Physical punisment of Byzantine rulers: VII–XV century

Abstract

In this paper you will see the punishments conducted upon the Byzantine emperors and heirs to the throne. The main goal of these medieval punishments was to cause physical damage to a person who would be forever denied of the Byzantine throne. According to Byzantine historians and chroniclers there were more emperors who died a violent death and cruel punishments than those who died of natural causes. Based on the statistics, among 88 emperors, 37 died naturally, 3 of them lost their lives in accidents, 5 of them died violently, and 13 of them retreated to monastery cells.