Romanus II (939 - 963) succeeded his father Constantine VII as Byzantine emperor in 959 at the age of twenty-one, and died, poisoned, it was believed, by his wife, Theophanu in 963. As a child he was married to Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, but, with Hugh out of power in Italy and dead in 947, after Bertha died in 949 Romanus secured the promise from his father that he would be allowed to select his own bride. Romanus' choice fell on an innkeeper's daughter named Anastaso, whom he married and renamed Theophano .
He was a pleasure-loving sovereign, but showed judgment in the selection of his ministers. The great event of his reign was the conquest of Crete by Nicephorus Phocas in 961.
Sources
- Ostrogorsky. History of the Byzantine State, 1969.
