Individual Details
Issac II, Emperor of Byzantium
(1157 - 1204)
Isaac was born in September 1156, the son of Andronikos Dukas Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. His father was a son of Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Eirene Dukaina. Thus Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan.
The identity of Isaac II's first wife is unknown, but a name for her, Herina (Eirene), is found on the necrology in Speyer Cathedral; their daughter Eirene Angelina, who married Philipp von Hohenstaufen, Emperor-Elect, is buried nearby in the Staufen Mausoleum in the Monastery of Lorch. (It is worth noting, however, that it would have been extremely unusual for a mother and daughter to bear the same name, unless the mother's name was monastic.) Isaac's wife may have been a member of the Palaiologos family. Their third child was born in 1182 or 1183 and she was dead or divorced by 1185, when Isaac remarried. Their second child Euphrosyne Angelina became a nun, and their son Alexios IV Angelos, a later emperor of Byzantium, did not leave progeny.
During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved (alongside his father and brothers) in the revolt of Nicaea and Prousa. Unusually, the emperor did not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople.
On 11 September 1185, during Andronikos' absence from the capital, his lieutenant Stephanos Hagiochristophorites moved to arrest Isaac. Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos, in some ways a capable ruler, was hated for his cruelty and his efforts to keep the aristocracy obedient. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose which spread rapidly over the whole city. When Andronikos arrived he found that his authority was overthrown, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat but he was apprehended. Isaac handed him over to the people of the city, and he was killed on 12 September 1185.
Isaac II Angelos strengthened his position as emperor with dynastic marriages in 1185 and 1186. His niece Eudokia Angelina was married to Stefan Prvovencani, king of Serbia, son of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia. Isaac's sister Theodora was married to Conrad, Marchese de Monferrato. In January 1186 Isaac himself married Margarete of Hungary (who was renamed Maria), daughter of King Béla III. Hungary was one of the empire's largest and most powerful neighbours, and Margarete 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 and Margarete had two sons, Johannes Angelos, born no earlier than January 1193, and Manuel Angelos, born after 1195. Neither of them would have progeny.
Isaac inaugurated his reign with a decisive victory over the Norman king of Sicily Guglielmo II on the banks of the Strymon, on 7 September 1185. Guglielmo had invaded the Balkans towards the end of Andronikos I's reign. Elsewhere Isaac's policy was less successful. In late 1185 he sent a fleet of 80 ships to liberate his brother Alexios Angelos from Acre, but it was destroyed by the Normans of Sicily. He then sent a fleet of 70 ships, but it failed in its attempt to recover Cyprus from the rebellious noble Isaac Komnenos, thanks to Norman interference. The oppressiveness of his taxes, increased to pay his armies and finance his marriage, resulted in the Vlach-Bulgarian rebellion 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 rebels, but he turned his arms against his master, and attempted to seize Constantinople, only to be defeated and slain by Isaac's brother-in-law Conrad de Monferrato.
Isaac's attention was next demanded in the east, where several claimants to the throne successively rose and fell. In 1189 the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa sought and obtained permission to lead his troops on the Third Crusade through the Byzantine Empire; but he had no sooner crossed the border than Isaac, who had meanwhile sought an alliance with Saladin, threw every impediment in his way, and was only compelled by force of arms to fulfil his commitments in 1190.
The next five years were disturbed by continued warfare with Bulgaria, against which Isaac led several expeditions in person. In spite of a promising start, these ventures had little effect, and on one occasion in 1190 Isaac barely escaped with his life. In the preparations for yet another offensive against Bulgaria in 1195, Alexios Angelos, Isaac's older brother, taking advantage of his 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.
After eight years of captivity, he was raised from his dungeon to his throne once more after the arrival of the Fourth Crusade and the flight of Alexios III from the capital. But both 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 Dukas Mourtzouphlos, married to Eudokia Komnene Angelina, the daughter of Alexios III, 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.
Isaac has the reputation of 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 Bulgaria, Cilicia and Cyprus.
