag - ending a decade-long war. In 815 he deposed Patriarch Nikephoros and reinstated iconoclasm, launching Byzantium's second wave of image-destruction. On 25 December 820, supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of Leo's most trusted generals, assassinated him. Michael succeeded him that same day.
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