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Biography

Alexios Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and courtier. A son of Andronikos Komnenos and nephew of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, he rose to the high rank of prōtostratōr in 1167. In 1176 he participated in the Myriokephalon campaign, and was raised to the titles of prōtosebastos and prōtovestiarios following the death of his older brother John in the campaign. Following Manuel's death in 1180, he won the favour, and reportedly became the lover, of Empress-dowager Maria of Antioch and through her ruled the Byzantine Empire for two years as de facto regent of the underage emperor Alexios II Komnenos. His dominance was challenged by the aristocracy, led by the princess Maria Komnene, who plotted to assassinate Alexios II. The plot was discovered and most conspirators arrested, but Maria and her husband fled to the Hagia Sophia, protected by Patriarch Theodosios Borradiotes and the common people of Constantinople. Mounting tensions resulted in a popular uprising against Alexios' regime on 2 May 1181—other dates have been proposed by modern scholars as well—which ended in a mutual reconciliation. His power shaken, the prōtosebastos reacted by punishing Borradiotes for his role in the affair, but was forced to recall him shortly after in the face of overwhelming opposition both among the people and the aristocracy. These events left Alexios in poor shape to oppose the advance of the adventurer Andronikos I Komnenos, who moved against Constantinople from the east. The generals dispatched against Andronikos were defeated or defected, and the usurper entered the city in April 1182. The prōtosebastos Alexios was deposed, publicly humiliated, and mutilated. His fate thereafter is not known.