Source: Leo van de Pas
The identity of Isaac II's first wife is unknown, but a name for her, Herina (Eirene), is found on the necrology in Speyer Cathedral; their daughter Eirene Angelina, who married Philipp von Hohenstaufen, Emperor-Elect, is buried nearby in the Staufen Mausoleum in the Monastery of Lorch. (It is worth noting, however, that it would have been extremely unusual for a mother and daughter to bear the same name, unless the mother's name was monastic.) Isaac's wife may have been a member of the Palaiologos family. Their third child was born in 1182 or 1183 and she was dead or divorced by 1185, when Isaac remarried. Their second child Euphrosyne Angelina became a nun, and their son Alexios IV Angelos, a later emperor of Byzantium, did not leave progeny.
During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved (alongside his father and brothers) in the revolt of Nicaea and Prousa. Unusually, the emperor did not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople.
On 11 September 1185, during Andronikos' absence from the capital, his lieutenant Stephanos Hagiochristophorites moved to arrest Isaac. Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos, in some ways a capable ruler, was hated for his cruelty and his efforts to keep the aristocracy obedient. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose which spread rapidly over the whole city. When Andronikos arrived he found that his authority was overthrown, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat but he was apprehended. Isaac handed him over to the people of the city, and he was killed on 12 September 1185.
Isaac II Angelos strengthened his position as emperor with dynastic marriages in 1185 and 1186. His niece Eudokia Angelina was married to Stefan Prvovencani, king of Serbia, son of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia. Isaac's sister Theodora was married to Conrad, Marchese de Monferrato. In January 1186 Isaac himself married Margarete of Hungary (who was renamed Maria), daughter of King Béla III. Hungary was one of the empire's largest and most powerful neighbours, and Margarete 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 and Margarete had two sons, Johannes Angelos, born no earlier than January 1193, and Manuel Angelos, born after 1195. Neither of them would have progeny.
Isaac inaugurated his reign with a decisive victory over the Norman king of Sicily Guglielmo II on the banks of the Strymon, on 7 September 1185. Guglielmo had invaded the Balkans towards the end of Andronikos I's reign. Elsewhere Isaac's policy was less successful. In late 1185 he sent a fleet of 80 ships to liberate his brother Alexios Angelos from Acre, but it was destroyed by the Normans of Sicily. He then sent a fleet of 70 ships, but it failed in its attempt to recover Cyprus from the rebellious noble Isaac Komnenos, thanks to Norman interference. The oppressiveness of his taxes, increased to pay his armies and finance his marriage, resulted in the Vlach-Bulgarian rebellion 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 rebels, but he turned his arms against his master, and attempted to seize Constantinople, only to be defeated and slain by Isaac's brother-in-law Conrad de Monferrato.
Isaac's attention was next demanded in the east, where several claimants to the throne successively rose and fell. In 1189 the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa sought and obtained permission to lead his troops on the Third Crusade through the Byzantine Empire; but he had no sooner crossed the border than Isaac, who had meanwhile sought an alliance with Saladin, threw every impediment in his way, and was only compelled by force of arms to fulfil his commitments in 1190.
The next five years were disturbed by continued warfare with Bulgaria, against which Isaac led several expeditions in person. In spite of a promising start, these ventures had little effect, and on one occasion in 1190 Isaac barely escaped with his life. In the preparations for yet another offensive against Bulgaria in 1195, Alexios Angelos, Isaac's older brother, taking advantage of his 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.
After eight years of captivity, he was raised from his dungeon to his throne once more after the arrival of the Fourth Crusade and the flight of Alexios III from the capital. But both 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 Dukas Mourtzouphlos, married to Eudokia Komnene Angelina, the daughter of Alexios III, 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.
Isaac has the reputation of 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 Bulgaria, Cilicia and Cyprus.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 1157 | ||||
| Marriage | 1185 | Princess Margit of Hungary | |||
| Death | 1204 | ||||
| Marriage | Herina (Eirine) |
Families
| Spouse | Princess Margit of Hungary (1175 - 1224) |
| Spouse | Herina (Eirine) ( - 1185) |
| Child | Irene of Constantinople (1180 - ) |