Staurakios 2

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE IX
Dates803 (taq) / 812 (ob.)
Variant NamesStwryky
LocationsAdrianoupolis (Macedonia);
Constantinople;
Ta Hebraika (Monastery of) (burialplace)
OccupationMonk
TitlesAugustus (office);
Emperor (office)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Chronicon anonymi ad annum 813 pertinens, Fragmenta, ed. E. W. Brooks, CSCO 6, Scriptores Syri 6 (Louvain, 1907; repr 1960), pp. 183-196 (chronicle);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle);
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838) (history);
Vita A Theodori Studitae, Auctore Theodoro Daphnopate? (BHG 1755), PG 99. 113-232 (hagiography);
Vita B Theodori Studitae, Auctore Michaele Monacho Studita (BHG 1754), PG. 99. 233-328 (hagiography);
Vita C Theodori Studitae, Auctore Incerto (BHG 1755d), ed. B. Latyshev, "Vita S. Theodori Studitae in codice Mosquensi musei Rumianzoviani no 520", VV 21 (1914), pp. 258-304 (hagiography);
Vita Ignatii Patriarchae, by Nicetas (BHG 817), PG 105.488-574) (hagiography);
Vita Petri Atroensis, by Sabas the monk (BHG 2364), ed. V. Laurent, La Vie merveilleuse de Saint Pierre d'Atroa, Subsidia Hagiographica 29 (Brussels, 1956) (hagiography);
Vita Retractata Petri Atroensis, by Sabas the monk (BHG 2365), ed. V. Laurent, La Vita retractata et les miracles posthumes de Saint Pierre d'Atroa, Subsidia Hagiographica 31 (Brussels, 1958) (hagiography);
Vita Theophylacti Archiepiscopi Nicomediae, (BHG 2451), ed. A. Vogt, "S. Théophylacte de Nicomédie", Anal. Boll. 50 (1932), pp. 71-82 (hagiography);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)
Seal SourcesZacos, G. and Veglery, A., Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. I (in 3 parts) (Basel, 1972).

Staurakios 2 was the son of the emperor Nikephoros I (Nikephoros 8): Theoph. AM 6296 (ἔστεψε Νικηφόρος τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Σταυράκιον), Theoph. AM 6300 (Σταυράκιον, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ), Theoph. AM 6303 (Σταυρακίῳ, τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ), Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 489C (τοῦ υἱοῦ), Theoph. Cont. I 4 (p. 11) , Scyl., p. 5, Zon. XV 14.13 (ἔστεψε δὲ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Σταυράκιον ὁ Νικηφόρος), Vita S. Theophylacti 10, Chron. 1234, §193 (II, p. 8), Vita A Theod. Stud. 164CD (Σταυρακίου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ), Vita B Theod. Stud. 272C (Σταυρακίου υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ), Vita C Theod. Stud. §32, p. 277 (Σταυρακίου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ). He had a sister, Prokopia 1: Theoph. AM 6303 (Προκοπίαν, τὴν ἰδίαν ἀδελφήν), Theoph. AM 6304 (καὶ τῇ ἀδελφῇ), Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 489C (τοῦ υἱοῦ Σταυρακίου ... μεταναστάντος, Μιχαὴλ ..., ἅτε γαμβρὸς ὢν ἐπὶ θυγατρὶ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Νικηφόρου), Zon. XV 16.2-3 (Ὁ Σταυράκιος ... Μιχαὴλ, ᾧ Ῥαγγαβὲ ... γαμβρῷ αὐτοῦ ὄντι ἐπὶ Προκοπίᾳ τῇ ἀδελφῇ). Husband of Theophano 1: Theoph. AM 6300 (εἰς τὸ ζεῦξαι Σταυράκιον ... ποιησάμενος, Θεοφανὼ τὴν Ἀθηναίαν), Theoph. AM 6303 (τῇ γαμετῇ), Theoph. AM 6304 (τὴν δὲ γαμετὴν Σταυρακίου Θεοφανὼ), Zon. XV 14.19 (τῷ δὲ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Σταυρακίῳ ἀγαγέσθαι γυναῖκα ὁ βασιλεὺς βουληθεὶς Θεοφανὼ τὴν Ἀθηναίαν). He was related to the monk Symeon 2: Theoph. AM 6304 (Συμεὼν μοναχοῦ συγγενοῦς αὐτοῦ). His father had him crowned emperor (ἔστεψε ... εἰς βασιλέα) by the patriarch Tarasios 1 in December 803; according to Theophanes (a strongly hostile source) he was completely unsuitable for the role, in appearance, strength and intelligence: Theoph. AM 6296, Zon. XV 14. 13. On 20 December 807, following a bride show arranged by his father, Staurakios 2 was married to Theophano 1: Theoph. AM 6300. Joint emperor with Nikephoros I: Vita Petr. Atr. 11, 12 (p. 97), Vita Retractata 19 (p. 97). They were joint emperors for eight years seven months: Theoph. Cont. I 4 (p. 11).

