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Top 10 Amazing Facts about Alexios I Komnenos

Miniature of the Byzantine Emperor w:Alexios I Komnenos. PHOTO SOURCED FROM

Alexius I Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. 

His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the catalyst that contributed to the convoking of the Crusades. Let’s take a look at some of the most amazing facts about him;

1. His father declined the throne on the abdication of the then emperor

Alexios was the son of John Komnenos and Anna Dalassene, and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057鈥�1059). Alexios’ father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was thus succeeded by Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059-1067) and died as a monk in 1067.

Alexios and his elder brother, Manuel Komnenos served under Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068鈥�1071) with distinction against the Seljuq Turks. 

2. Alexio refused to fight against his brother-in-law

Alexios was ordered to march against his brother-in-law Nikephoros Melissenos in Asia Minor but refused to fight his kinsman. He could not bring himself to fight against his relations and even kill them so he opted against that order. 

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. He was militarily employed, along with his elder brother Isaac, against rebels in Asia Minor, Thrace, and Epirus. 

3. He took the Byzantine throne after more than 50 years of ineffective rulers 

Alexios took the Byzantine throne after more than 50 years of ineffective or short-lived rulers. He found the empire 鈥渁t its last gasp,鈥� but his military ability and diplomatic gifts enabled him to retrieve the situation.

He drove back the south Italian Normans, headed by Robert Guiscard, who were invading western Greece (1081鈥�82).

He strengthened the central authority and build up professional military and naval forces which resulted in increased Byzantine strength in western and southern Anatolia and eastern Mediterranean waters. 

4. It was under him when the last clash of Greek east and Latin west was inaugurated

It was during Alexios鈥檚 reign that the last phase of the clash between the Latin West and the Greek East was inaugurated.  He was at the helm of the Byzantine empire’s throne when the last battle between the two kingdoms was fought. 

He did regain some control over western Anatolia; he also advanced into the southeast Taurus region, securing much of the fertile coastal plain around Adana and Tarsus, as well as penetrating farther south along the Syrian coast.

But neither Alexios nor succeeding Comnenian emperors were able to establish permanent control over the Latin Crusader principalities. 

5. Alexios’ other actions caused difficulties for his reign and this weakened his authority 

His actions helped stabilize Byzantium, but other policies would cause difficulties for his reign. Alexius made concessions to powerful landed magnates which would serve to weaken the authority of himself and future emperors.

Although he maintained the traditional imperial role of protecting the Eastern Orthodox Church and repressed heresy, he also seized funds from the Church when necessary, and would be called to account for these actions by the ecclesiastical authorities.

6. Alexios comes from a well-connected and powerful family

He thus came from a well-connected and powerful family and was trained from an early age in the arts of war and politics. Both of these skills were necessary for survival in eleventh-century Byzantium.

Intrigue and palace plots were the order of the day in this eastern Christian kingdom. His family launched a successful coup d’etat against the then Nikephoros III emperor and took the throne away from him. 

7. He is the ancestor of all European Monarchs currently reigning

Alexios is the ancestor of all European monarchs currently reigning through his daughter Theodora Komnene with his wife Irene Doukaina. 

Theodora Komnene (15 January 1096) 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.

Through Isaac II’s daughter Irene Angelina’s children by Philip of Swabia, she is an ancestor of many European royal families, including all European monarchs currently reigning, which also makes Alexios an ancestor to the many monarchs. 

8. Alexios made reforms which changed the monetary system

Alexios made reforms which changed the monetary system. His 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.

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

9. He had the greatest number of rebellions and conspiracies among all the Byzantine emperors.

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. 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.

Alexios merely banished just the wealthiest plotters and confiscated their estates. His greatest weakness was having mercy for his conspirators by letting them leave with just a few punishments like being banished instead of killing them like other great emperors. 

10. Alexios died on 15th August 1118 aged 61

Alexios died of natural causes on the 15th of August 111subjects round 61 or 62. By the time of his death, he had initiated several reforms as an emperor which helped most of his subjects. During the last twenty years of his life, Alexios also lost much of his popularity.

The years were marked by persecution of the followers of the Paulician and Bogomil heresies 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. 

It was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne.