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Birth:          ABT 1048 
Death:          16 Jul 1118 
Burial:         monastery of Philanthropos

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (Greek: ??????? ?' ??΅?????, 1048[3] or 1056 – 15 August 1118), 
was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the founder of the 
Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full 
power. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign 
against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, 
Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and 
territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. The basis for this recovery 
were various reforms initiated by Alexios. His appeals to Western Europe for help 
against the Turks were also the catalyst that likely contributed to the convoking of the 
Crusades.
Life[edit]

Alexios was the son of the Domestic of the Schools John Komnenos and Anna 
Dalassena,[4] and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' 
father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was thus succeeded by 
four emperors of other families between 1059 and 1081. Under one of these emperors, 
Romanos IV Diogenes (1067–1071), Alexios served with distinction against the Seljuq 
Turks.[3] Under Michael VII Doukas Parapinakes (1071–1078) and Nikephoros III 
Botaneiates (1078–1081), he was also employed, along with his elder brother Isaac, 
against rebels in Asia Minor, Thrace, and in Epirus.[5]

In 1074, western mercenaries led by Roussel de Bailleul rebelled in Asia Minor,[6] but 
Alexios successfully subdued them by 1076.[7] In 1078, he was appointed commander 
of the field army in the West by Nikephoros III.[8] In this capacity, Alexios defeated 
the rebellions of Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder (whose son or grandson later married 
Alexios' daughter Anna) and Nikephoros Basilakes, the first at the Battle of Kalavrye 
and the latter in a surprise night attack on his camp.[9] Alexios was ordered to march 
against his brother-in-law Nikephoros Melissenos in Asia Minor but refused to fight his 
kinsman. This did not, however, lead to a demotion, as Alexios was needed to counter 
the expected invasion of the Normans of Southern Italy, led by Robert Guiscard.
***
Personal life[edit]

During the last twenty years of his life Alexios lost much of his popularity.[45] The 
years were marked by persecution of the followers of the Paulician and Bogomil 
heresies[46]—one of his last acts was to publicly burn at the stake Basil, a Bogomil 
leader, with whom he had engaged in a theological dispute.[5][39] In spite of the 
success of the First Crusade, Alexios also had to repel numerous attempts on his 
territory by the Seljuqs in 1110–1117.[47]

Alexios was for many years under the strong influence of an eminence grise, his 
mother Anna Dalassene, a wise and immensely able politician whom, in a uniquely 
irregular fashion, he had crowned as Augusta instead of the rightful claimant to the 
title, his wife Irene Doukaina.[48] Dalassena was the effective administrator of the 
Empire during Alexios' long absences in military campaigns: she was constantly at 
odds with her daughter-in-law and had assumed total responsibility for the upbringing 
and education of her granddaughter Anna Komnene.

Succession[edit]

Alexios' last years were also troubled by anxieties over the succession. Although he 
had crowned his son John II Komnenos co-emperor at the age of five in 1092, his 
wife, Irene Doukaina wished to alter the succession in favor of their daughter Anna 
and Anna's husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger.[49] Bryennios had been 
made kaisar (Caesar) and received the newly created title of panhypersebastos 
("honoured above all"), and remained loyal to both Alexios and John. Nevertheless, 
the intrigues of Irene and Anna disturbed even Alexios' dying hours.[36]

Pretenders and rebels[edit]

Apart from all of his external enemies, a host of rebels also sought to overthrow 
Alexios from the imperial throne, thereby posing another major threat to his reign.[39] 
Due to the troubled times the empire was enduring, he had by far the greatest number 
of rebellions against him of all the Byzantine emperors.[50] These included:

Pre First Crusade[edit]
Raictor, a Byzantine monk who claimed to be the emperor Michael VII. He presented 
himself to Robert Guiscard who used him as a pretext to launch his invasion of the 
Byzantine Empire.[50]
A conspiracy in 1084 involving several senators and officers of the army. This was 
uncovered before too many followers were enlisted. In order to conceal the 
importance of the conspiracy, Alexios merely banished the wealthiest plotters and 
confiscated their estates.[50]
Tzachas, a Seljuq Turkic emir who assumed the title of emperor in 1092.[51]
Constantine Humbertopoulos, who had assisted Alexios in gaining the throne in 1081 
conspired against him in 1091 with an Armenian called Ariebes.[51]
John Komnenos, Alexios' nephew, governor of Dyrrachium, accused of a conspiracy 
by Theophylact of Bulgaria.[51]
Theodore Gabras, the quasi-independent governor of Trebizond and his son Gregory.
[51]
Michael Taronites, the brother-in-law of Alexios.[51]
Nikephoros Diogenes, the son of emperor Romanos IV.[51]
Pseudo-Diogenes, an impostor who assumed the identity of another of Romanos' sons, 
Leo Diogenes.[52]
Karykes, the leader of a revolt in Crete.[51]
Rhapsomates, who tried to create an independent kingdom in Cyprus.[51]

