Constantine Doukas

Constantine X Doukas
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Gold histamenon of Constantine X.
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	24 November 1059 – 22 May 1067
Predecessor	Isaac I Komnenos
Successor	Romanos IV Diogenes
Born	1006
Died	22 May 1067 (aged 61)
Spouse	unknown Eudokia Makrembolitissa
Issue	Michael VII Doukas Andronikos Doukas Konstantios Doukas Anna Doukaina Theodora Anna Doukaina Zoe Doukaina
Dynasty	Doukid dynasty
Father	Andronikos Doukas

Constantine X Doukas or Dukas, Latinized as Ducas (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ι΄ Δούκας, Kōnstantinos X Doukas) (1006 – 22 May 1067) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 24 November 1059 to 22 May 1067.

Constantine Doukas was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a Paphlagonian nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of Moesia. Addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, Constantine gained influence after he married, as his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, a niece of Patriarch Michael Keroularios. In 1057, Constantine supported the usurpation of Isaac I Komnenos, gradually siding with the court bureaucracy against the new emperor's reforms. In spite of this tacit opposition, Constantine was chosen as successor by the ailing Isaac in November 1059, under the influence of Michael Psellos. Isaac abdicated, and on November 24, 1059, Constantine X Doukas was crowned emperor.

The new emperor quickly associated two of his young sons in power, Michael VII Doukas and Konstantios Doukas, appointed his brother John Doukas as kaisar (Caesar), and embarked on a policy favorable to the interests of the court bureaucracy and the church. Severely undercutting the training and financial support for the armed forces, Constantine X fatally weakened Byzantine defences by disbanding the Armenian local militia of 50,000 men at a crucial point of time, coinciding with the westward advance of the Seljuk Turks and their Turcoman allies. Undoing many of the necessary reforms of Isaac I, he bloated the military bureaucracy with highly paid court officials and crowded the Senate with his supporters.

His decisions to replace standing soldiers with mercenaries and leaving the frontier fortifications unrepaired led Constantine to become naturally unpopular with the supporters of Isaac within the military aristocracy, who attempted to assassinate him in 1061. He also became unpopular with the general population after he raised taxes to try to pay the army.