Alexios II Komnenos
| Alexios II Komnenos | |
|---|---|
Byzantine emperor | |
| Reign | 24 September 1180 – September 1183 |
| Coronation | 1171 as co-emperor |
| Predecessor | Manuel I Komnenos |
| Successor | Andronikos I Komnenos |
| Born | 14 September 1169 Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) |
| Died | September 1183 (aged 14) Constantinople |
| Spouse |
Anna of France (m. 1180) |
| Dynasty | Komnenos |
| Father | Manuel I Komnenos |
| Mother | Maria of Antioch |
Alexios II Komnenos (
Biography
Early years
Regency of Maria and Alexios
When Manuel I died in September 1180, Alexios II succeeded him as emperor. At this time, however, he was an uneducated boy with only amusement in mind. The imperial regency was then undertaken by the dowager empress and the prōtosebastos Alexios Komnenos (a namesake cousin of Alexios II), who was popularly believed to be her lover.[4][3]: 64
The regents depleted the imperial treasury by granting privileges to Italian merchants and to the Byzantine aristocracy. When Béla III of Hungary and Kilij Arslan II of Rum began raiding within the Byzantine western and eastern borders respectively, the regents were forced to ask for help to the pope and to Saladin. Furthermore, a party supporting Alexios II's right to reign, led by his half-sister Maria Komnene and her husband the caesar John, stirred up riots in the streets of the capital.[4][3]: 64
The regents managed to defeat the party on April 1182,[3]: 64 but Andronikos Komnenos, a first cousin of Manuel I, took advantage of the disorder to aim at the crown. He entered Constantinople, received with almost divine honours, and overthrew the government. His arrival was celebrated by a massacre of the Latins in Constantinople, especially the Venetian merchants, which he made no attempt to stop.[4][3]: 64
Regency of Andronikos and death
On 16 May 1182 Andronikos, posing as Alexios' protector, officially restored him on the throne.: 64 while Empress Dowager Maria was put in prison.
In 1183, Alexios was compelled to condemn his own mother to death. In September 1183, Andronikos was formally proclaimed emperor before the crowd on the terrace of the
: 641In the years following Alexios' mysterious disappearance, many young men resembling him tried to claim the throne. In the end, none of those pseudo-Alexioi managed to become emperor.[6]: 641–2
Portrayal in fiction
Alexios is a character in the historical novel Agnes of France (1980) by Greek writer Kostas Kyriazis. The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II, and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes.
Notes
- ^ Alternative dates of birth are 10 September 1169,[4] or a more vague 1168, based on William of Tyre's statement that Alexios was 13 in 1180[5]
References
- S2CID 193204437
- ISBN 0-8143-1764-2, p. 383
- ^ ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- ^ a b c d e f One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bury, John Bagnell (1911). "Alexius II.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 577.
- ^ van Dieten, J. L., ed. (1975), Nicetae Choniatae historia, Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 169
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-41411-1.
Further reading
- Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014. ISBN 978-1-78093-767-0
- ISBN 0-521-52653-1.
- Plate, William (1867), "Alexios II Komnenos", in William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 130
- Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Byzantine Research Centre., Vols. A1, A2 & B
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
