Alexios I Komnenos (Ancient Greek:Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός,romanized: Aléxios Komnēnós,c. 1057 – 15 August 1118),Latinized asAlexius I Comnenus, wasByzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Afterusurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as theKomnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against theSeljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked theFirst Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of theKomnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.
Later in the 1090s, Alexios directed his attention towards Asia Minor, most of which had fallen to the Seljuk Turks. Desiring western support, he took reconciliatory measures towards thePapacy, and in 1095 his envoys made a formal appeal toPope Urban II at theCouncil of Piacenza. At the subsequentCouncil of Clermont, Pope Urban formally called the First Crusade, which began a year after and concluded with much of western Anatolia restored to Byzantine rule. On Alexios' death in 1118, he was suceeeded by his sonJohn II Komnenos. Alexios' reign and campaigns were recorded by his daughterAnna Komnene in herAlexiad, a political and military history, which she named after her father.
In 1074, western mercenaries led byRoussel de Bailleul rebelled in Asia Minor,[8] but Alexios successfully subdued them by 1076.[9] In 1078, he was appointed commander of the field army in the West by Nikephoros III.[10] In this capacity, Alexios defeated the rebellions ofNikephoros Bryennios the Elder (whose son or grandson later married Alexios' daughter Anna) andNikephoros Basilakes, the first at theBattle of Kalavrye and the latter in a surprise night attack on his camp.[citation needed] Alexios was ordered to march against his brother-in-lawNikephoros 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 theNormans of Southern Italy, led byRobert Guiscard.[citation needed]
Conspiracy and revolt of the Komnenoi against Botaneiates
While Byzantine troops were assembling for the expedition, the Doukas faction at court approached Alexios and convinced him to join aconspiracy against Nikephoros III. The mother of Alexios, Anna Dalassene, was to play a prominent role in this coup d'état of 1081, along with the current empress,Maria of Alania.[11] First married to Michael VII Doukas and secondly toNikephoros III Botaneiates, she was preoccupied with the future of her son by Michael VII,Constantine Doukas. Nikephoros III intended to leave the throne to one of his close relatives,[12] and this resulted in Maria's ambivalence and alliance with the Komnenoi, though the real driving force behind this political alliance was Anna Dalassene.[13]
The empress was already closely connected to the Komnenoi through Maria's cousin, Irene who had been married to Isaac Komnenos,[12] thus the Komnenos brothers were able to treat her as member of the family's enlarged kinship. Furthermore, by espousing the custom of adoptive kingship, which was a social trend in the palace during the reign ofempress Zoe, Maria had accepted to adopt Alexios as her son in order to aid the conspiracy.[14] Maria was induced to do so on advice of her own "Alans", that is her Georgian entourage, and her eunuchs, the latter being instructed by Isaac Komnenos to talk the empress into. Apparently, Anna must have been informed of the arrangement of the adoptive kingship, and her tacit agreement on the matter allowed for the final conclusion of Alexios' adoption by the empress.[11] As a result, Alexios became the adoptive brother of Constantine Doukas's, natural son of empress Maria. The completion of the adoptive kingship entailed as part of the ritual performed from the adoptive member's behalf pledging an oath of loyalty and allegiance to the heir of the throne, a typical practice in which the prospective member since he bore no blood relation and was not of imperial lineage he had to be tied to the emperor's person by a sacred oath. Therefore, both Alexios and his brother, Isaac pledged to safeguard the heir's rights to the throne.[15]
According to Anna Comnena's narrative in the Alexiad, Isaac and Alexios left Constantinople in mid-February 1081 to raise an army against Botaneiates.[16] When the time was right and the army already marching to the capital, Anna Dalassene quickly and surreptitiously mobilised the remainder of the family and took sanctuary in the cathedral ofHagia Sophia, wherefrom she negotiated withNikephoros III Botaneiates for the safety of her family, while disclaiming her two sons' hostile actions against the emperor. Anna Comnena offers in detail the course of steps her grandmother took to be able to enter the church. Under the pretence of making a vesperal visit to worship at the church, she deliberately excluded the grandson of Botaneiates and his loyal tutor and met with her sons' Alexios and Isaac and went with them to the forum of Constantine.