CHAPTER XI. INMATES OF THE PRISON OF ANEMAS.

Michael Anemas, the first to occupy the prison, and from whom it obtained its name, [543] was a descendant of Emir Abd-el-Aziz ben Omar ben Choaib, known in Byzantine history as Courapas, and famous as the defender of Crete, when Nicephoras Phocas wrested that island from the Saracens, in the reign of Romanus II. [544]

Upon the return of the victorious troops to the capital, the Emir and his family were carried to Constantinople to grace the triumph with which the success of Nicephorus was celebrated. And as the vanquished chief, his wives, his eldest son Anemas, and other members of his family, all clothed in long white robes, passed along the triumphal way in chains, the dignity of their demeanour attracted universal attention, and produced a most favourable impression. To the credit of the conquerors, be it said, the Emir was, thereafter, treated with all due regard and generosity. He received a large estate in the neighbourhood of the capital, and was allowed to end his days in peace, surrounded by his friends, and unmolested on account of his faith. Had he seen his way to renounce the creed of his fathers he would have been created a senator.

His son Anemas embraced Christianity, entered the army of the Empire, and took part in the war against the Russians during the reign of Zimisces, when he distinguished himself by his bravery, and fell in battle in personal encounter with Swiatoslaf, the Russian king.

A martial spirit continued to characterize the family in subsequent generations, and was not least conspicuous in Michael Anemas and his three brothers, the representatives of the race under Alexius Comnenus. But they allowed themselves to become involved in a conspiracy against that emperor, and upon the discovery of the plot were condemned to imprisonment and the loss of their eyes.

To accompany the infliction of punishment with every circumstance that could humiliate the criminal, and excite popular contempt and derision was after the heart of those times. Accordingly, Michael Anemas and his companions, attired in sacking, with their beards plucked out, their heads shorn and crowned with the horns and the intestines of oxen and sheep, were led forth, mounted sideways on oxen, and in this guise, conducted first around the court of the Great Palace, and then along the Mesè of the city, crowded with excited spectators. But the appearance of the guilty men excited commiseration rather than ridicule. The agony of Michael, as he implored to be put to death rather than to suffer blindness, touched all hearts. Even Anna Comnena, who witnessed the scene, and whose filial sentiments might have hardened her heart against the conspirators, was so deeply affected that she determined to do all in her power to save Michael from the cruel loss of his eyes. Finding her mother, Anna brought her to the harrowing spectacle, certain it would have the desired effect. The empress was overwhelmed to tears, and hastening back to the palace, prevailed upon Alexius to spare the prisoners’ sight. By this time the unhappy men were approaching the Amastrianon, a public place where stood an arch on which was a bas-relief representing two hands pierced by a spear. Once a criminal on his way to execution passed that point he was beyond the reach of the Imperial clemency. A few moments more, and the messenger of mercy sent by Alexius would have been too late. But just before the doomed men reached the fatal point, the order for the mitigation of their sentence was delivered, and Anemas was simply imprisoned in the tower which was to perpetuate his name. There he remained for a considerable period; but at length was pardoned and set free. [545]

Before Anemas was released, another notable personage was committed to the tower, Georgius, Duke of Trebizond, who attempted, in 1107, to establish the independence of his province; as though to anticipate the creation of the Empire of Trebizond in the thirteenth century.

He proved a refractory prisoner, venting his rage in unceasing imprecations upon the head of his Imperial master. With the hope of conciliating the rebel, he was repeatedly visited by his old friend, the Cæsar Nicephorus Bryennius, the husband of Anna Comnena. For a long time, however, all friendly overtures proved unavailing. But at last the tedium of protracted confinement broke the prisoner’s spirit, and induced him to submit; upon which he was liberated, and loaded with wealth and honours. [546]

Chamber in “The Prison of Anemas.”

Chamber in “The Prison of Anemas.”

The next inmate of the tower was the Emperor Andronicus Comnenus, of infamous memory, upon his capture after his flight from the insurrection which his vices and tyranny had provoked in the capital, in 1185. To Andronicus imprisonment was no new experience, for already, during the reign of Manuel Comnenus, he had been imprisoned twice elsewhere. On both these occasions, however, he had succeeded in effecting his escape. But the prison of Anemas was to prove his last, and he quitted it, only to die at the hands of his infuriated subjects. On the eve of his execution he was bound with chains about the neck and feet, like some wild animal, and dragged into the presence of his successor, Isaac Angelus, to be subjected to every indignity. He was reviled, beaten, struck on the mouth; he had his hair and beard plucked, his teeth knocked out, his right hand struck off with an axe, and then was sent back to his cell, and left there without food or water or attention of any kind for several days. When brought forth for execution, he was dressed like a slave, blinded of one eye, mounted upon a mangy camel, and led in mock triumph through the streets of the city to the Hippodrome, amidst a storm of hatred and insult, seldom, if ever, witnessed under similar circumstances in a civilized community. At the Hippodrome he was hung by the feet on the architrave of two short columns which stood beside the figures of a wolf and a hyena, his natural associates. But neither his pitiable condition, nor his quiet endurance of pain, nor his pathetic cry, “Kyrie Eleison, Why dost Thou break the bruised reed?” excited the slightest commiseration. Additional and indescribable insults were heaped upon the fallen tyrant, until his agony was brought to an end by three men who plunged their swords into his body, to exhibit their dexterity in the use of arms. [547]

