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Birth:          Sep 1156 
Death:          Jan 1204 
Cause of Death: executed

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_II_Angelos
Isaac II Angelos or Angelus (Greek: ?sa????? ?’ ???e???, Isaakios II Angelos; 
September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again 
from 1203 to 1204.

His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a military leader in Asia Minor (c. 1122 – 
aft. 1185) who married Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa (c. 1125 – aft. 1195). Andronikos 
Doukas Angelos was the son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene (b. 15 
January 1096/1097), the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene 
Doukaina. Thus Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan of the Komnenoi.
Rising by revolt[edit]

During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved (alongside his 
father and brothers) in the revolt of Nicaea and Prousa. Atypically, the Emperor did 
not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople.

On September 11, 1185, while Andronikos was absent from the capital, his lieutenant 
Stephen Hagiochristophorites moved to arrest Isaac. Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites 
and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos was a capable ruler in 
some ways but was hated for his cruelty and his efforts to keep the aristocracy 
obedient. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose that spread rapidly over 
the whole city. When Andronikos returned he found that he had lost popular support, 
and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat 
but was apprehended. Isaac handed him over to the people of the City, and he was 
killed on 12 September 1185.

First reign[edit]

Isaac II Angelos strengthened his position as emperor with dynastic marriages in 1185 
and 1186. His niece Eudokia Angelina was married to Stefan, son of Stefan Nemanja 
of Serbia. Isaac's sister Theodora was married to the Italian marquis Conrad of 
Montferrat. In January 1186 Isaac himself married Margaret of Hungary (renamed 
Maria), daughter of King Bιla III. Hungary was one of the Empire's largest and most 
powerful neighbours, and Margaret also had the benefit of high aristocratic descent, 
being related to the royal families of Kiev, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Provence, 
and earlier Byzantine dynasties.

Isaac inaugurated his reign with a decisive victory over the Norman King of Sicily, 
William II, at the Battle of Demetritzes on 7 November 1185. William had invaded the 
Balkans with 80,000 men and 200 ships towards the end of Andronikos I's reign. 
Elsewhere Isaac's policy was less successful. In late 1185, he sent a fleet of 80 
galleys to liberate his brother Alexius III from Acre, but the fleet was destroyed by the 
Normans of Sicily. He then sent a fleet of 70 ships, but it failed to recover Cyprus from 
the rebellious noble Isaac Komnenos, thanks to Norman interference.

Isaac's administration was dominated by two figures: his maternal uncle Theodore 
Kastamonites, who became virtually a co-emperor and handled all civil government 
until his death in 1193; and his replacement, Constantine Mesopotamites, who 
acquired even more influence over the emperor.

The oppressiveness of his taxes, increased to pay his armies and finance his marriage, 
resulted in a Vlach-Bulgarian uprising late in 1185. The rebellion led to the 
establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire under the Asen dynasty. In 1187 
Alexios Branas, the victor over the Normans, was sent against the Bulgarians but 
turned his arms against his master and attempted to seize Constantinople, only to be 
defeated and slain by Isaac's brother-in-law Conrad of Montferrat. Also in 1187 an 
agreement was made with Venice, in which the Venetian Republic would provide 
between 40 and 100 galleys at six months' notice in exchange for favorable trading 
concessions. Because each Venetian galley was manned by 140 oarsmen, there were 
about 18,000 Venetians still in the Empire even after Manuel I's arrests.[1]

The Emperor's attention was next demanded in the east, where several claimants to 
the throne successively rose and fell. In 1189 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I 
Barbarossa sought and obtained permission to lead his troops on the Third Crusade 
through the Byzantine Empire. He had no sooner crossed the border than Isaac, who 
had meanwhile sought an alliance with Saladin, threw every impediment in his way. In 
retaliation Barbarossa's army occupied the city of Philippopolis and defeated a 
Byzantine army of 3,000 men that attempted to recapture the city.[2] Thus compelled 
by force of arms, Isaac II was forced to fulfill his engagements in 1190. By 1196 Isaac 
II had allowed the once powerful Byzantine navy to decline to only 30 galleys.

