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Birth:          ABT 1153 
Death:          AFT 1211 in captivity in a monastery

Notes
imprisoned by his son-in-law Theodoros
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_III_Angelos
Alexios III Angelos (Greek: ??????? G' ???e???) (c.?1153 – 1211) was Byzantine 
Emperor from March 1195 to July 17/18, 1203.[1] A member of the extended imperial 
family, Alexios came to throne after deposing, blinding, and imprisoning his younger 
brother Isaac II Angelos. The most significant event of his reign was the attack of the 
Fourth Crusade on Constantinople in 1203, on behalf of Alexios IV Angelos. Alexios III 
took over the defense of the city, which he mismanaged, then fled the city at night 
with one of his three daughters. From Adrianople, and then Mosynopolis, he 
unsuccessfully attempted to rally his supporters, only to end up a captive of Marquis 
Boniface of Montferrat. He was ransomed, sent to Asia Minor where he plotted against 
his son-in-law Theodore Laskaris, but was eventually arrested and spent his last days 
confined to the Monastery of Hyakinthos in Nicaea, where he died.
Early life[edit]

Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Doukas Angelos and 
Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronikos was himself a son of Theodora Komnene, the 
youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus Alexios 
Angelos was a member of the extended imperial family. Together with his father and 
brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos (c.?1183), 
and thus he spent several years in exile in Muslim courts, including that of Saladin.

His younger brother Isaac was threatened with execution under orders of Andronikos 
I, their first-cousin once-removed, on September 11, 1185. Isaac made a desperate 
attack on the imperial agents and killed their leader Stephen Hagiochristophorites. He 
then took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia and from there appealed to the 
populace. His actions provoked a riot, which resulted in the deposition of Andronikos I 
and the proclamation of Isaac as Emperor. Alexios was now closer to the imperial 
throne than ever before.

Reign[edit]

By 1190 Alexios had returned to the court of his younger brother, from whom he 
received the elevated title of sebastokrator. In March 1195 while Isaac II was away 
hunting in Thrace, Alexios was acclaimed as emperor by the troops with the covert 
support of Alexios' wife Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Alexios captured Isaac at 
Stagira in Macedonia, put out his eyes, and thenceforth kept him a close prisoner, 
despite having previously been redeemed by Alexios from captivity at Antioch and 
showered with honours.[2]

To compensate for this crime and to solidify his position as emperor, Alexios had to 
scatter money so lavishly as to empty his treasury, and to allow such licence to the 
officers of the army as to leave the Empire practically defenceless. These actions 
inevitably led to the financial ruin of the state. At Christmas 1196, Holy Roman 
Emperor Henry VI attempted to force Alexios to pay him a tribute of 5,000 pounds 
(later negotiated down to 1,600 pounds) of gold or face invasion. Alexios gathered the 
money by plundering imperial tombs at the church of the Holy Apostles and taxing the 
people heavily, though Henry's death in September 1197 meant the gold was never 
dispatched. The able and forceful empress Euphrosyne tried in vain to sustain his 
credit and his court; Vatatzes, the favourite instrument in her attempts at reform, was 
assassinated by the emperor's orders.[2]

In the east the Empire was overrun by the Seljuk Turks; from the north, the Kingdom 
of Hungary and the rebellious Bulgarians and Vlachs descended unchecked to ravage 
the Balkan provinces of the Empire, sometimes penetrating as far as Greece, while 
Alexios squandered the public treasure on his palaces and gardens and attempted to 
deal with the crisis through diplomatic means. The Emperor's attempts to bolster the 
empire's defences by special concessions to pronoiars (notables) in the frontier zone 
backfired, as the latter increased their regional autonomy. Byzantine authority 
survived, but in a much weakened state.