In the course of the following century a different personage figured in the history of the prison. This was Veccus, Chartophylax of St. Sophia at the time of his confinement, and subsequently Patriarch of Constantinople. [548] He incurred the displeasure of Michael Palæologus by opposing the union of the Eastern and Western Churches, through which the emperor hoped to secure the goodwill and assistance of the Pope in maintaining the newly recovered throne of Constantinople. Before an assembly convened to discuss the question in the presence of Michael, Veccus, who had been appointed the spokesman of the opponents of the Imperial policy on account of his abilities, denounced the Latins as heretics with whom ecclesiastical communion was simply impossible. The emperor resented the affront, but, unwilling to make it the official ground of proceedings against the popular champion of orthodoxy, sought other reasons for punishing him. Accordingly, he accused Veccus of having thwarted the marriage which had been arranged between the Princess Anna and the second son of the Kral of Servia; another of Michael’s measures to make his position secure.

The charge had some foundation. For upon the completion of the negotiations for the marriage, the bride-elect had started for her destined home under the care of Veccus and of the Patriarch of Constantinople. But when the party reached Berœa, Veccus, acting on the private instructions of the empress, left Anna and the patriarch, and pushed forward to investigate the character and manners of the people among whom the princess was to cast her lot. The primitive and boorish ways of the Servian Court did not commend themselves to Veccus, as a suitable environment for a lady brought up in the palaces of Constantinople. The splendour of the tent which Veccus occupied was lost upon the Kral; while the eunuchs in the household of the Byzantine princess shocked the sovereign’s unsophisticated mind. Pointing to the wife of his elder son, simply attired, and busy spinning wool, the rough monarch exclaimed, “That is how we treat our brides!” Nor was Veccus more favourably impressed by other experiences. The embassy which the Kral sent to welcome the bride-elect was robbed on the journey by brigands; and the Byzantine envoys awoke one morning to find that all their fine horses had been stolen during the night. Under these circumstances, Veccus thought the wisest course was to conduct Anna back to Constantinople; [549] and for this action Michael now saw fit to prosecute him.

But the court which was appointed to try Veccus declined to judge a priest in the service of the patriarch without that prelate’s orders; and as such orders were not forthcoming, the trial could not proceed. At this juncture, Veccus had an interview with the emperor and proposed, for the sake of peace, to resign office and emoluments, and to go into exile. Michael did not condescend a reply. Whereupon the Chartophylax, fearing the worst, sought asylum in the Church of St. Sophia, and there awaited the Imperial decision. He was soon summoned to appear again before the emperor, the order being written in vermilion ink, as a mark of esteem and a pledge of personal safety. But on the road to the palace he was treacherously arrested, and carried off to the prison of Anemas under charge of the Varangian guards.

With Veccus out of the way, Michael pushed the matter of the union of the churches more hopefully, and in furtherance of the Imperial policy caused a list of passages favourable to the orthodox character of the Latin Church to be compiled from the writings of theologians of repute, and submitted to the patriarch and his clergy for consideration. The patriarch replied by presenting a list of counter passages, and the situation remained what it had been before Veccus was imprisoned. Thereupon the suggestion was made that the first list should be forwarded to the cell of the Chartophylax. Such a man, it was urged, would never alter his views unless convinced by reason. The suggestion was adopted, and after reading the extracts, Veccus acknowledged that the argument for the union of the Churches was stronger than he had hitherto believed. His mind, however, he added, could not be satisfied on the point at issue by the perusal of isolated passages, torn from their connection, and he therefore begged permission to study the works from which the extracts submitted to him had been taken, pleading as an excuse that he was more versed in the writings of classic authors than in patristic learning. Upon this he was released, and provided with the books necessary for the full prosecution of his inquiries.

The result was that, ere long, he found himself in agreement with the emperor, and the scheme for the union of the Churches was pursued with renewed ardour. Delegates proceeded from Constantinople to the Council assembled at Lyons, and there on June 29, 1274, the two great divisions of Christendom were formally united. On the second day of June in the following year Veccus was elevated to the patriarchal throne. [550]

It is natural to suspect that the prison of Anemas had a share in the conversion of Veccus. But the historian Pachymeres ascribes the change to candour of judgment and sincere love of the truth. Certain it is that Veccus suffered for the views he adopted, and died twenty-five years later in the prison of the Castle of St. Gregorius, near Helenopolis (Yalova), a martyr to his convictions. [551]

The Tower of Anemas was probably also the prison to which the Despot Michael was committed by Andronicus II. on the charge of treason. He had been created Despot by Michael Palæologus, and was married to the Princess Anna, above mentioned, after the failure of the Servian marriage to which reference has been made. Upon her death, he fell into disgrace at the Court for marrying a daughter of the Bulgarian king Terter, the repudiated wife of the King of Servia. To this he added treasonable offences, and was, therefore, confined with his wife and children in the prison attached to the Great Palace. On attempting to escape, he was removed to the prison at Blachernæ [552] for greater security.