[11] When the tutor discovered she had gone missing, he went looking for her to eventually find her on the palace's grounds. Yet again cunningly Anna convinced him that they would leave the palace shortly. However, the rest of the female members of her family in order to be allowed to gain entrance although the church was at that time closed, pretended to be pilgrims fromCappadocia who had been penniless and wanted to prostrate the holy icons before their return trip. Straboromanos and royal guards who were caught up with them, were summoned back to the palace.[11] Anna then went on protesting for the safety of her family, that she feared of the emperor's wrath and that her sons were nothing but loyal subjects, despite the fact that Alexios and Isaac were discovered to be missing without the emperor's consent. She even suggested that a plot had been unravelling by enemies of the family to have them blinded and for that she had fled to the capital so they may continue to be of loyal service to the emperor.[17] She refused to go with them and demanded that they allow her to pray to theMother of God for protection. This request was granted and Anna then manifested her true communicative and leadership capabilities:
She was allowed to enter. As if she were weighed down with old age and worn out by grief, she walked slowly and when she approached the actual entrance to the sanctuary made two genuflections; on the third she sank to the floor and taking firm hold of the sacred doors, cried in a loud voice: "Unless my hands are cut off, I will not leave this holy place except on one condition: that I receive the emperor's cross as guarantee of safety".[18]
Alexios I in a 12th-century Greek manuscript,Vatican library
Nikephoros III Botaneiates was forced into a public vow that he would grant protection to the family.[11] Straboromanos tried to give Anna his cross, but for her it was not large enough for all bystanders to witness the oath. She also demanded that the cross be personally sent by Botaneiates as a vow of his good faith. He obliged, sending a complete assurance for the family with his own cross. At the emperor's further insistence, and for their own protection, they took refuge at the convent of Petrion, where they were eventually joined byMaria of Bulgaria, mother of Irene Doukaina.[11] Botaneiates allowed them to be treated as refugees rather than as guests. They were allowed to have family members bring in their own food and were on good terms with the guards from whom they learned the latest news.[19] Anna was highly successful in three important aspects of the revolt: she bought time for her sons to steal imperial horses from the stables and escape the city; she distracted the emperor, giving her sons time to gather and arm their troops; and she gave a false sense of security to Botaneiates that there was no real treasonous plot against him.[11] After bribing the Western troops guarding the city, Isaac and Alexios Komnenos entered the capital victoriously on 1 April 1081.[20]
During this time, Alexios was rumored to be the lover of EmpressMaria, the daughter of KingBagrat IV of Georgia, who had been successively married toMichael VII Doukas and his successor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and who was renowned for her beauty.[21] Alexios arranged for Maria to stay on the palace grounds, and it was thought that he was considering marrying her. However, his mother consolidated the Doukas family connection by arranging the Emperor's marriage toIrene Doukaina, granddaughter of theCaesar John Doukas, the uncle of Michael VII, who would not have supported Alexios otherwise. As a measure intended to keep the support of the Doukai, Alexios restoredConstantine Doukas, the young son of Michael VII and Maria, as co-emperor.[22]
This situation changed drastically, however, when Alexios' first sonJohn II Komnenos was born in 1087:[23] Anna's engagement to Constantine was dissolved, and she was moved to the main Palace to live with her mother and grandmother. Alexios became estranged from Maria, who was stripped of her imperial title and retired to a monastery, and Constantine Doukas was deprived of his status as co-emperor.[23]
The thirty-seven year reign of Alexios was full of struggle. At the outset he faced the formidable attack of the Normans, led byRobert Guiscard and his sonBohemond, who tookDyrrhachium andCorfu and laid siege toLarissa inThessaly.[7] Alexios suffered several defeats before he was able to strike back with success. He enhanced his resistance by an agreement with the German kingHenry IV, who, in exchange for 360,000 gold pieces, did attack the Normans in Italy,[24] which forced the Normans to concentrate on their defenses at home in 1083–84. He also secured the alliance ofHenry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo, who controlled theGargano Peninsula and dated his charters by Alexios' reign. Henry's allegiance would be the last example of Byzantine political control on peninsular Italy. The Norman military danger subsided with the death of Guiscard in 1085, and the Byzantines recovered most of their losses.[25]