Fourth Crusade[edit]

Soon Alexios was threatened by a new and more formidable danger. In 1202, soldiers 
assembled at Venice to launch the Fourth Crusade. Alexios IV Angelos, the son of the 
deposed Isaac II, had recently escaped from Constantinople and now appealed for 
support to the crusaders, promising to end the schism of East and West, to pay for 
their transport, and to provide military support if they would help him depose his uncle 
and ascend to his father's throne.[2]

The crusaders, whose objective had been Egypt, were persuaded to set their course 
for Constantinople, arriving there in June 1203, proclaiming Alexios IV as Emperor, and 
inviting the populace of the capital to depose his uncle. Alexios III took no effective 
measures to resist, and his attempts to bribe the crusaders failed. His son-in-law, 
Theodore Laskaris, who was the only one to attempt anything significant, was 
defeated at Scutari, and the siege of Constantinople began. Unfortunately for the city, 
misgovernment by Alexios III had left the Byzantine navy with only 20 worm-eaten 
hulks by the time the crusaders arrived.

In July, the crusaders, led by the aged Doge Enrico Dandolo, scaled the walls and 
took control of a major section of the city. In the ensuing fighting, the crusaders set 
the city on fire, ultimately leaving 20,000 people homeless. On 17 July Alexios III 
finally took action and led 17 divisions from the St. Romanus Gate, vastly 
outnumbering the crusaders. His courage failed, however, and the Byzantine army 
returned to the city without a fight. His courtiers demanded action, and Alexios III 
promised to fight. Instead, that night (July 17/18), Alexios III hid in the palace, and 
finally, with one of his daughters, Eirene, and as much treasure (1,000 pounds of gold) 
as he could collect, got into a boat and escaped to Debeltos in Thrace, leaving his 
wife and his other daughters behind. Isaac II, drawn from his prison and robed once 
more in the imperial purple, received his son, Alexios IV, in state.

Life in exile[edit]

Alexios III attempted to organize resistance to the new regime from Adrianople and 
then Mosynopolis, where he was joined by the later usurper Alexios V Doukas 
Mourtzouphlos in April 1204, after the definitive fall of Constantinople to the crusaders 
and the establishment of the Latin Empire. At first Alexios III received Alexios V well, 
even allowing him to marry his daughter Eudokia Angelina. Later Alexios V was blinded 
and deserted by his father-in-law, who fled from the crusaders into Thessaly. Here 
Alexios III eventually surrendered, with Euphrosyne, to Marquis Boniface of 
Montferrat, who was establishing himself as ruler of the Kingdom of Thessalonica.

Alexios III attempted to escape Boniface's "protection" in 1205, seeking shelter with 
Michael I Komnenos Doukas, the ruler of Epirus. Captured by Boniface, Alexios and 
his retinue were sent to Montferrat before being brought back to Thessalonica in c.?
1209. At that point the deposed emperor was ransomed by Michael I, who sent him to 
Asia Minor, where Alexios' son-in-law Theodore Laskaris - now emperor of Nicaea - 
was holding his own against the Latins. Here Alexios conspired against his son-in-law 
after the latter refused to recognize Alexios' authority, receiving the support of 
Kaykhusraw I, the sultan of Rûm. In the Battle of Antioch on the Meander in 1211, the 
sultan was defeated and killed, and Alexios was captured by Theodore Laskaris. 
Alexios was then confined to a monastery at Nicaea,[3] where he died later in 1211.

Family[edit]

By his marriage to Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera, Alexios had three daughters:
Eirene Angelina, who married (1) Andronikos Kontostephanos, and (2) Alexios 
Palaiologos, by whom she was the grandmother of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
Anna Angelina, who married (1) the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos, great-nephew of 
emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and (2) Theodore Laskaris, emperor of Nicaea.
Eudokia Angelina, who married (1) Serbian King Stefan Nemanjic, then (2) Emperor 
Alexios V Doukas, and (3) Leo Sgouros, ruler of Corinth.

Parents
ANGELOS DOUKAS Andronikos (ABT 1133 - BEF 12 Dec 1185)
KASTAMONITISSA Euphroysne (ABT 1110 - ABT 1190)

Siblings
ANGELOS Alexios (Alexius) III (ABT 1153 - AFT 1211)
ANGELOS Isaakios II (Sep 1156 - Jan 1204)

Marriage To DOUKAINA Euphrosyne Kamatera (ABT 1155 - 1211)
    m. ABT 1169 

Notes

Parents
DOUKAS Andronikos Kamateros (ABT 1110 - AFT 1176)
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Children by DOUKAINA Euphrosyne Kamatera ABT 1155 - 1211
ANGELINA Anna Komnene (ABT 1176 - 1212)

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