Another inmate of the prison of Anemas was Syrghiannes, a political adventurer conspicuous for his intrigues during the struggle between Andronicus II. and Andronicus III., taking sometimes the one side and sometimes the other.

He had been immured elsewhere for five years on the charge of conspiracy to assassinate the elder emperor, but in 1322, at the instance of John Cantacuzene, then Grand Domestic, he was transferred to the Tower of Anemas as a more tolerable place of confinement, in the hope of conciliating him; and there he was permitted to receive visits from his mother, and even to have his wife and children with him. [553] Ultimately he was released, but the old spirit was too strong to be vanquished by suffering or by kindness. He returned to a life of intrigue and rebellion, and his career was closed by the hands of assassins.

Later in the century, members of the Imperial family were once more imprisoned in the Tower of Anemas, under circumstances which afford a vivid picture of an empire weakened by domestic feuds, and distracted by the rival ambitions of foreign powers that were awaiting its dissolution, and ready to appropriate its territories.

There John VI. Palæologus imprisoned his eldest son Andronicus, and there, upon the escape of the latter, he was himself imprisoned with his two younger sons, Manuel and Theodore.

Andronicus had been excluded from the succession to the throne, on account, it is said, of his indifference to the financial straits of his father, when the latter was detained at Venice for inability to meet the demands of creditors. The disinherited prince, seeking an opportunity for revenge, found a kindred spirit in a son of Amurath I., Saoudji, who was jealous of his younger brother Bajazet, because he was the Sultan’s favourite child. The two princes, bound by a common grievance, joined forces to supplant their respective parents on the throne, and raised the standard of revolt. Amurath crushed the rebellion with remorseless severity, and after putting out the eyes of his own son, called upon the emperor to punish Andronicus in the same manner. Andronicus was consequently committed to the Tower of Anemas, along with his wife and his son John, a child only five years old, and there he and his little boy underwent the operation of being blinded. The cruel deed was, however, performed so imperfectly that Andronicus recovered the use of one eye, while his son suffered only from a squint. Two years were thus passed in the tower, after which the prisoners were released, either through the intervention of the Genoese, at the price of the concession to them of the island of Tenedos, or in compliance with the demand of Bajazet.

Entrance of Passage From The Stairway in “The Tower of Anemas” To Chamber D In “The Tower of Isaac Angelus.”

Entrance of Passage From The Stairway in “The Tower of Anemas” To Chamber D In “The Tower of Isaac Angelus.” (For this view I am indebted to the late Dr. Ledyard.)

Free to act, Andronicus made terms both with the Sultan and the Genoese, and relying upon their favour, suddenly appeared before the capital. As the emperor and his son Manuel happened to be staying at the Palace of the Pegè, outside the walls, they were easily captured, and upon the surrender of the city they were, in their turn, sent, along with Theodore, to the Tower of Anemas, “as Zeus cast his father Chronos and his brothers Pluto and Poseidon into the nether world.”

Corridor in the Original Western Terrace Wall of the Palace of Blachernæ (Looking South-West).

Corridor in the Original Western Terrace Wall of the Palace of Blachernæ (Looking South-West). (See Plan facing page 131 .)

Bajazet advised Andronicus to establish his position by putting the prisoners to death, but to that depth of inhumanity the rebellious son would not descend. Matters remained in this condition for two years, and then the captives managed to escape. Precisely how they found their way out of the tower is a question upon which authorities differ. According to Phrantzes, it was by some deception practised on their Bulgarian guards. Ducas ascribes the escape to the skill of a certain Angelus, surnamed Diabolus, and known by the soubriquet of Diabol-angelus; but whether the deliverance was effected through the angelic power or the satanic cunning of the man, the historian is unable to decide. Chalcocondylas says that the Imperial captives broke through the walls of their dungeon with an iron tool, furnished by the servant who brought their food. According to Venetian authorities, two ineffectual attempts to save the emperor were made by Carlo Zen, on the condition that the island of Tenedos would be granted to the Republic of Venice, thus rescinding the concession of the island to the Genoese by Andronicus. The first attempt, it is said, failed because the emperor refused to escape without his sons; the second, owing to the detection of the plot to deliver him. [554] Once out of prison, John Palæologus and his son Manuel repaired to the Court of Bajazet, prevailed upon him to espouse their cause, and so compelled Andronicus to surrender the throne. [555]

Thus the history of the Tower of Anemas reflects the civil broils, the tyranny, the ecclesiastical dissensions, the political feebleness, and the inability to withstand foreign aggression, which marked the decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire.