Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor (Eastern Roman Empire) from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. 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. His reign also witnessed the formal discontinuation of several ancient Roman institutions, such as the separate office of Roman consul.
 
The future Constantine VII was the illegitimate son born before Leo's uncanonical fourth marriage to Zoe Karbonopsina.[39] To strengthen his son's position as heir, Leo had Constantine crowned as co-emperor on 15 May 908, when he was only two years old.[42] Leo VI died on 11 May 912. He was succeeded by his younger brother Alexander, who had reigned as emperor alongside his father and brother since 879.
Coronation of Constantine VII by Patriarch Euthymius I.
Alexander died thirteen months later, and Constantine succeeded him. Shortly before Constantine reached the age of maturity, one of his regents made himself senior co-emperor as Romanos I. Romanus married his daughter to Constantine, and their son became emperor as Romanos II on Constantine's death in 959.