Alexius I Comnenus, b. c.1048, d. Aug. 15, 1118, ruled the ByzantineEmpire from 1081 to 1118. With the support of the army and his numerousrelatives, he usurped the throne from Nicephorus III. Alexius found theempire beset by foes: Seljuks occupied the Asian provinces, Pechenegsravaged the Danubian regions, and Normans from southern Italy attackedEpirus. From 1081 to 1092 he was engaged in defeating the Normans andPechenegs. In 1097-98 he utilized the victories of the First Crusade overthe Seljuk Turks at Nicaea and Dorylaeum to regain the coastal regions ofAnatolia. From 1099 to 1104 he contended with Bohemond I for Antioch;then in 1107-08 he overcame Bohemond's army in Epirus. Internally,Alexius reformed the monetary and taxation systems. Well educatedhimself, he vigorously repressed the unorthodox philosopher John Italusand the Bogomil heretics. After his death, he was succeeded by his son,John II.
John II Comnenus, b. 1088, d. Apr. 8, 1143, succeeded his father, AlexiusI, as ruler of the Byzantine Empire in 1118. A gifted soldier andstatesman, he temporarily restored the fortunes of the empire. Hereestablished imperial authority in the Balkans by defeating thePechenegs in 1122, controlling the Serbs, and checking Hungarianexpansion. His alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II countered thethreat from the Normans in southern Italy.
In the east John conquered the Armenian state of Cilicia in 1137 andforced the Latin principality of Antioch to acknowledge his suzerainty.He was succeeded by his son Manuel I Comnenus.
