Komnenos
The 11th-century Byzantine historian Michael Psellos reported that the Komnenos family originated from the village of Komne in Thrace—usually identified with the "Fields of Komnene" (Κομνηνῆς λειμῶνας) mentioned in the 14th century by John Kantakouzenos—a view commonly accepted by modern scholarship.Many classical monuments dedicated to Claudius stood in the vicinity of Kastra Komnenon, which according to historian Maximilian C. G. Lau may have increased his appeal in the eyes of the Komnenoi.After Manuel I's reign the Komnenos dynasty fell into conspiracies and plots like many of its predecessors (and the various contenders within the family sought power and often succeeded in overthrowing the preceding kinsman); Alexios II, the first Komnenos to ascend as a minor, ruled for three years and his conqueror and successor Andronikos I ruled for two, overthrown by the Angelos family under Isaac II who was dethroned and blinded by his own brother Alexios III.Several weeks before the occupation of Constantinople by crusaders in 1204, one branch of the Komnenoi fled back to their homelands in Paphlagonia, along the eastern Black Sea and its hinterland in the Pontic Alps, where they established the Empire of Trebizond.A princess of the Trebizond branch is said to have been the mother of prince Yahya (born 1585),[citation needed] who reportedly became a Christian yet spent much of his life attempting to gain the Ottoman throne.One renegade member of the family, also named Isaac Komnenos, established a separate "empire" on Cyprus in 1184, which lasted until 1191, when the island was taken from him by Richard I of England during the Third Crusade.The last descendant of the dynasty is often considered to have been John Komnenos Molyvdos,[15] a distinguished Ottoman Greek scholar and physician, who became metropolitan bishop of Side and Dristra, and died in 1719.In 1782, the Corsican Greek notable Demetrio Stefanopoli obtained letters patent from Louis XVI of France recognizing him as the descendant and heir of the Emperors of Trebizond.
Byzantine EmpireEmpire of TrebizondManuel Erotikos KomnenosIsaac I KomnenosAndronikos I KomnenosDavid Megas KomnenosJohn Komnenos MolyvdosEmperor and Autocrat of the RomansEmperor of TrebizondQueen of JerusalemPrincess of AntiochDuchess of AthensAncient GreekLatinizedByzantine GreekAlexios I Komnenostheir rulerump stateGeorge KomnenosDoukasAngelosPalaiologosMichael PsellosThraceJohn KantakouzenosKastamonPaphlagoniadynatoiAsia MinorDoukaiConstantine XMichael VIIClaudius GothicusConstantine the GreatKastra Komnenondu CangeConstantinopleGeorge MurnuAromanianJohn KomnenosstratopedarchMichael VIByzantine emperorsSclerosArgyrosGeorgiaRussiaFrancePersiaGermanyPolandBulgariaHungarySerbiaIrene DoukainaLaskarisIsaac II AngelosAlexios III AngelosBlachernaeAnatoliaSeljuk TurksFirst CrusadeCrusader statescrusaderPrincipality of AntiochKingdom of JerusalemTheodora KomneneManuel I KomnenosBaldwin III of JerusalemAmalric I of JerusalemJohn IIAnna KomneneAlexios IIAndronikos IFourth CrusadeAlexios V DoukasBlack SeaPontic AlpsAlexios ITrebizondDavid KomnenosOttoman sultanMehmed IIJohn Tzelepes KomnenosJohn AxouchConstantine AngelosDespotate of EpirusMichael I Komnenos DoukasGuy I de la Rochede la RocheDukes of AthensIsaac KomnenosCyprusRichard I of EnglandThird CrusadeDamsel of CyprusThierry of FlandersrestoredPalaiologoifall of ConstantinopleOttoman Greekmetropolitan bishopDristraCorsican GreekDemetrio Stefanopoliletters patentLouis XVI of FranceIrene AngelinaPhilip of SwabiaKing of GermanyWestern EuropeHistory of the Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire under the Komnenos dynastyChisholm, HughEncyclopædia BritannicaCameron, AverilKazhdan, AlexanderThe Oxford Dictionary of ByzantiumCentre for Byzantine Studies, University of ThessalonikiNikephoros KomnenosManuel KomnenosAdrianos KomnenosAlexios KomnenosConstantine KomnenosAdrianos/John IV, Archbishop of OhridMaria Komnene