Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, translit. Aléxios Komnēnós, c. 1057 – 15 August 1118), Latinized Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Turks was the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. 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.
"Alexius I" redirects here. For other uses, see Alexius I (disambiguation).Alexios I Komnenos
1 April 1081[1] – 15 August 1118
4 April 1081[2]
Constantine Doukas (1081–87)
c. 1057
15 August 1118[3]
(aged 61–62)
- Anna Komnene
- Maria Komnene
- John II Komnenos
- Andronikos Komnenos
- Isaac Komnenos
- Eudokia Komnene
- Theodora Komnene
- Manuel Komnenos
- Zoe Komnene
The son of John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos, Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took the throne for himself. He immediately faced an invasion of western Balkans by the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemond. Despite initial defeats, Alexios secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and drove back the Normans, recovering most of Byzantine losses by 1085. In 1091, he achieved a decisive victory over the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion in Thrace with the help of Cuman allies.
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 the Papacy, and in 1095 his envoys made a formal appeal to Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza. At the subsequent Council 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 son John II Komnenos.