query: place_of_death zoe karbonopsina
supports: The Macedonian dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest expanse since the Muslim conquests, and the Macedonian Renaissance in letters and arts began. The dynasty was named after its founder, Basil I the Macedonian who came from the Theme of Macedonia which at the time was part of Thrace. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" (that is, born in the purple marble slab-paneled imperial bed chambers 1718 May 905  9 November 959), was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959. He was the son of the emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor, the emperor Alexander. Leo VI, called the Wise or the Philosopher ("Len VI ho Sophos", 19 September 866  11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well-read, leading to his surname. During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun by his predecessor Basil I, continued; but the Empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against Bulgaria and against the Arabs in Sicily and the Aegean. Zoe Karbonopsina , also Karvounopsina or Carbonopsina , i.e. , `` with the Coal - Black Eyes '' ( Greek :   , Z Karbnopsina ) , was fourth wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and the mother of Constantine VII. Zoe Karbonopsina was a relative of the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor and a niece of the admiral Himerios . Desperate to sire a son , Leo VI married his mistress Zoe on 9 January 906 , only after she had given birth to the future Constantine VII at the end of 905 . However , this constituted his fourth marriage , and was therefore un-canonical in the eyes of the Eastern Orthodox Church , which had already been reluctant to accept his third marriage to Eudokia Baïana , who died in childbirth in 901 . Although the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos reluctantly baptised Constantine , he forbade the emperor from marrying for the fourth time . Leo VI married Zoe with the assistance of a cooperative priest , Thomas , but Nicholas ' continued opposition to the marriage led to his removal from office and replacement by Euthymios in 907 . The new patriarch attempted a compromise by defrocking the offending priest but recognizing the marriage . When Leo died in 912 , he was succeeded by his younger brother Alexander , who recalled Nicholas Mystikos and expelled Zoe from the palace . Shortly before his death Alexander provoked a war with Bulgaria . She returned on Alexander 's death in 913 , but Nicholas forced her to enter a convent after obtaining the promise of the senate and the clergy not to accept her as empress . However , Nicholas ' unpopular concessions to the Bulgarians later in the same year weakened his position and in 914 Zoe was able to overthrow Nicholas and replace him as regent . Nicholas was allowed to remain patriarch after reluctantly recognizing her as empress . Zoe governed with the support of imperial bureaucrats and the influential general Leo Phokas the Elder , who was her favorite . Zoe 's first order of business was to revoke the concessions to Simeon I of Bulgaria , including the recognition of his imperial title and the arranged marriage between his daughter and Constantine VII. This renewed the war with Bulgaria , which began badly for the Byzantines who were distracted by military operations in Southern Italy and on the eastern frontier . In 915 Zoe 's troops defeated an Arab invasion of Armenia , and made peace with the Arabs . This freed her hands to organize a major expedition against the Bulgarians , who had raided deep into Byzantine Thrace and captured Adrianople . The campaign was planned on a grand scale , and intended the bribing and transportation of Pechenegs into Bulgaria by the imperial fleet from the north . However , the Pecheneg alliance failed , and Leo Phokas was crushingly defeated in the Battle of Anchialus and again at Katasyrtai in 917 . Zoe tried to ally with Serbia and the Magyars against Simeon . This also failed to produce any concrete results , and the Arabs , encouraged by the empire 's weakness , renewed their raids . A humiliating treaty with the Arabs of Sicily , who were asked to help subdue revolts in Italy , did little to improve the position of Zoe and her supporters . In 919 , there was a coup involving various factions , but the opposition to Zoe and Leo Phokas prevailed ; in the end the admiral Romanos Lekapenos took power , married his daughter Helena Lekapene to Constantine VII , and forced Zoe back into a convent . Basil I, called the Macedonian ("Basíleios  Makedn"; 811  August 29, 886) was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court, and usurped the Imperial throne from Emperor Michael III (r. 842867). Despite his humble origins, he showed great ability in running the affairs of state, leading to a revival of Imperial power and a renaissance of Byzantine art. He was perceived by the Byzantines as one of their greatest emperors, and the Macedonian dynasty, which he founded, ruled over what is regarded as the most glorious and prosperous era of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, which had been founded as Byzantium). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the "Roman Empire" (tr. ), or "Romania", and to themselves as "Romans". Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It constitutes an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, officially referred to as "Regione Siciliana" (in Italian, Sicilian Region). Porphyrogénntos (Latinized as Porphyrogenitus) (literally "born in the purple") was an honorific title in the Byzantine Empire given to a son, or daughter (, Porphyrogénnt, Latinized Porphyrogenita), born "after" the father had become emperor. In addition to this, the birth had to meet other conditions in order for the title to apply.
candidates: alexander august bulgaria byzantine empire constantine constantinople imperial italy mediterranean sea read roman empire sea sicily wise
answer: constantinople