JESUS CHRIST Class D Anonymous Ancient 1042AD Byzantine Follis Coin i50117

Description

Item:
i50117
Authentic Ancient Coin of:
Byzantine Empire
Anonymous Class D
Bronze Follis
31mm (9.89 grams)
Struck during the reign of
Constantine IX
1042-1055 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1836
Christ
seated facing on throne with back, wearing nimbus crown, pallium and colobium,
and holding book of Gospels with both hands; in field to left, IC; to right, XC.
IS XS / bASILЄ / bASIL ("Jesus Christ King of Kings") in three lines; above, cross.
This type is often overstruck on folles of Class C. In the Dumbarton Oaks Catalogue it is suggested that Class D was introduced by Constantine IX following the death of Empress Zoe in 1050. It is further suggested that the type remained in issue for about a decade, throughout the three succeeding reigns, until finally superseded by Class E under Constantine X, circa 1060.
For more than a century, the production of Follis denomination Byzantine coins had religious Christian motifs which included included Jesus Christ, and even Virgin Mary. These coins were designed to honor Christ and recognize the subservient role of the Byzantine emperor, with many of the reverse inscriptions translating to "Jesus Christ King of Kings" and "May Jesus Christ Conquer". The Follis denomination coins were the largest bronze denomination coins issued by the Byzantine empire, and their large size, along with the Christian motif make them a popular coin type for collectors. This series ran from the period of Byzantine emperors John I (969-976 A.D.) to Alexius I (1081-1118 A.D.). The accepted classification was originally devised by Miss Margaret Thompson with her study of these types of coins. World famous numismatic author, David R. Sear adopted this classification system for his book entitled, Byzantine Coins and Their Values. The references about this coin site Mr. Sear's book by the number that they appear in that work.  The class types of coins included Class A1, Class A2, Class B, Class C, Class D, Class E, Class F, Class G, Class H, Class I, Class J, Class K. Read more and see examples of these coins by reading the JESUS CHRIST Anonymous Class A-N Byzantine Follis Coins Reference.
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Jesus of Nazareth
(
c.
5 BC/BCE –
c.
30 AD/CE), also referred to as
Jesus Christ
or simply
Jesus
, is the central figure of
Christianity
. Most
Christian denominations
venerate him as
God the Son
incarnated
and believe that he
rose from the dead
after being
crucified
.
The principal sources of information regarding Jesus are the four
canonical gospels
, and most
critical scholars
find them, at least the
Synoptic Gospels
, useful for reconstructing Jesus’ life and teachings. Some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the
Gospel of Thomas
and the
Gospel according to the Hebrews
are also
relevant
.
Most critical historians agree that Jesus was a
Jew
who was regarded as a teacher and
healer
, that he
was baptized
by
John the Baptist
, and
was crucified
in
Jerusalem
on the orders of the
Roman Prefect
Judaea
,
Pontius Pilate
, on the charge of
sedition
against the
Roman Empire
. Critical Biblical scholars and historians have offered competing descriptions of Jesus as a self-described
Messiah
, as the leader of an apocalyptic movement, as an itinerant sage, as a charismatic healer, and as the founder of an independent religious movement. Most contemporary scholars of the
Historical Jesus
consider him to have been an independent, charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating an imminent apocalypse. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus' "
Kingdom of God
" meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a future apocalypse.
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was
born of a virgin
:529–32
performed
miracles
,
:358–59
founded
the Church
,
rose from the dead
, and
ascended
into
heaven
,
:616–20
from which he
will return
.
:1091–109
Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in the
Old Testament
and as God, arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament
. The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, one of three divine persons of a
reject Trinitarianism
Trinity
, wholly or partly, believing it to be non-scriptural.
Constantine IX
Monomachos, c. 1000–January 11, 1055, reigned as
Byzantine emperor
from June 11, 1042 to January 11, 1055. He had been chosen by
Zoe
as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although he had been exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor
Michael IV the Paphlagonian
. They ruled together until Zoe died in 1050.
//
Life
Constantine Monomachos was the son of Theodosios Monomachos, an important bureaucrat under
Basil II
and
Constantine VIII
. At some point Theodosios had been suspected of conspiracy and his son's career suffered accordingly. Constantine's position improved after he married, as his second wife, a niece of Emperor
Romanos III Argyros
. Catching the eye of the Empress Zoe, Constantine was exiled to the island of
Lesbos
by her second husband, Michael IV. He was retrieved from exile in 1042, when he was appointed judge in Greece, but before he undertook his appointment, Constantine was summoned to
Constantinople
as Zoe's choice for husband. The pair were married on June 11, 1042, without the participation of
Patriarch
Alexius I of Constantinople
, who refused to officiate over a third marriage (for both spouses). On the following day Constantine was formally proclaimed emperor together with Zoe and her sister Theodora.
Constantine purged the relatives of Michael IV from the court. The new emperor was pleasure-loving and prone to violent outbursts on suspicion of conspiracy. He was heavily influenced by his mistress, Maria Skleraina, a niece of his second wife, and Maria's relatives. In August 1042, under the influence of the Skleroi, the emperor relieved General
George Maniakes
from his command in
Italy
, and Maniakes rebelled, declaring himself emperor in September. He transferred his troops into the
Balkans
and was about to defeat Constantine's army in battle, when he was wounded and died on the field, ending the crisis in 1043.
Immediately after the victory, Constantine
was attacked by a fleet
from
Kievan Rus'
; it is "incontrovertible that a Rus' detachment took part in the Maniakes rebellion".
[1]
They too were defeated, with the help of
Greek fire
. Constantine married his daughter Anna (see below) to the future Prince
Vsevolod I of Kiev
, the favorite son of his dangerous opponent
Yaroslav I the Wise
by
Ingegerd Olofsdotter
.
In 1045 Constantine annexed the
Armenian
kingdom of
Ani
, but this expansion merely exposed the empire to new enemies. In 1046 the Byzantines came into contact for the first time with the
Seljuk Turks
. They met in battle in
Armenia
in 1048, and settled a truce the following year. However, Constantine foolishly disbanded the Armenian troops to save money in 1053, leaving the eastern frontier poorly defended at precisely the moment when its defences should have been strengthened. Even if Seljuk rulers were willing to abide by the treaty, their unruly Turcoman allies showed much less restraint. Thus Constantine weakened the Byzantine forces, which in turn led to their cataclysmic defeat at the
battle of Manzikert
in 1071.
In 1047 Constantine was faced by the rebellion of his nephew
Leo Tornikios
in
Adrianople
. Tornikios gained support in most of
Thrace
and vainly attempted to take Constantinople. Forced to retreat, Tornikios failed in another siege, and was captured during his flight. The revolt had weakened Byzantine defenses in the Balkans and in 1048 the area was raided by the
Pechenegs
, who continued to plunder it for the next five years. The emperor's efforts to contain the enemy through diplomacy merely exacerbated the situation, as rival Pecheneg leaders clashed on Byzantine ground, and Pecheneg settlers were allowed to live in compact settlement in the Balkans, making it difficult to suppress their rebellion. Faced with such difficulties, Constantine may have sought
Hungarian
support.
Internally, Constantine sought to secure his position by favoring the nobility (
dynatoi
) and granted generous tax immunities to major landowners and the church. Similarly, he seems to have taken recourse to the
pronoia
system, a sort of Byzantine feudal contract in which tracts of land (or the tax revenue from it) were granted to particular individuals in exchange for contributing and maintaining military forces. Both expedients gradually compromised the effectiveness of the state and contributed to the development of the crisis that engulfed Byzantium in the second half of the 11th century.
In 1054 the centuries-old differences between the
Greek
and
Roman
churches led to their final separation. Legates from
Pope Leo IX
excommunicated
the
Patriarch of Constantinople
Michael Keroularios when Keroularios would not agree to adopt western church practises, and in return Keroularios excommunicated the legates. This sabotaged Constantine's attempts to ally with the Pope against the
Normans
, who had taken advantage of Maniakes' disappearance to take over
Southern Italy
.
Constantine tried to intervene, but he fell ill and died on January 11 of the following year.
Theodora
, the elderly daughter of
Constantine VIII
who had ruled with her sister Zoe since 1042, was recalled from her retirement and named empress.
Overall, his reign was a disaster for the Byzantine empire; in particular, the military weakness for which he was largely responsible greatly contributed to the subsequent loss of Asia Minor to the Turks, and the ultimate fall of Constantinople to the Muslim
Ottomans
in 1453.
Architecture and Art
Constantine IX was also a patron of the arts and literature, and during his reign the university in Constantinople expanded its juridical and philosophical programs. The literary circle at court included the philosopher and historian
Michael Psellos
, whose
Chronographia
records the history of Constantine's reign. Psellos left a physical description of Constantine in his
Chronographia
: he was "
ruddy as the sun, but all his breast, and down to his feet... [were] colored the purest white all over, with exquisite accuracy. When he was in his prime, before his limbs lost their virility, anyone who cared to look at him closely would surely have likened his head to the sun in its glory, so radiant was it, and his hair to the rays of the sun, while in the rest of his body he would have seen the purest and most translucent crystal.
"
Immediately upon ascending to the throne in 1042, Constantine IX set about restoring the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem, which had been substantially destroyed in 1009 by
Calif
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
. Permitted by a treaty with al-Hakim's son
Ali az-Zahir
and Byzantine Emperor
Romanus III
, it was Constantine IX who finally funded the reconstruction of the Church and other Christian establishments in the Holy Land.
[2]
The reconstruction took place during the reign of the Caliph
Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah
.
Family
Constantine Monomachos was married three times:
to a wife of unknown identity.
to Helena Skleraina, daughter of Basil Skleros, great-granddaughter of
Bardas Skleros
, and niece of Emperor
Romanus III
.
to the Empress Zoe
After the death of his second wife, Constantine also took her first cousin Maria Skleraina as his mistress.
He had no children with his first wife or with the aging Zoe. With either Helena or Maria Sklerina he had a daughter named
Anastasia
, who married
Vsevolod I of Kiev
in 1046. Constantine's family name
Monomachos
("one who fights alone") was inherited by his Kievan grandson,
Vladimir II Monomakh
.
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