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KOMNENOS Ionnes (John)
Birth: ABT 1015
Death: 12 Jul 1067
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Komnenos_(Domestic_of_the_Schools)
John Komnenos (Greek: ??????? ??µ?????; c. 1015 – 12 July 1067) was a Byzantine
aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he
served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I
abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life
until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in
1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire
from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461.
Life[edit]
John Komnenos was born c. 1015 as the younger son of the patrikios Manuel Erotikos
Komnenos, a senior military commander in the late reign of Basil II (ruled 976–1025).
[1][2] He is first mentioned in 1057, the year his elder brother Isaac I Komnenos, at
the head of a group of generals, rebelled against Michael VI and forced him off the
throne. At the time of the revolt, John held the post of doux, but after his brother's
victory, he was raised to the rank of kouropalates and appointed as Domestic of the
Schools of the West.[3] Nothing is known of John's activities during his brother's
reign, although Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger, who married John's granddaughter
Anna Komnene, says that in his capacity as Domestic of the West he left his
(unspecified) acts as an "immortal monument" to the people of the Balkan provinces.
[4]
Isaac's reign was cut short by his clash with the powerful Patriarch of Constantinople,
Michael Keroularios, who had been instrumental in securing Michael VI's abdication,
and the powerful civil aristocracy of the capital. Keroularios and his supporters led the
opposition against Isaac's stringent economizing policies, forcing him to resign on 22
November 1059, after which he withdrew to the Stoudios Monastery.[5][6] The crown
then passed to Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–67), although Bryennios asserts that it
was first offered to John, who refused it, despite the pressure of his wife, Anna
Dalassene, to accept.[7] According to the historian Konstantinos Varzos, however,
this version is suspect, and may well be a post-fact attempt at legitimizing the
eventual usurpation of the throne by John's son, Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118).[8]
John is not mentioned in the sources during the reign of Constantine X, perhaps
indicating, according to Konstantinos Varzos, that he was in imperial disfavour,
despite Bryennios' assertion that both he and his brother remained much honoured by
the new emperor.[4] The late 12th-century typikon of the Monastery of Christ
Philanthropos, founded by Alexios I's wife Irene Doukaina,[9] is the only source to
record that John Komnenos retired to a monastery, probably at the same time as his
wife, Anna Dalassene. He died as a monk on 12 July 1067.[4][10]
Family[edit]
John Komnenos married Anna Dalassene, the daughter of Alexios Charon, most likely
in 1044.[11] Anna, born c. 1028, long outlived her husband and after his death ran the
family as its undisputed matriarch. Anna became involved in conspiracies against the
Doukas family, whom she never forgave for taking the throne in 1059. Later she also
played a major role in the successful overthrow of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r.
1078–81) and the rise of her son Alexios to the throne.[12] After that, and for about
fifteen years, she served as the virtual co-ruler of the empire along her son. She then
retired to a monastery, where she died in 1100 or 1102.[13][14]
With Anna, John had eight children, five boys and three girls:[15]
Manuel Komnenos (c. 1045 – 1071), kouropalates and protostrator, married a relative
of Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–71)[16]
Maria Komnene (c. 1047 – after 1094), married the panhypersebastos Michael
Taronites[17]
Isaac Komnenos (c. 1050 – 1102/4), sebastokrator, married Irene, daughter of the
ruler of Alania[18]
Eudokia Komnene (c. 1052 – before 1136), married Nikephoros Melissenos[19]
Theodora Komnene (c. 1054 – before 1136), married the kouropalates Constantine
Diogenes, son of Romanos IV[20]
Alexios Komnenos (1057–1118), the future emperor, married Irene Doukaina[21]
Adrianos Komnenos (c. 1060 – 1105), protosebastos, married Zoe Doukaina[22]
Nikephoros Komnenos (c. 1062 – after 1136), pansebastos sebastos and droungarios
of the fleet[23]
Parents
KOMNENOS Manuel "Erotikos" (ABT 970 - ABT 1025)
----- Maria ()
Siblings
KOMNENOS Ionnes (John) (ABT 1015 - 12 Jul 1067)
Marriage To ____ Anna Dalassena (ABT 1025 - 1 Nov 1100)
m.
Notes
Parents
____ Alexious Pharo (Charon) (ABT 1000 - )
DALASSENE ----- (ABT 1000 - )
Children by ____ Anna Dalassena ABT 1025 - 1 Nov 1100
KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I (ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118)
KOMNENA Theodora (ABT 1053 - )
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