Christopher Lekapenos
| Christopher Lekapenos | |
|---|---|
| Co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire | |
|
|
| Reign | 921–931 |
| Dynasty | Lekapenos |
| Father | Romanos Lekapenos |
| Mother | Theodora |
Christopher Lekapenos or Lecapenus (Greek: Χριστόφορος Λακαπηνός) was the eldest son of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944) and co-emperor from 921 until his death in 931.
Christopher was the oldest son of Romanos Lekapenos, and the second-oldest child after his sister Helena. Younger siblings were Agatha, who married Romanos Argyros, Stephen and Constantine (co-emperors from 924 until 945), Theophylact (Patriarch of Constantinople in 933–956), and two unnamed younger sisters.
Nothing is known of Christopher's early life. He was certainly an adult by 919–920, and had a daughter of marriageable age in 927, hence he was probably born around 890–895. Already before his father's rise to power, he had been married to Sophia, the daughter of the wealthy patrikios Niketas, a Slav from the Peloponnese.
When Romanos succeeded in having his daughter Helena Lekapene married to the young emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos in spring 919 and assumed the role of guardian of the emperor with the title basileopator, Christopher succeeded him in his post as megas hetaireiarches, commander of the palace guard. Romanos soon crowned himself emperor (December 920), and eventually advanced himself before the young Constantine in precedence. To further cement his position, and planning to advance his own family over the legitimate Macedonian line, Romans crowned Christopher also as co-emperor on 20 May 921. Furthermore, when Christopher's mother, the Augusta Theodora died in February 922, his wife Sophia was raised to the dignity of Augusta alongside Helena Lekapene.
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