born Sept. 905, Constantinople
died Nov. 9, 959
Byzantine emperor (913–59).
Coemperor with his father, Leo VI, from 911, he became sole ruler in 913. His father-in-law, Romanus I Lecapenus , was crowned coemperor with him in 920 and soon became the primary ruler. Shut out of government, Constantine devoted himself to scholarship; his writings include works on the Slavic and Turkic peoples and on Byzantine ceremonies. In 944 the sons of Romanus, impatient for power, had their father deported, and the ensuing public outcry emboldened Constantine to banish them in 945; he then ruled alone until his death.