Pseudo-Alexios II was the most famous among several pretenders to the throne of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

who appeared in the early reign of

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was ...

(r. 1185-1195 and 1203–1204). He claimed to be the Emperor

Alexios II Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos ( gkm, Αλέξιος Β' Κομνηνός; 14 September 1169, p. 383September 1183), Latinized Alexius II Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He ascended to the throne as a minor. For the duration of his sho ...

, who had been murdered in 1183.

Career of the false Alexios II

Pseudo-Alexios II was a young man from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, whose resemblance to the deceased emperor and his father

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine empero ...

convinced many of the veracity of his claims. He visited

Iconium Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

and sought an audience with Sultan

Kilij Arslan II Kilij Arslan II ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان دوم) or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd ( fa, عز الدین قلج ارسلان بن مسعود) ( Modern Turkish ''Kılıç Arslan'', meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rû ...

. The sultan, struck by the resemblance to Manuel, allowed him to enroll troops, but he refused to break the treaty he had concluded with Isaac II, and thus lose the tribute he was receiving from the

. The pretender assembled an army of 8,000 men and ravaged the valley of the Maeander River, storming several cities, including the rich city of

Chonae Colossae (; grc-gre, Κολοσσαί) was an ancient city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, and one of the most celebrated cities of southern Anatolia (modern Turkey). The Epistle to the Colossians, an early Christian text which identifies its autho ...

in order to appease his troops with plunder. Isaac sent his brother

Alexios Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

to deal with the pretender, but the imperial troops had very little success. The false Alexios' career came to a sudden stop when he was assassinated by a priest, who was infuriated with Alexios' alliance with the Muslim Turks, his permission for them to plunder the richest cities in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

, and his tolerance of the desecration of the churches in these cities that the Turks committed. The assassin carried the head of the pretender to the ''

sebastocrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

'' Alexios, who was so taken aback by the similarities of its features to those of Manuel I, that he exclaimed "Those who followed him may be innocent after all."

Other pretenders

After the death of Pseudo-Alexios, several others also assumed the name of Alexios II. One was taken in

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and ...

and put to death. Another rose up at

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocleti ...

in 1195/1196, but he was captured and blinded.

References

* George Finlay, ''History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057 - 1453'', Volume 2, William Blackwood & Sons, 1854 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexios II, Pseudo- 12th-century Byzantine people Byzantine pretenders Impostor pretenders 12th-century monarchs in Europe 12th-century monarchs in the Middle East