page_title: Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty
section_title: Andronikos I Komnenos
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty / Background / The end of the Komnenian Restoration / Andronikos I Komnenos
context_page_description: The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Angeloi dynasty between 1185 and 1204 AD. The Angeloi rose to the throne following the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos, the last male-line Komnenos to rise to the throne. The Angeloi were female-line descendants of the previous dynasty. While in power, the Angeloi failed to stop the invasions of the Turks by the Sultanate of Rum, the successful uprising and resurrection of the Bulgarian Empire, and the loss of the Dalmatian coast and much of the Balkan areas won by Manuel I Komnenos to the Kingdom of Hungary.
  A combination of incompetence and bitter infighting among the elite saw Byzantium permanently lose her financial capability and substantial military power; her previous policies of openness with Western Europe, followed by the sudden massacre of Latins under Andronikos, had preceded the rule of the Angeloi making enemies among Western European states. The weakening of the empire under the Angeloi dynasty invited the end of the Byzantine Empire centered at Constantinople when in 1204 soldiers of the Fourth Crusade overthrew the last Angeloi Emperor, Alexios V Doukas.
context_section_description: The incompetence of Alexios' regency led to much corruption throughout the Empire. It is little wonder therefore that Andronikos Komnenos, a grandson of Alexios I, decided that the time was right to launch yet another rebellion against the Emperor. Andronikos was over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall; his flattering charms stole the hearts of many noble women and with it earned the anger of their menfolk. Exiled by Manuel Komnenos, he returned in 1180 following his death. Despite his senior age of 64 years in 1182, Andronikos retained the good looks of his forties. In August of that year Andronikos sparked a rebellion by marching on to the Capital. The army and the navy did not hesitate to join him and soon rebellion broke out in Constantinople in the name of Andronikos. A massacre of Latins then proceeded, with the women, children and even the sick in the hospitals of the Capital shown no mercy. The trading rights of the Venetians, granted by Alexios almost a century earlier, were also revoked. These actions made the empire powerful enemies in western Europe. The Emperor and his mother, Maria of Antioch, were sent to an Imperial Villa.
  Maria Komnene, daughter of Manuel Komnenos by his first wife Bertha of Sulzbach, was poisoned along with her husband Renier of Montferrat. Next Alexios' mother, Maria of Antioch, was strangled in her cell. When Andronikos was finally crowned co-emperor in September 1183, he waited two months before disposing of Alexios II Komnenos. Afterwards, he took his 12-year-old wife Agnes of France for himself, consummating the marriage.
  Early on, Andronikos ruled wisely – he began by attacking the corruption within the taxation and administration of the empire. Before long his heavy-handed ruling of the Empire gave rise to enemies in all corners of the Empire; the aristocrats in Anatolia were conspiring against his rule, Isaac Komnenos declared Cyprus an independent kingdom and Béla III of Hungary, formerly engaged to Maria Komnene, began sacking towns along Dalmatia and Croatia. However, these calamities were nothing in comparison to the storm that had lain dormant, that some would argue was worse than the Turks of Manzikert – the Normans of the Kingdom of Sicily.
  Between late 1184 and early 1185, William II of Sicily assembled a host of 80,000 soldiers and sailors and some 200–300 ships to conquer the empire. Andronikos, despite his grand military reputation was paralysed by indecision. The garrison at Durrazo had no provisions for a siege and the defenders surrendered without resistance. The massive Norman army continued to march eastward, sacking towns without any attempts by the Byzantines to engage them. Eventually Thessalonika, the second city of the empire, was reached. The Normans knew very well the importance of the city – its harbor gave it control of the Aegean Sea and its easy sea access made it a jewel in the Mediterranean that rivaled even Constantinople. Nonetheless, the Byzantines did little to stop a brutal massacre, rape and desecration of the churches and buildings inside. One contemporary chronicler wrote: "These barbarians...carried their violence to the very foot of the altars. It was thought strange that they should wish to destroy our icons, using them as fuel for the fires on which they cooked. More criminal still, they would dance upon the altars before which the angels trembled, and sing profane songs. Then they would piss all over the church, flooding the floors with their urine."|
  Later, the Norman army marched further inland to Mosynopolis, half-way to Constantinople. The population at the time was some 300,000 and any popular revolt would mean the end of Andronikos' unpopular regime. His efforts to contain the threat of "the barbarians" were twofold in nature – he assembled a force of 100 ships at the capital and brought in troops to strengthen the walls of Constantinople.
  However, it would not be Andronikos who would fight the Normans but Isaac Angelos, a great-grandson of Alexios I, was foretold by a soothsayer that he would one day rule the empire. Andronikos could not bear su
caption: Andronikos is killed.
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