Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty

Alexios II Komnenos When Manuel I Komnenos died on 24 September 1180, his son and successor was the 11-year-old Alexios II Komnenos. Andronikos I Komnenos The instability of Alexios' regency led to much corruption throughout the Empire. Subsequently Andronikos Komnenos, a grandson of Alexios I, decided to promptly launch yet another rebellion against the Emperor. Andronikos was over tall; his flattering charms were said to have stolen the hearts of a number of noblewomen and with it earned the anger of their menfolk. Exiled by Manuel Komnenos, he returned in 1180 following his death. Despite his senior age of 64 years in 1182, Andronikos is depicted as retaining the good looks of his forties. The trading rights of the Venetians, granted by Alexios almost a century earlier, were also revoked. These actions made the empire powerful enemies in western Europe. The Emperor and his mother, Maria of Antioch, were sent to an Imperial Villa. Maria Komnene, daughter of Manuel Komnenos by his first wife Bertha of Sulzbach, was poisoned along with her husband Renier of Montferrat. Next Alexios' mother, Maria of Antioch, was strangled in her cell. Later, the Norman army marched further inland to Mosynopolis, half-way to Constantinople. ==Isaac II Angelos==

Isaac's rule follows a similar pattern of that of his predecessor. He inherited a Byzantium in chaos and the Normans in the west, only from Constantinople did not disappear with the rebellion. Summoning up every soldier that could be spared in the vicinity, Isaac ordered Alexios Branas, his most able general, to drive back the Normans, who had lost all discipline and grown overconfident and fat in their anticipation of an easy victory at the capital. Their timing could not have been better, since Byzantium was still reeling from a bloody coup and a disastrous invasion. Isaac resolved to pacify the Bulgarian rebellion with force and headed a military expedition north. The Byzantine army was ambushed in a way reminiscent of the Battle of Manzikert and of the earlier fiasco at Pliska. The last attempt to enforce Byzantine authority over Bulgaria concurred with Isaac's last genuine attempts at running the Empire; according to scholars, from then on, Isaac's policies were rarely more than reactionary. The recent anti-Latin resentment in the Empire led to the Crusader states losing their protection from Byzantium. However, whilst the Crusader states should not and did not rely on Byzantium for protection, the Byzantines certainly did in that it kept the aggressive expansionism of Islam in check. This could not be further from the truth in regards to the Principality of Antioch. With the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 to Saladin it was Western Europe that immediately posed a threat to the Empire. King Henry II of England died and did not fulfill his crusader vow. However, his son and successor Richard I of England took the vow and along with his rival, Philip II of France took to the sea to retake the Holy Land. All three of these Crusaders had some scores to settle with Byzantium – Richard was the brother-in-law of William II of Sicily through the marriage of the later with his sister Joan of England. He would prove to be just as adventurous as his kinsman. Philip had heard of the sufferings of his own sister, Agnes of France. None of these would compare with the danger posed by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Almost seventy years old, Frederick had fought in multiple battles and charged at reckless odds in the pursuit of victory. There was no doubt therefore that his massive army would smash their way to Jerusalem with ease, provided it was given the means to do so by the Byzantine Empire. Third Crusade The Third Crusade thus set out with the aims of driving back the "infidels" who had taken Jerusalem. Richard and Philip's sea route meant that they would not have to rely on their Greek counterparts for supplies or permission to pass through. The odd exception came when Richard crushed the rebellion of Isaac Komnenos and refused to hand the island of Cyprus back to Byzantium, using it instead to tame his rebellious vassal Guy of Lusignan, former King of Jerusalem. Isaac did not seize the initiative and Kilij Arslan II returned later to reclaim his fallen capital. Frederick's army would later slowly but surely disband after the Holy Roman Emperor was found dead (presumed to have either drowned in a river, suffered a heart attack or perhaps both). Crusade of 1197 Another minor Crusade was proposed by the new Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI. The former King of the Romans had succeeded his father Frederick and was free to pursue new campaigns. However, he would soon be diverted in a campaign against Tancred of Sicily, claiming the throne in the name of his wife Constance of Sicily. With the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily warring against each other, the Byzantine Empire was left undisturbed by its two chief Western rivals until after Henry VI won his war in 1194. Following this victory, Henry VI decided to resume his crusade against the Saracens. In Easter of 1195, he wrote a stern letter to the Byzantine Emperor Isaac Angelos demanding a heavy tribute to pay for his mercenary troops. There were few monarchs willing to lead the Crusade; Richard I of England was battling his former Crusader ally Phillip II Augustus – both had their fill from the Third Crusade. Consequently, there was not enough money to pay the Venetians, whose fleet was hired by the crusaders to take them to Egypt. Venetian policy under the aging and blind but still ambitious Doge Enrico Dandolo was potentially at variance with that of the Pope and the crusaders because Venice was closely related commercially with Egypt.). At the time, Venetian envoys were discussing trade terms with the Egyptians – but in the end, it was decided that such discussions would have allowed them to deceive the Egyptians. The Crusaders then set sail on 8 November 1202 with 480 ships, consisting of 50 large transports, 100 horse transport galleys, sixty war galleys and a number of other smaller ships. Zara fell on 15 November 1202 after a brief siege, though some sources suggest a later date of 24 November 1202. Innocent, who was informed of the plan, but his veto was disregarded, was reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, and gave conditional absolution to the crusaders after having excommunicated them—not, however, to the Venetians. == Alexios III Angelos ==

Meanwhile, in Constantinople, the deposed Isaac II Angelos and his son Alexios IV Angelos were both in prison following the coup of Alexius III Angelos. However, Isaac was not destined to spend the rest of his days in jail; his young son Alexios IV escaped prison in the summer of 1203 and fled to the court of Philip of Swabia, the younger son of Frederick I Barbarossa. Alexios III Angelos, the Byzantine Emperor at the time made no preparations for the defence of the city – there were few troops and very few military vessels. Military expenditure was seen as a waste by the corrupt emperors of the time and the money used for personal interests or on favourites. Thus, when the Venetian fleet entered the waters of Constantinople on 24 June 1203, they encountered little resistance. However, the decisive actions of the Venetian Doge allowed him and his fellow countrymen to land on the beaches and before long the walls were in the hands of the Crusaders. Alexios III fled; Isaac and later his son were crowned co-emperors on August 1, 1203. == Alexios IV Angelos ==

(1840, oil on canvas, 410 x 498 cm, Louvre, Paris). Alexios IV soon began to realize that the generous offer promised to the Crusaders would not be met. He had managed to pay roughly half of the promised amount of 200,000 silver marks – whilst this had paid off the original 34,000 marks that the Crusaders were indebted, the Venetians had since demanded more money from the Crusade since their fleet was leased out for far longer than expected (due to a number of diversions). On 19 August 1203, in an act of short-sighted zeal, some Crusaders went to the city and set the mosque, located outside the city walls, on fire. The fire spread, destroying not only the mosque but countless homes and churches. The fire was the worst to hit Constantinople since the Nika riots of 532, under the reign of Justinian I. A few days later, the Crusaders demanded their payment once again. When Alexios IV told them of the situation, the war became unavoidable. ==Alexios V Doukas==

Both the Crusaders and the citizens of Constantinople agreed that Alexios IV had to go. On 25 January 1204, Alexios Doukas overthrew Alexios IV Angelos – his blind father was killed shortly after Alexios IV was strangled with a bow string. When order had been restored, the crusaders and the Venetians proceeded to implement their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected emperor and the Venetian Thomas Morosini chosen patriarch. The lands parcelled out among the leaders did not include all the former Byzantine possessions. The Byzantine rule continued in Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus. ==See also==