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Birth:          ABT  825 
Death:           899 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylianos_Zaoutzes
Stylianos Zaoutzes (Greek: St???a??? ?a??t???, but ?a???t??? in Skylitzes)[1] was a 
high Byzantine official of Armenian origin. Rising to high rank under Byzantine emperor 
Basil I (reigned 867–886), he then rose further to prominence under Basil's successor 
Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), who had a close friendship and possibly an 
affair with Stylianos's daughter Zoe Zaoutzaina. Stylianos Zaoutzes was Leo's leading 
minister during the first half of his reign, and was awarded the unique title of 
basileopator. His standing and influence declined after 895, but in 898, he became 
Leo's father-in-law when the Byzantine emperor married Zoe. He died in 899, in the 
same year as Zoe. Following an attempted coup by his relatives, the Zaoutzes clan 
was deprived of the considerable power it had amassed under Stylianos's tutelage.
Origins and early career[edit]

Zaoutzes was of Armenian descent, and was born in the thema of Macedonia. It has 
been theorized by the historian Nicholas Adontz that Zaoutzes might be the son of a 
contemporary strategos of Macedonia named Tzantzes, the name also of Zaoutzes's 
son, but the connection is ultimately impossible to prove.[1][2] According to Steven 
Runciman, the surname Zaoutzes derives from the Armenian word Zaoutch, "negro", 
reflecting Zaoutzes's particularly dark complexion. In the same vein, Zaoutzes was 
known among Byzantines as "the Ethiopian".[3] Whatever his exact ancestry, he 
shared ethnic and geographical origin with the Emperor Basil I the Macedonian, a 
factor that probably played an important role in his ascent to high office during the 
latter's reign.[2]

In late 882, the young Leo, Basil's second son and heir after the death of his elder 
brother Constantine in 879, was wedded to Theophano, a member of the Martinakes 
family. The bride was the choice of empress Eudokia Ingerina, and did not please Leo, 
who instead preferred the company of Zoe Zaoutzaina, the beautiful daughter of 
Stylianos Zaoutzes. Whether Zoe was actually his mistress is uncertain; Leo himself 
strenuously denied this in later accounts.[4] At that point, Zaoutzes held the post of 
mikros hetaireiarches, i.e. commander of the junior regiment of the Byzantine 
emperor's mercenary bodyguard, the hetaireia.[5] Leo's relations with his father Basil 
were always strained, and when Theophano informed him of this affair, Basil reportedly 
became enraged, beat Leo until he bled, and married Zoe off to one Theodore 
Gouzouniates.[6] Furthermore, in 883, Leo was denounced as plotting against Basil 
and was imprisoned; it was only through the intervention of patriarch Photios and 
Stylianos Zaoutzes that he was not also blinded.[7] This affair does not seem to have 
hurt Zaoutzes's own standing with Basil or his career, for by the end of Basil's reign he 
was protospatharios and megas hetaireiarches (senior commander of the hetaireia).[1]

Rise to prominence[edit]

Leo spent three years in prison, until released and restored to his rank in late July 
886. Here too Zaoutzes played a major role, as he personally pleaded with the 
Byzantine emperor to secure Leo's release.[8] By that time, Basil was ailing, and on 
August 12, 886, he was gravely wounded during a hunt. Zaoutzes's participation in 
the hunt raised suspicions of a conspiracy, but his complicity is generally rejected, as 
Basil survived for nine days, during which he did not punish Zaoutzes.[9] Upon Basil's 
death, Leo was crowned emperor, but Zaoutzes, who was awarded the titles of 
patrikios and magistros and the office of logothetes tou dromou, effectively assumed 
control of the government, directing state policy.[1] One tradition, based on the Vita 
Euthymii (the hagiography of Patriarch Euthymios I), holds that Basil himself appointed 
Zaoutzes as regent (epitropos), but other sources indicate that his ascent to power 
was more gradual.[10] It is indicative of his authority that most of Leo's ordinances 
(novels) are directed to him in person, and in 893, he succeeded in getting his 
protégé, Antony Kauleas, elected as Patriarch of Constantinople.[11] In the same 
period (between 886 and 893), Emperor Leo VI himself delivered a homily on a church 
built on Zaoutzes's orders in Constantinople.[12]

