Andronikos I Komnenos
1118 – 1185 · Generation XXX · Emperor (r. 1183–1185) · Komnenos
Andronikos (AD 1118 – 1185). Emperor (r. 1183–1185). Grandson of Alexios I; overthrown and lynched 1185. His early life was a run of adventures, scandalous romances and political failures, lived in rivalry with his cousin Manuel I. Coming to power in old age — first as guardian to the boy-emperor, then in his own name — he turned savagely on the aristocracy, eliminating rivals including the regent Maria of Antioch and enacting brutal measures against the great families, though his reforms eased life for the common citizenry. The fall of Thessaloniki to William II of Sicily turned the capital against him. Later Byzantine writers vilified him as a tyrant, one coining “Misophaes” — hater of sunlight — for the many he had blinded; yet his line endured, his descendants founding the Empire of Trebizond, where Komnenoi ruled until 1461.
One of 14 people of Komnenos (1081–1185) in this archive. The house of the Komnenian restoration, ruling through a web of marriages to its own kin.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Isaac Komnenos → Andronikos I Komnenos.
Parents
- Isaac Komnenos (1093 – 1152)
Children
- John Komnenos (1159 – 1185)
- Manuel Komnenos (1145 – ?)