Alexios next had to deal with disturbances inThrace, where the heretical sects of theBogomils and thePaulicians revolted and made common cause with thePechenegs from beyond theDanube.[26] Paulician soldiers in imperial service likewise deserted during Alexios' battles with the Normans.[27] As soon as the Norman threat had passed, Alexios set out to punish the rebels and deserters, confiscating their lands. This led to a further revolt nearPhilippopolis, and the commander of the field army in the west, Gregory Pakourianos, was defeated and killed in the ensuing battle. In 1087 the Pechenegs raided into Thrace, and Alexios crossed intoMoesia to retaliate but failed to take Dorostolon (Silistra).[28] During his retreat, the emperor wasconfronted and defeated by the Pechenegs, who forced him to sign a truce and to pay protection money. In 1090 the Pechenegs invaded Thrace again,[29] whileTzachas, the brother-in-law of the Sultan ofRum, launched a fleet and attempted to arrange a joint siege of Constantinople with the Pechenegs.[30] Alexios overcame this crisis by entering into an alliance with a horde of 40,000Cumans, with whose help he conquered the Pechenegs atLevounion in Thrace on 29 April 1091.[31]
This put an end to the Pecheneg threat, but in 1094 the Cumans began to raid the imperial territories in the Balkans. Led by a pretender claiming to beConstantine Diogenes, a long-dead son of the EmperorRomanos IV,[32] the Cumans crossed the mountains and raided into eastern Thrace until their leader was eliminated atAdrianople. With the Balkans more or less pacified, Alexios could now turn his attention toAsia Minor, which had been almost completely overrun by theSeljuq Turks.[33]
By the time Alexios ascended the throne, the Seljuqs had taken most of Asia Minor. Alexios secured much of the coastal regions by sending peasant soldiers to raid the Seljuq camps, but this did not stop the Turks altogether.[34] He also got military support from Western rulers likeRobert I, Count of Flanders (Robert the Frisian). Robert, while returning from an armedpilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1086, spent time assisting the Byzantine Emperor against the Turks.[35] In one battle, Robert and three of his companions rode ahead of the main army, charging the forces under the command ofKerbogha, whose forces were scattered completely.[36]
As early as 1090, Alexios had taken reconciliatory measures towards thePapacy,[37] with the intention of seeking western support against the Seljuqs. In 1095 his ambassadors appeared beforePope Urban II at theCouncil of Piacenza.[38][39][40] The help he sought from the West was some mercenary forces, not the immense hosts that arrived, to his consternation and embarrassment, after the pope preached theFirst Crusade at theCouncil of Clermont later that same year.[41] This was thePeople's Crusade: a mob of mostly unarmed poor peasants and serfs, led by the preacherPeter the Hermit, fleeing from hunger in their home regions to a promised land of milk and honey.[42] Not quite ready to supply this number of people as they traversed his territories, the emperor saw his Balkan possessions subjected to further pillage at the hands of his own allies.[43] Eventually Alexios dealt with the People's Crusade by hustling them on to Asia Minor. There, they were massacred by the Turks ofKilij Arslan I at theBattle of Civetot in October 1096.[44]
The "Prince's Crusade", the second and much more formidable host of Crusaders, gradually made its way to Constantinople, led in sections byGodfrey of Bouillon,Bohemond of Taranto,Raymond IV of Toulouse, and other important western nobles.[45] Alexios met the Crusader leaders separately as they arrived, extracting from them oaths of homage and the promise to turn over conquered lands to the Byzantine Empire.[46] Transferring each contingent into Asia, Alexios promised to supply them with provisions in return for their oaths of homage. The Crusade was a notable success for Byzantium, as Alexios recovered a number of important cities and islands. Thesiege of Nicaea by the Crusaders forced the city to surrender to the emperor in 1097, and the subsequent Crusader victory atDorylaion enabled Alexios to recover much of western Asia Minor.[47]John Doukas re-established Byzantine rule inChios,Rhodes,Smyrna,Ephesus,Sardis, andPhiladelphia in 1097–1099. This success is ascribed by Alexios' daughter Anna to his policy and diplomacy, but by the Latin historians of the crusade to his treachery and deception.[7] In 1099, he sent a Byzantine fleet of ten ships to assist the Crusaders in capturingLaodicea and other coastal towns as far asTripoli. The Crusaders believed their oaths were made invalid when the Byzantine contingent underTatikios failed to help them during thesiege of Antioch;[48] Bohemund, who had set himself up asPrince of Antioch, did not return the ancient city, despite his previous agreement with Alexios.[47] Hebriefly went to war with Alexios in the Balkans, but he was blockaded by the Byzantine forces and agreed to become a vassal of Alexios by theTreaty of Deabolis in 1108.[49]
Around this time, in 1106, the twenty-fifth year of his reign,Hesychius of Miletus records that the sky suddenly darkened and a "violent southern wind" blew the great statue ofConstantine at theStrategion from its column, killing a number of men and women nearby.[50]
