biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (c.1135–1204)
|
| biography:
| Byzantine emperor (1185–95, 1203–4), the great grandson of Alexius I. He was proclaimed emperor by the Constantinople mob that had killed his cousin, the unpopular Andronicus I Comnenus. He repulsed an invasion by the Normans (1185), but failed to crush a revolt of Bulgarians and Walachians and was forced to recognize the second Bulgarian empire (1187). Corruption in public office was rife during his reign, and he was deposed (1195) and blinded by his brother, Alexius III, who became emperor. Isaac's son (later Alexius IV) appealed to the Latins of the Fourth Crusade, and in 1203 father and son were restored as co-emperors. They were overthrown during a revolution in Constantinople (1204) led by Alexius Ducas (Alexius V), in which Alexius IV was killed; Isaac died soon after. |
|
|