The next five years were disturbed by continued warfare with Bulgaria, against which 
Isaac led several expeditions in person. In spite of their promising start these ventures 
had little effect, and on one occasion in 1190 Isaac barely escaped with his life. The 
Byzantines suffered yet another major defeat in the battle of Arcadiopolis in 1194. 
While preparing for yet another offensive against Bulgaria in 1195, Alexios Angelos, 
the Emperor's older brother, taking advantage of Isaac's absence from camp on a 
hunting expedition, proclaimed himself emperor and was readily recognised by the 
soldiers as Emperor Alexios III. Isaac was blinded and imprisoned in Constantinople.

Second reign[edit]

After eight years of captivity, Isaac II was raised from the dungeon to the throne once 
more after the arrival of the Fourth Crusade and the flight of Alexios III from the 
capital. Both his mind and body had been enfeebled by confinement, and his son 
Alexios IV Angelos was associated on the throne as the effective monarch.

Heavily beholden to the crusaders, Alexios IV was unable to meet his obligations and 
his vacillation caused him to lose the support of both his crusader allies and his 
subjects. At the end of January 1204 the influential court official Alexios Doukas 
Mourtzouphlos took advantage of riots in the capital to imprison Alexios IV and seize 
the throne as Emperor Alexios V. At this point Isaac II died, allegedly of shock, while 
Alexios IV was strangled on 28 or 29 January.

Usurpers[edit]

Several pretenders rose up and attempted to wrest the throne from Isaac during his 
reign. These included:
Alexios Branas
Theodore Mangaphas
Pseudo-Alexios II
Basil Chotzas – initiated a rebellion at Tarsia, near Nicomedia. Initially he had some 
success, but before long he was seized, blinded, and cast into prison.[3]
Isaac Comnenus (nephew of Andronicus I Comnenus) – escaped from prison and fled 
to Hagia Sophia, where he proceeded to incite a mob. Eventually captured, he was 
suspended in the air and tortured in order to obtain the names of his accomplices. His 
internal organs suffered severe damage and he died the next day.[3]
Constantine Tatikios – secretly established a group of 500 individuals who hid in 
Constantinople. Though they managed to escape detection for some considerable 
time, he was informed against, captured, and blinded.[3]

Historical reputation[edit]

Isaac has the reputation as one of the most unsuccessful princes to occupy the 
Byzantine throne. Surrounded by a crowd of slaves, mistresses, and flatterers, he 
permitted his empire to be administered by unworthy favourites, while he squandered 
the money wrung from his provinces on costly buildings and expensive gifts to the 
churches of his metropolis. During his reign the Empire lost Lefkada, Kefallonia, and 
Zakynthos to the Normans in 1185. In the same year the Bulgarian Empire was 
restored after the rebellion of the brothers Asen and Peter, thus losing Moesia and 
parts of Thrace and Macedonia. After that Cilicia was retaken by the Armenians, and 
Cyprus wrested from the empire by the Franks.

Family[edit]

The identity of Isaac II's first wife is unknown, but her name, Herina (i.e., Irene), is 
found on the necrology of Speyer Cathedral, where their daughter Irene is interred. 
(However, it would have been extremely unusual for a mother and daughter to bear 
the same name, unless the mother's name was monastic.)[4] Isaac's wife may have 
been a member of the Palaiologos family.[5] A possible foreign origin is also given to 
her due to having the same name as her daughter. Their third child was born in 1182 
or 1183 and she was dead or divorced by 1185, when Isaac remarried. Their children 
were:
Euphrosyne Angelina, married to Roman the Great.
Irene Angelina, married first to Roger III of Sicily and secondly to Philip of Swabia.
Alexios IV Angelos.

By his second wife, Margaret of Hungary (who took the baptismal name "Maria"), 
Isaac II had two sons:
Manuel Angelos (b. after 1195 – d. 1212), he was evidently the elder son, being 
contemplated in 1205 to ascend the Byzantine throne[6]
John Angelos (b. ca. 1193 – d. 1259). He migrated to Hungary and ruled over Syrmia 
and Bacs (1227–42) as a vassal of king Bιla IV of Hungary.

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 KOMNENA Eirene (ABT 1164 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
KOMNENOS Andronikos I (ABT 1118 - 12 Sep 1185)
KOMNENE Theodora Kalusine (ABT 1146 - )

Children by KOMNENA Eirene ABT 1164 - 
ANGELINA Irene (Eirene) (Irini) Maria (ABT 1181 - 27 Aug 1208)

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