In 1116, though already terminally ill, Alexios conducted a series of defensive operations in Bithynia and Mysia to defend his Anatolian territories against the inroads ofMalik Shah, the Seljuq Sultan of Iconium. In 1117 he moved onto the offensive and pushed his army deep into the Turkish-dominated Anatolian Plateau, where he defeated the Seljuq sultan at theBattle of Philomelion.[51]
Low relief depicting Alexios I, Campiello de Cà Angaran,Venice, early 12th century.[52]
During the last twenty years of his life Alexios lost much of his popularity.[53] The years were marked by persecution of the followers of thePaulician andBogomil heresies[54]—one of his last acts was publicly to burn at the stakeBasil, a Bogomil leader, with whom he had engaged in a theological dispute.[7][44] 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.[55]
Alexios was for many years under the strong influence of aneminence grise, his motherAnna Dalassene, a wise and immensely able politician whom, in a uniquely irregular fashion, he had crowned asAugusta instead of the rightful claimant to the title, his wife Irene Doukaina. Anna Dalassene's ability to help him seize power and control the aristocracy, as well as her ability to understand and resolve dilemmas, assured Alexius that her mother was a capable counsel and managing partner by his side, and a sane and trusted regent in his absence.[56] Alexios was never happier than when taking part in military exercises and he assumed personal command of his troops whenever possible.[57] As such, Dalassene 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.[citation needed]
Alexios' last years were also troubled by anxieties over the succession. Although he had crowned his sonJohn 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.[58]
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.[44] Due to the troubled times the empire was enduring, he faced more rebellions than any other Byzantine emperor.[59] These included:
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.[59]
The illegitimate descendant of aBulgarian prince named Aron formed a plot in 1107 to murder Alexios as he was encamped nearThessalonica. The presence of the empress Irene and her attendants, however, made the execution of the plot difficult. In an attempt to have her return toConstantinople, 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 to the royal line of Bulgaria, whose blood also flowed in the veins of the empress Irene.[63]
Under Alexios the debasedsolidus (tetarteron andhistamenon) was discontinued and a gold coinage of higher fineness (generally .900–.950) was established in 1092, commonly called thehyperpyron at 4.45 grs. Thehyperpyron was slightly smaller than thesolidus.[citation needed]
It was introduced along with theelectrumaspron trachy worth a third of ahyperpyron and about 25% gold and 75% silver, thebillonaspron trachy orstamenon,[64] valued at 48 to thehyperpyron and with 7% silver wash and the coppertetarteron andnoummion worth 18 and 36 to the billonaspron trachy.[65]
Rare seal of Alexios I with a depiction of theResurrection
Alexios I had overcome dangerous crises and stabilised the Byzantine Empire, inaugurating a century of imperial prosperity and success.[58] He had also profoundly altered the nature of the Byzantine government.[66] By seeking close alliances with powerful noble families, Alexios put an end to the tradition of imperial exclusivity and co-opted 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.[44] This measure, which was intended to diminish opposition, was paralleled by the introduction of new courtly dignities, like that ofpanhypersebastos given to Nikephoros Bryennios, or that ofsebastokrator given to the emperor's brother Isaac Komnenos.[66] 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.
By his marriage withIrene Doukaina, Alexios I had the following children:[67]
Anna Komnene (1 December 1083 – 1148/55), in her infancy she was betrothed toConstantine Doukas, and with him treated as co-ruler by her father until after the birth of John II. In 1097 she marriedNikephoros Bryennios the Younger, later raised toCaesar. Highly ambitious, after Alexios' death she tried unsuccessfully to usurp the throne. She then withdrew to a monastery, where she wrote her history of Alexios' reign. The couple had several children, but only four survived her.[68]
Maria Komnene (19 September 1085 – after 1136), initially betrothed to Gregory Gabras, but married toNikephoros Katakalon. The couple had several children, but only two sons are known by name.[69]
John II Komnenos (13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143), who succeeded as emperor.[70]
Andronikos Komnenos (18 September 1091 – 1130/31), was namedsebastokrator and participated in several campaigns until his death from disease. He married Irene, likely a Russian princess, and had at least two sons.[71]
Isaac Komnenos (16 January 1093 – after 1152),sebastokrator.
^"Alexiad", 2.10. "It wasHoly Thursday [...] in the fourth indiction in the month of April 6589. [He] poured into the city through the Charisian Gate".
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