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Byzantine Emperor, Constantine IX Monomachos, St. Sophia, Istanbul, 20th century. Byzantine emperor from June 11, 1042 to January 11, 1055. Chosen by Empress Zoe as a husband and co-emperor in 1042, although exiled for conspiring against her previous husband, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian. They ruled together until Zoe died in 1050. Constantine favored the nobility (dynatoi), granting generous tax immunities to major landowners and the church. He was was a patron of the arts and literature.