Michael VII Doukas
Michael VII presided over the loss of Anatolia and was nicknamed after the reduced measure of grain his government issued. He was the son of Constantine X and was about twenty-one when Romanos IV Diogenes, his stepfather, was defeated and captured at Manzikert in 1071. What happened next mattered more than the battle. The Doukas family in Constantinople declared Romanos deposed, refused to honour the terms he had negotiated with the Seljuk sultan, and fought a civil war against him; Romanos was defeated, blinded and died of the wounds. The Turks, released from any agreement, moved into an Anatolia whose armies were destroying each other, and within a decade held most of the interior. Michael's own government was run by the eunuch Nikephoritzes and by his tutor Michael Psellos, the historian, and it was disastrous in a specific and unglamorous way: the currency was debased from about 21 carats to under 10, grain was made a state monopoly with a depot at Rhaidestos, and prices rose sharply. The nickname Parapinakes refers to a measure short by a quarter. Norman mercenaries under Roussel de Bailleul revolted and set up their own state in Anatolia; the empire had to hire Turks to remove them. He appealed to Pope Gregory VII for western help, which is one of the roots of the crusading idea. He was deposed in 1078, became a monk and later a bishop, and died about 1090. The judgement usually made of him is Psellos's, which is not disinterested since Psellos was running the government. What is not in dispute is that Anatolia, which had supplied the empire's soldiers and taxes for six centuries, was substantially lost during his reign and never fully recovered.
- Lived: 1050 CE – 1090 CE
- Nationality: Byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