Post First Crusade[edit]
Salomon, a senator of great wealth who in 1106 engaged in a plot with four brothers 
of the Anemas family.[53]
Gregory Taronites, another governor of Trebizond.[53]
The illegitimate descendant of a Bulgarian prince named Aron formed a plot in 1107 to 
murder Alexios as he was encamped near Thessalonica. The presence of the empress 
Irene and her attendants, however, made the execution of the plot difficult. In an 
attempt to have her return to Constantinople, the conspirators produced pamphlets 
that mocked and slandered the empress, and left them in her tent. A search for the 
author of the publications uncovered the whole plot, yet Aron was only banished due 
to his connection of the royal line of Bulgaria, whose blood also flowed in the veins of 
the empress Irene.[54]

Reform of the monetary system[edit]

Under Alexios the debased solidus (tetarteron and histamenon) was discontinued and 
a gold coinage of higher fineness (generally .900–.950) was established in 1092, 
commonly called the hyperpyron at 4.45 grs. The hyperpyron was slightly smaller than 
the solidus.

It was introduced along with the electrum aspron trachy worth a third of a hyperpyron 
and about 25% gold and 75% silver, the billon aspron trachy or stamenon,[55] valued 
at 48 to the hyperpyron and with 7% silver wash and the copper tetarteron and 
noummion worth 18 and 36 to the billon aspron trachy.[56]

Alexios' reform of the Byzantine monetary system was an important basis for the 
financial recovery and therefore supported the so-called Komnenian restoration, as the 
new coinage restored financial confidence.

Legacy[edit]

Alexios I had overcome a dangerous crisis and stabilized the Byzantine Empire, 
inaugurating a century of imperial prosperity and success.[49] He had also profoundly 
altered the nature of the Byzantine government.[57] By seeking close alliances with 
powerful noble families, Alexios put an end to the tradition of imperial exclusivity and 
coopted most of the nobility into his extended family and, through it, his government. 
Those who did not become part of this extended family were deprived of power and 
prestige.[39] This measure, which was intended to diminish opposition, was paralleled 
by the introduction of new courtly dignities, like that of panhypersebastos given to 
Nikephoros Bryennios, or that of sebastokrator given to the emperor's brother Isaac 
Komnenos.[57] Although this policy met with initial success, it gradually undermined 
the relative effectiveness of imperial bureaucracy by placing family connections over 
merit. Alexios' policy of integration of the nobility bore the fruit of continuity: every 
Byzantine emperor who reigned after Alexios I Komnenos was related to him by either 
descent or marriage.

Family[edit]

By his marriage with Irene Doukaina, Alexios I had the following children:
1.Anna Komnene, who married the Caesar Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger.
2.Maria Komnene, who married (1) Gregory Gabras and (2) Nikephoros Katakalon.
3.John II Komnenos, who succeeded as emperor.
4.Andronikos Komnenos, sebastokrator. Died in battle 1117 (Battle of Philomelion).
5.Isaac Komnenos, sebastokrator.
6.Eudokia Komnene, who married the son of Constantine Iasites.
7.Theodora Komnene, who married (1) Constantine Kourtikes and (2) Constantine 
Angelos. By him she was the grandmother of Emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III 
Angelos, as well as the progenitor of the ruling dynasty of the Despotate of Epirus.
8.Manuel Komnenos
9.Zoe Komnene.

Parents
KOMNENOS Ionnes (John) (ABT 1015 - 12 Jul 1067)
____ Anna Dalassena (ABT 1025 - 1 Nov 1100)

Siblings
KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I (ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118)
KOMNENA Theodora (ABT 1053 - )

Marriage To DOUKAINA Eirene (Irene) "Augusta" (1066 - 19 Feb 1127)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DOUKAS Andronikos (BEF 1020 - 14 Oct 1077)
OF WEST BULGARIA Maria (ABT 1020 - BEF 1118)

Children by DOUKAINA Eirene (Irene) "Augusta" 1066 - 19 Feb 1127
____ Ioannis I (John II) (13 Sep 1087 - 8 Apr 1143)
KOMNENOS Isaakios (16 Jan 1093 - AFT 1152)
KOMNENE Theodora (15 Jan 1096 - )

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