Alexios II (Byzantium)

Alexios II. Komnenos ( Middle Greek Ἀλέξιος Βʹ Κομνηνός ; * September 10, 1167 in Constantinople ; † October 1183 ) was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He was a son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenus and Marias , daughter of Raimund of Antioch .

Life

At Manuel's death in 1180, Maria, who was locked in a convent under the name "Xene", proclaimed herself regent; she handed her son over to advisers who encouraged him in any debauchery, supported the government of Protosebastus (see offices and titles in the Byzantine Empire ) Alexios , a cousin of Alexios II, who was generally considered to be Mary's lover. Young Alexios and his friends tried to unite against the Empress Mother and Protosebastus, and his sister Maria, wife of Caesar Johannes , incited riots in the streets of the capital until they were defeated on May 2, 1182.

Andronikos Komnenos took advantage of this turmoil. He entered Constantinople in May 1182, where he was received with almost divine honors, and overthrew the rulers. His arrival was "celebrated" by a massacre of Latins in the city, including mainly Genoese and Pisan traders, which Andronikos did not stop. He allowed Alexios' coronation, but at the same time forced him to send his friends to their death, including his mother, sister and Caesar Johannes, and denied him any influence in public affairs in the future.

Alexios' engagement in 1180 to Agnes (Anna) , daughter of King Louis VII of France , a nine-year-old child, was dissolved. Andronikos was also formally appointed co-emperor on September 24, 1183. A little later, on the grounds that divided rule was not good for the empire, he ordered Alexios to be strangled with a bowstring ; the order was carried out by Stephanos Hagiochristophorites , the Hetaireiarch Konstantinus Tripsychos and Theodorus Dadibrenos.

literature

• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 1: Aaron - Azarethes . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2007, ISBN 978-2-503-52303-3 , pp. 156-157.

Web links

• Andrew Stone: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references).

predecessor	Office	successor
Manuel I.	Emperor of Byzantium 1180–1183	Andronikos I.