The Bulgarian victory at Bulgarophygon in 896 (bottom). The account of the Vita 
Euthymii holds Zaoutzes and his corrupt clients responsible for the outbreak of the 
war, which saw several heavy Byzantine defeats.
Zaoutzes's rise to prominence was consolidated in 891–893, when he was given the 
newly created title of basileopator ("father of the emperor").[13] His promotion to this 
new and enigmatic title has been a subject of controversy, as neither the reasons for 
the creation of the title nor its exact functions are known. The early date of his 
elevation precludes a relation to the eventual rise of his daughter Zoe to the imperial 
throne as Leo's empress. Gratitude for Zaoutzes's support against Basil may have 
played a role, and a common theory is that the office implied some form of tutorship 
over the emperor.[14] The office certainly confirmed Zaoutzes as the senior secular 
official of the Byzantine Empire. However, although Zaoutzes has traditionally been 
regarded as an all-powerful regent over a weak emperor, in no small part due to the 
account provided in the Vita Euthymii, the actual relationship between the two may 
have been quite different. A more careful evaluation of the source material has led 
modern scholarship to conclude that Leo was actively involved in government, and 
that Zaoutzes as chief minister was loyal and obsequious to his master.[15]

An assessment of his record as the Byzantine Empire's first minister is difficult. Of the 
few available sources on his career, the Vita Euthymii, compiled years after Zaoutzes's 
death, is extremely hostile, seeking to pin the responsibility for several of the reign's 
failures or unpopular decisions on him, and thus preserve Leo from blame.[16] The 
account of the Vita is further colored by the fierce rivalry between Zaoutzes and 
Euthymios, then a synkellos and Leo's spiritual father, over influence on the Byzantine 
emperor.[17] Thus the Vita accuses Zaoutzes of being responsible for the sacking of 
the successful general Nikephoros Phokas the Elder from the army, as well as for the 
outbreak of hostilities with Bulgaria in 893: allegedly, two of his protégés moved the 
main market for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessalonica and then 
proceeded to extract exorbitant fees from the Bulgarian merchants. When Leo, at the 
behest of Zaoutzes, rejected the merchants' protests, the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I 
found a pretext to attack Byzantium.[1][18] It has, however, been recently suggested 
by the scholar Paul Magdalino that the transfer was in fact Leo's initiative, aiming to 
enrich Thessalonica, whose patron saint, Saint Demetrius, he showed special favor 
to.[19]

Fall from favor and death[edit]

Samonas revealing Basil's plot against Leo VI. Miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
Nevertheless, all this has led to the enduring image of an ineffectual leadership in 
foreign and military affairs under Zaoutzes.[20] This may explain why, despite the 
resumption of Leo's affair with Zoe, the relationship between Zaoutzes and the 
emperor became strained: tales of an alleged plot by Zaoutzes's son to murder Leo in 
894/895 indicate a rift between the two, and although Zaoutzes himself was not 
involved, a major quarrel between them ensued shortly after.[21] Although they were 
reconciled, Zaoutzes's standing seems to have declined further thereafter, as two of 
his protégés, found guilty of accepting bribes, were punished by Leo.[22] 
Nevertheless, in late summer 898, following the death of Theophano in December 865 
or 866 and of Zoe's first husband Gouzouniates in early 898, Leo at last married Zoe, 
raising her to Augusta. In the next year, however, both Zoe and Stylianos died.[23] 
Following their deaths, Leo proposed to marry yet again, choosing Eudokia Baïana as 
his wife. Zaoutzes's numerous relatives, who had benefited from his patronage, were 
fearful of losing their positions to the new Empress's relations, and conspired to 
overthrow Leo. Chief among them was Basil, Zoe's nephew. The plot, however, was 
betrayed by the eunuch servant Samonas, and the conspiracy suppressed. The 
Zaoutzes relatives were exiled or confined to monasteries, and the clan's power 
broken.[1][24] Samonas himself was richly rewarded: he was taken into the imperial 
service and rapidly promoted, becoming parakoimomenos by 908, before he too fell 
from favor.[25]

Parents
____ Tzautzes ()
----- ----- ()

Siblings
TZAUTZES Stylianos (ABT  825 -  899)

Marriage To ----- ----- ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- 
ZAOUTZAINA Zoe (ABT  855 - May  899)

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