Isaakios Komnenos, Sebastokrator

Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Ισαάκιος Κομνηνός, Isaakios Komnēnos), (c. 1113 – after 1154), was the third son of Emperor John II Komnenos by Piroska of Hungary.

Life

Shortly before his death in 1143, John II Komnenos designated his fourth son Manuel as his heir, although the third son, Isaac, was still alive. At the time Isaac was conducting the body of his eldest brother, the co-emperor Alexios Komnenos, back to Constantinople.

Consequently Manuel made sure that his men took control of the capital before Isaac learned of his father's death and made his bid for the throne. Although some of the clergy, the people and the military thought that Isaac was better fit to rule, he had to resign himself to his younger brother's accession.

In 1145–1146 he campaigned with him against the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia. Although the relationship between the brothers remained uneasy, there was never an open conflict, and Isaac enjoyed the court dignity of sebastokratōr. The marriages of Isaac's daughters served as useful tools of Manuel's foreign policy.

Family

By his first wife, Theodora, Isaac had five children:

Alexios Komnenos.

Irene Komnene, who married an unnamed Doukas Kamateros and became the mother of Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus.

John Komnenos.

Anna Komnene, who married Constantine Makrodoukas.

Maria Komnene, who married King Stephen IV of Hungary.

By his second wife, Irene Synadene, Isaac had two daughters:

Theodora Komnene, who married King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.

Eudokia Komnene, who married William VIII of Montpellier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Komnenos_(d._1154)

Isaac Komnenos (d. 1154)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Ισαάκιος Κομνηνός, Isaakios Komnēnos), (c. 1113 – after 1154), was the third son of Emperor John II Komnenos by Piroska of Hungary.

[edit]Life

Shortly before his death in 1143, John II Komnenos designated his fourth son Manuel as his heir, although the third son, Isaac, was still alive. At the time Isaac was conducting the body of his eldest brother, the co-emperor Alexios Komnenos, back to Constantinople.

Consequently Manuel made sure that his men took control of the capital before Isaac learned of his father's death and made his bid for the throne. Although some of the clergy, the people and the military thought that Isaac was better fit to rule, he had to resign himself to his younger brother's accession.

In 1145–1146 he campaigned with him against the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia. Although the relationship between the brothers remained uneasy, there was never an open conflict, and Isaac enjoyed the court dignity of sebastokratōr. The marriages of Isaac's daughters served as useful tools of Manuel's foreign policy.

The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative machinery of the Byzantine state.

Sebastokratōr (Σεβαστοκράτωρ) – "Venerable Ruler": a title created by Alexius I as a combination of autokrator and sebastos (see below). The first sebastokrator was Alexius' brother Isaacius. It was essentially a meaningless title, which signified only a close relationship with the emperor, but ranked immediately after the Despotēs. The feminine form was sebastokratorissa. The first foreigner to be called sebastokrator was Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, who was given the title in 1191. Kaloyan of Bulgaria also used the title.

Autokratōr (Αυτοκράτωρ) — "self-ruler": this title was originally equivalent to Imperator, and was used by the emperors.

Sebastos (Σεβαστός) – "August One" this title is the literal Greek translation of the Latin term Augustus or Augoustos, was sometimes used by the emperors. As a separate title it appeared in the latter half of the 11th century, and was extensively awarded by Alexios I Komnenos to his brothers and relations. The female version of the title was sebastē. The special title Prōtosebastos ("First Venerable One") was created for Hadrianos, Alexios' second brother, and awarded also to the Doge of Venice and the Sultan of Iconium. During the 12th century. it remained in use for the Emperor's and the Sebastokratōr's children, and senior foreign dignitaries. However, the parallel processes of proliferation and devaluation of titles during the 12th century resulted in the creation of a bewildering array of often ridiculously large variations, by using the prefixes pan ("all"), hyper ("above"), prōto ("first"): examples include Pansebastos,

Family

By his first wife, Theodora, Isaac had five children:

Alexios Komnenos.

Irene Komnene, who married an unnamed Doukas Kamateros and became the mother of Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus.

John Komnenos.

Anna Komnene, who married Constantine Makrodoukas.

Maria Komnene, who married King Stephen IV of Hungary.

By his second wife, Irene Synadene, Isaac had two daughters:

Theodora Komnene, who married King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.

Eudokia Komnene, who married William VIII of Montpellier.

[edit]References

K. Varzos, Ē genealogia tōn Komnēnōn (Thessalonica, 1984) vol. 1 pp. 391-398.

P. Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos 1143–1180, Cambridge University Press, 1993.