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Birth:          16 Jan 1093 
Death:          AFT 1152 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Komnenos_(son_of_Alexios_I)
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: ?sa????? ??µ?????, Isaakios Komnenos; 16 
January 1093 – after 1152) was the third son of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos 
(r. 1081–1118) and Empress Irene Doukaina. He was raised to the high rank of 
sebastokrator by his older brother John II Komnenos, but they later fell out and Isaac 
was exiled by John for several years. During the struggle for John's succession in 
1143, he supported the unsuccessful candidacy of his nephew, likewise named Isaac, 
over the younger Manuel I Komnenos. A few years later, he was forced to retire to a 
monastery by Manuel. Isaac was noted for his erudition and his patronage of learning.
Life[edit]

He was the brother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komnene. 
Isaac was given the dignity of Caesar by his father.[1]

During and after the succession of John II in 1118, Isaac supported his elder brother 
against the intrigues of Empress-dowager Irene and their sister Anna, who favoured 
the candidacy of Anna's husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. In return, John 
II raised Isaac to the elevated dignity of sebastokrator, which marked him as a near-
equal to the emperor.[2] In contrast to his brother, who was chiefly engaged in warfare 
throughout his reign, Isaac was also a scholar and patron of learning.[3] He is known 
to have composed and compiled poetry, and is sometimes identified with the writer 
called "Isaac Komnenos the porphyrogennetos" who composed three philosophical 
treatises based on Proclus and two commentary works on Homer.[4]

By ca. 1130 (and possibly as early as 1122) however, John and Isaac had become 
estranged, and Isaac was forced to flee Constantinople with his sons for six years 
after an alleged conspiracy. Isaac found refuge at the court of the Danishmendid emir 
Gümüshtigin Ghazi II ibn Danishmend at Melitene. During this time, he also undertook 
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[2][5]

From exile, Isaac sought to create a broad alliance with other rulers against his 
brother, including the Seljuk Turks of Iconium, the independent prince Constantine 
Gabras of Trebizond, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and the Latin Kingdom of 
Jerusalem. The coalition failed to materialize however, and he was forced to seek 
reconciliation with his brother in 1136.[2][5] Soon after, in 1139, Isaac's eldest son 
John again defected to the Turks. Either at that point or a little later, Isaac was 
banished as a precaution to Heraclea Pontica.[2]

Shortly before John II died in 1143, he had designated his fourth and youngest son 
Manuel as his heir over his third (and oldest surviving) son, the sebastokrator Isaac. 
Consequently, Manuel's succession was not immediately secure.[6][7] In this struggle 
for the throne, the elder Isaac threw his support behind the younger Isaac. However, 
the decisive intervention of John Axouch, the commander-in-chief of the army, was to 
secure the throne for Manuel. Despite his failure, in 1145–1146, according to the 
contemporary historian John Kinnamos, Isaac attempted to take advantage of 
Manuel's difficulties to usurp the imperial throne from him.[2][5]

After 1150, Manuel forced his uncle to retire from public affairs, and in 1151/1152, 
Isaac founded the cenobitic monastery of the Theotokos Kosmosoteira ("World-
Saviour") at Bera (modern Pheres) in western Thrace. The monastery was built as his 
residence and final resting place; Isaac wrote the monastery's typikon himself, leaving 
extensive estates, including entire villages and castles to it in Thrace.[8][9] Isaac is 
also depicted in the Chora Church in Constantinople, which he extensively rebuilt. The 
Chora Church was also the initial location of Isaac's tomb, before he had it transferred 
to the Kosmosoteira monastery.[10]

Family[edit]

Isaac Komnenos was married to Irene, who may have been either a daughter of 
Volodar of Peremyshl[11] or Kata, a daughter of David IV of Georgia.[12] His children 
were:[13]
1.John Komnenos called Tzelepes (i.e., Çelebi), became a Muslim, settled at Ikonion 
and married Sultan Mesud I's daughter.[14]
2.unnamed daughter
3.Anna Komnene, who married John Arbantenos.
4.Andronikos I Komnenos, emperor 1183–1185.

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

Siblings
____ Ioannis I (John II) (13 Sep 1087 - 8 Apr 1143)
KOMNENOS Isaakios (16 Jan 1093 - AFT 1152)
KOMNENE Theodora (15 Jan 1096 - )

Marriage To ----- Irene ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- Irene 
KOMNENOS Andronikos I (ABT 1118 - 12 Sep 1185)

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