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Birth:          ABT 1093 
Death:          AFT 1166 

Notes
General in war with Normans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Angelos
nstantine Angelos (Greek: ???sta?t???? ???e???; c.?1093 – after 1166) was a 
Byzantine aristocrat who married into the Komnenian dynasty and served as a military 
commander under Manuel I Komnenos, serving in the western and northern Balkans 
and as an admiral against the Normans. He was the founder of the Angelos dynasty, 
which went on to rule the Byzantine Empire in 1185–1204 and found and rule the 
Despotate of Epirus (1205–1318) and the Empire of Thessalonica (1224–1242/46).
Life[edit]

Constantine was born in c.?1093 to an obscure family of the local aristocracy of 
Philadelphia.[1] The family's surname, "Angelos", is commonly held to have derived 
from the Greek word for "angel", but such an origin is rarely attested in Byzantine 
times, and it is possible that their name instead derives from A[n]gel, a district near 
Amida in Upper Mesopotamia.[2] The historian Suzanne Wittek-de Jongh suggested 
that Constantine was the son of a certain patrikios Manuel Angelos, whose 
possessions near Serres were confirmed by a chrysobull of Emperor Nikephoros III 
(r.?1078–1081), but this is unlikely.[3]

Despite his lowly origin, Constantine was reportedly brave and exceedingly beautiful,
[2] and managed to win the heart of Theodora Komnene (born 1097), the fourth 
daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r.?1081–1118) and Irene Doukaina. 
Theodora had already been married once, to Constantine Kourtikes, but her husband 
had died without having had children.[4] The marriage probably took place in c.?1122, 
certainly after the death of Alexios I; Empress Irene apparently disapproved of it, and 
it seems to have soured her relations with Theodora, who is listed last and with the 
least favourable provisions in the typikon that Irene granted to the Kecharitomene 
Monastery.[5]

Constantine's marriage lifted him out of obscurity, and gave him the title of 
sebastohypertatos,[6] one of the highest Byzantine dignities, given to the husbands of 
an emperor's younger daughters. The rank may have been created specifically for 
Constantine, as he is one of the first two recorded holders.[7] His activities during the 
reign of Theodora's brother John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143) are unknown, but he, 
like his brothers, Nicholas, John, and Michael, enjoyed the favour of John's son and 
successor, Manuel I Komnenos (r.?1143–1180).[8] Thus on 26 February 1147 he 
participated in the church council of Blachernae that deposed Patriarch Cosmas II 
Attikos, being ranked in fourth place behind the heir-apparent, despotes Bela-Alexios, 
the Caesar John Rogerios Dalassenos, and the panhypersebastos Stephen 
Kontostephanos.[9][10][11] In summer 1149, he accompanied Emperor Manuel in his 
campaign in Dalmatia. After Manuel captured the fortress of Razon, Constantine was 
left to guard the area, and launched an expedition into the Nishava valley.[12][9]

In 1154, as Manuel prepared for war with William I of Sicily, he gave his uncle 
command of the Byzantine fleet and ordered him to proceed to Monemvasia, where to 
await further reinforcements. Constantine, however, was persuaded by his astrologers 
that if he attacked the Sicilians he would win. Disobeying the Emperor's orders, he 
proceeded to intercept a far larger Sicilian fleet returning from a raid against Fatimid 
Egypt. In the ensuing engagement, the Byzantines were defeated and most of their 
ships were captured. His brother Nicholas managed to escape with a handful of ships, 
but Constantine was captured and imprisoned in Palermo until 1158, when Manuel 
concluded a peace treaty with William.[13]

In June or July 1166, Emperor Manuel charged him and Basil Tripsychos with repairing 
and strengthening the fortifications of Zemun, Belgrade, and Niš, and generally 
strengthen Byzantium's frontier with Hungary along the middle Danube. As part of this 
process, he organized the resettlement of Branicevo.[14] The date of his death is 
unknown; his wife possibly predeceased him, as she is last mentioned in 1136.[15]

Children[edit]

Through his marriage with Theodora, Constantine had seven children, three sons and 
four daughters.[12][16] Through his sons, Constantine was the progenitor of the 
Angelos dynasty, which produced three Byzantine emperors in 1185–1204, as well as 
the "Angelos Komnenos Doukas" dynasty that ruled over Epirus and Thessalonica in 
the 13th–14th centuries.[2][3]
John Doukas (c.?1125/27 – c.?1200), had several children by one or two marriages, 
and a bastard son. The latter, Michael I Komnenos Doukas (r.?1205–124/15), would 
go on to found the Despotate of Epirus, and was succeeded by his half-brothers.[17]
Maria Angelina (born c.?1128/30), married Constantine Kamytzes, by whom she had a 
number of children, including Manuel Kamytzes.[18]
Alexios Komnenos Angelos (born c.?1131/32), married and fathered one son.[19]
Andronikos Doukas Angelos (c.?1133 – before September 1185), married Euphrosyne 
Kastamonitissa, by whom he had nine children, including emperors Isaac II Angelos 
(r.?1185–1195, 1203–1204) and Alexios III Angelos (r.?1195–1203).[20]
Eudokia Angelina (born c.?1134), married Basil Tzykandeles Goudeles. The couple 
had no children.[21]
Zoe Angelina (born c.?1135), married Andronikos Synadenos. The couple had several 
children, whose names are unknown.[22]
Isaac Angelos Doukas (born c.?1137), married and had at least four children.[23]

Identity[edit]

Beginning with Du Cange, many earlier historians distinguished between two persons 
of this name, since the sources record that a minor noble named Constantine Angelos, 
from Philadelphia, married the fourth daughter of Alexios I Komnenos and received the 
title of pansebastohypertatos, whereas the Constantine Angelos, uncle of Manuel I 
and active during the latter's reign, is recorded in the sources as a sebastohypertatos. 
However, in 1961 Lucien Stiernon demonstrated that the two persons are in fact the 
same, with pansebastohypertatos being merely a rhetorical augmentation of the proper 
title.[24]

Parents
ANGELOS Manuel (Manolis) (ABT 1050 - )
----- ----- ()

Siblings
ANGELOS Konstantinos (ABT 1093 - AFT 1166)

Marriage To KOMNENE Theodora (15 Jan 1096 - )
    m. ABT 1122 

Notes

Parents
KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I (ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118)
DOUKAINA Eirene (Irene) "Augusta" (1066 - 19 Feb 1127)

Children by KOMNENE Theodora 15 Jan 1096 - 
ANGELOS DOUKAS Andronikos (ABT 1133 - BEF 12 Dec 1185)

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