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Birth:          13 Sep 1087 of Constantinople
Death:          8 Apr 1143 Cicilia
Cause of Death: septicemia

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_Komnenos
John II Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: ??????? ?' ??µ?????, Ioannes II Komnenos; 
13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine Emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also 
known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (Kaloļoannes), he was the eldest 
son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina and the second emperor to 
rule during the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire. John was a pious and 
dedicated monarch who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered 
following the battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.

John has been assessed as the greatest of the Komnenian emperors.[1] In the course 
of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the 
west, decisively defeated the Pechenegs, Hungarians and Serbs in the Balkans, and 
personally led numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor. John's campaigns 
fundamentally changed the balance of power in the east, forcing the Turks onto the 
defensive and restoring to the Byzantines many towns, fortresses and cities right 
across the peninsula. In the southeast, John extended Byzantine control from the 
Maeander in the west all the way to Cilicia and Tarsus in the east. In an effort to 
demonstrate the Byzantine ideal of the emperor's role as the leader of the Christian 
world, John marched into Muslim Syria at the head of the combined forces of 
Byzantium and the Crusader states; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed 
the campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by evasiveness of his Crusader allies 
and their reluctance to fight alongside his forces. Also under John, the empire's 
population recovered to about 10 million people.[2]

Unfortunately, John's reign is less well recorded by contemporary or near-
contemporary writers than those of either his father, Alexios I, or his son, Manuel I. In 
particular little is known of the history of John's domestic rule or policies.
***
Death and succession[edit]
Having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John amused himself by 
hunting wild boar on Mount Taurus in Cilicia, where, on April 1, 1143, he accidentally 
cut himself on the hand with a poisoned arrow.[57] John initially ignored the wound 
and it became infected. He died a number of days after the accident, on April 8, 
probably of septicaemia. It has been suggested that John was assassinated by a 
conspiracy within the units of his army of Latin origins who were unhappy at fighting 
their co-religionists of Antioch, and who wanted to place his pro-western son Manuel 
on the throne.[58] However, there is very little overt support for this hypothesis in the 
primary sources.[59] John's final action as emperor was to choose Manuel, the 
younger of his surviving sons, to be his successor. John is recorded as citing two main 
reasons for choosing Manuel over his older brother Isaac: Isaac's irascibility, and the 
courage that Manuel had shown on campaign at Neocaesareia.[60][61] Another theory 
alleges that the reason for this choice was the AIMA prophecy, which foretold that 
John's successor should be one whose name began with an "M". Fittingly, John's 
close friend John Axouch, although he is recorded as having tried hard to persuade 
the dying emperor that Isaac was the better candidate to succeed, was instrumental in 
ensuring that Manuel's assumption of power was free from any overt opposition.[62
***
Family[edit]

John II Komnenos married Princess Piroska of Hungary (renamed Irene), a daughter of 
King Ladislaus I of Hungary in 1104; the marriage was intended as compensation for 
the loss of some territories to King Coloman of Hungary. She played little part in 
government, devoting herself to piety and their large brood of children. Irene died on 
August 13, 1134 and was later venerated as Saint Irene. John II and Irene had 8 
children:
1.Alexios Komnenos, co-emperor from 1122 to 1142
2.Maria Komnene (twin to Alexios), who married John Roger Dalassenos
3.Andronikos Komnenos (died 1142)
4.Anna Komnene, who married Stephen Kontostephanos
5.Isaac Komnenos (died 1154)
6.Theodora Komnene, who married Manuel Anemas
7.Eudokia Komnene, who married Theodore Vatatzes
8.Manuel I Komnenos (died 1180)

Parents
KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I (ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118)
DOUKAINA Eirene (Irene) "Augusta" (1066 - 19 Feb 1127)

Siblings
____ Ioannis I (John II) (13 Sep 1087 - 8 Apr 1143)
KOMNENOS Isaakios (16 Jan 1093 - AFT 1152)
KOMNENE Theodora (15 Jan 1096 - )

Marriage To ____ Pyriska (Irene) (Eirene) (ABT 1080 - 13 Aug 1134)
    m. 1105 

Notes

Parents
____ Ladislas (Laszlo) I "the Saint" (ABT 1041 - 29 Jul 1095)
OF RHEINFELDEN Adelaide (Adelheid) (ABT 1066 - May 1090)

Children by ____ Pyriska (Irene) (Eirene) ABT 1080 - 13 Aug 1134
KOMNENOS Isaac (ABT 1113 - )

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