Nikephoros III Botaneiates
Byzantine emperor · Historical Figures · Lived 1001 to 1081 · aged 80
He wanted to marry the empress and become emperor - lost the bride, got exiled, then came back a decade later and took the throne anyway. Nikephoros III ruled Byzantium for three years by force of reputation and military cunning, until a younger general did to him exactly what he'd done to his predecessor.
Nikephoros III Botaneiates is read about 193 times a day, in 48 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 16 September 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?People around Nikephoros III
Nikephoros III BotaneiatesPartners
Is this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong. A marriage is drawn as ended only where its end is recorded, so a spouse drawn here may be a former one.
Correct this familyAlso in Deutsch
Media & music
.png?width=1200)
.png?width=1200)
.png?width=1200)
About this person
Nikephoros Botaneiates rose as a general under Constantine IX, distinguished himself crushing the Pecheneg revolt of 1048-1053, and helped Isaac I Komnenos seize power at the Battle of Petroe in 1057. He governed Thessalonica and Antioch, holding off repeated raids from Aleppo, but when Constantine X died in 1067 and Empress Eudokia chose Romanos IV over him, he was exiled. Michael VII recalled him years later as governor of the Anatolic Theme; Nikephoros appealed too bluntly for help against the Seljuks, feared punishment, and seized the throne in 1078 with Senate and popular backing. His reign churned through revolts - Bryennios, Basilakes, Constantine Doukas, even an assassination attempt by the Varangian Guard - which he countered with donatives, debt forgiveness, and minor reforms. In 1081 Alexios Komnenos, sent to fight the Normans, turned his army on Constantinople instead, took the city on 1 April, and arrested the emperor, who abdicated and retired to the Monastery of Peribleptus.
