Nicephorus I

Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I, from the Manasses Chronicle.
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	31 October 802 – 26 July 811
Predecessor	Irene
Successor	Staurakios
Died	26 July 811 Pliska
Issue	Staurakios Prokopia
Dynasty	Nikephorian

Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I, also logothetēs tou genikou (Greek: Νικηφόρος Α΄, Nikēphoros I, "Bringer of Victory"; died July 26, 811), was Byzantine Emperor from 802 to 811 AD, when he was killed in the Battle of Pliska.

A patrician from Seleucia Sidera, Nikephoros was appointed finance minister (logothetēs tou genikou) by the Empress Irene. With the help of the patricians and eunuchs he contrived to dethrone and exile Irene, and to be chosen as Emperor in her stead on October 31, 802. He crowned his son Staurakios co-emperor in 803.

His rule was endangered by Bardanes Tourkos, one of his ablest generals, who revolted and received support from other commanders, notably the later emperors Leo V the Armenian and Michael II the Amorian in 803.

But Nikephoros gained over the latter two, and by inducing the rebel army to disperse achieved the submission of Bardanes, who was blinded and relegated to a monastery. A conspiracy headed by the patrician Arsaber had a similar issue.

Nikephoros embarked on a general reorganization of the Empire, creating new themes in the Balkans (where he initiated the re-Hellenization by resettling Greeks from Anatolia) and strengthening the frontiers. Needing large sums to increase his military forces, he set himself with great energy to increase the Empire's revenue. By his rigorous tax imposts he alienated the favour of his subjects, and especially of the clergy, whom he otherwise sought to control firmly. Although he appointed an iconodule, Nikephoros as patriarch, Emperor Nikephoros was portrayed as a villain by ecclesiastical historians like Theophanes the Confessor.