In 811 he accompanied his father on the fatal expedition against the Bulgars and was himself mortally wounded in the battle in which his father was killed (on 26 July); after the battle he went to Adrianople, where he was proclaimed emperor (ἀνηγόρευσε Σταυράκιον αὐτοκράτορα); gravely ill from his wounds, he was conveyed on a litter to Constantinople: Theoph. AM 6303, cf. Theoph. Cont. I 4 (pp. 11-12) (fatally wounded in the battle, he survived for two months eight days and died (but see below) on 2 October), Scyl., p. 5 (wounded and taken to Constantinople, after two months he resigned the throne and died), Zon. XV 15. 15, 15. 17, 16. 1, 17. 5 (two months six days of his reign), Chron. 1234, §200 (II, p. 13) (he died from wounds sustained while fighting the Bulgars). Wounded in battle, he returned to Constantinople and was succeeded by Michael 7 (the emperor Michael I) after two months: Vita A Theod. Stud. 164CD, Vita B Theod. Stud. 272C, Vita C Theod. Stud. §32, p. 277. After the proclamation of Michael I (Michael 7) as emperor (2 October 811), he took the tonsure and assumed the dress of a monk; he died on 11 January 812 (indiction 5), after a nominal reign (τὸ δοκεῖν) of two months six days, and was buried in a monastery founded after their overthrow by his wife Theophano 1, called Ta Hebraïka, in Constantinople; Theoph. AM 6304, Zon. XV 16. 3, 17. 5-7 (according to Zonaras, the monastery was originally named after Staurakios; this was popularly corrupted to Braka, which in turn was changed by learned scholars to Hebraïka). He allegedly schemed against Michael 7 at first, hoping that his wife would succeed to the throne, but when Michael 7 was proclaimed emperor he took the tonsure and became a monk: Zon. XV 16. 2-3. Son and successor of Nikephoros 8, he soon died and was succeeded by Michael 7: Vita S. Theophylacti 10, Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 489C (τοῦ υἱοῦ δε Σταυρακίου ὀλίγιστον χρόνον ἐπιβιώσαντος τῇ βασιλείᾳ, καὶ αὐτοῦ μεταναστάντος). Said to have been succeeded by "his son Michael": Chron. 1234, §200 (II, p. 13). For his imperial seals, see Zacos and Veglery 44, 45. 46a and b, 47.

Son of the emperor Nikephoros (Nikephoros 8) and brother of Prokopia 1; he succeeded to the throne on his father's death in the year 1122 Sel. (810/811); after five months he was mortally wounded in battle with the Bulgars; one story about him was that he was blinded by his sister (Prokopia 1) in order to secure the throne for her husband Michael I (Michael 7): Bar Hebr., p. 125. Son of the emperor Nikephoros 8 and brother of Prokopia 1; he became emperor after the death of his father; after reigning for five months he was fatally wounded in battle with the Bulgars, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Prokopia 1's husband, Michael 7; according to one version, she poisoned him so that her husband could become emperor: Chron. 813, p. 259, 22-260, 8 = p. 196.

(Publishable link for this person: )