Johannes Komnenos (son of Andronikos I)

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Johannes Komnenos ( Middle Greek Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός ; * August / September 1159 in Constantinople ; † shortly after September 12, 1185 in Thrace ) was a Byzantine co-emperor from 1184 until his death .

Life

Johannes was the second eldest (legitimate) son of the future emperor Andronikos Kommenos and his first wife, who was not known by name. He was conceived in prison in 1158, just before his father managed to escape from prison, which was imposed on him in 1155 after a failed usurpation attempt .

Johannes and his older brother Manuel were brought up at the court of Emperor Manuel I , but Johannes stayed with his father in Oinaion for a while. When, after Manuel's death in 1180, the imperial widow Maria of Antioch, together with her favorite, Protosebastus Alexios Komnenus , took over the reign of their underage son Alexios II , Andronikos Komnenus again registered claims to the throne from Asia Minor. Johannes and Manuel were then put in chains, but were released again when their father moved into Constantinople in May 1182 and took power. Andronikos was initially officially satisfied with the rank of co-regent next to Alexios II. However, this arrangement was terminated the following year when Andronikos had the young emperor and his mother killed.

Johannes Komnenos was raised to co-emperor by his father, who was now the highest-ranking basileus , after the presumptive heir to the throne, his brother-in-law Alexios Komnenos , fell out of favor and was imprisoned because of an attempted coup. Johannes' brother Manuel, although the much older one, still had to be content with the rank of sebastocrator . In the summer of 1185, Johannes commanded one of the four divisions that Andronikos I sent into the field against the Normans advancing on Constantinople under the pretender Alexios Komnenos .

In contrast to his brother, Johannes apparently took an active part in her father's reign of terror, which ultimately led to his violent overthrow by the usurper Isaac Angelos in September 1185 : Andronikos I was cruelly lynched by the angry capital mob . When news of the emperor's death reached the troops in Philippopel , John was also deposed as co-emperor and blinded ; he died a little later from his serious injuries. His brother Manuel, whom Andronikos I wanted to appoint as heir to the throne at the last moment, suffered the same fate.

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literature

  • Κωνσταντίνος Βαρζός: Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών (= Βυζαντινά Κείμενα και Μελέται. Τ. 20β , ZDB ID 420491-8 ). Τόμος Β '. Κέντρο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών - ΑΠΘ, Θεσσαλονίκη 1984, pp. 528-532 No. 162, digitized version (PDF; 45 MB) .
  • Jan-Louis van Dieten: Niketas Choniates. Explanations of the speeches and letters together with a biography. (= Supplementa Byzantina . Vol. 2). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1971, ISBN 978-3-11-002290-2 , pp. 116, 120.
  • Harry J. Magoulias: Andronikos I Komnenos: A Greek Tragedy . In: Byzantina Symmeikta 21, 2011, ISSN  1791-4884 , pp. 101-136 ( online ).
  • Alicia Simpson: Niketas Choniates. A Historiographical Study. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-0-19-967071-0 , p. 53.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Johannes Komnenos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός (Middle Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine co-emperor, son of Andronikos I.
DATE OF BIRTH August 1159 or September 1159
PLACE OF BIRTH Constantinople
DATE OF DEATH on September 12, 1185
Place of death Thrace