Emperor Isaac II Angelus & Empress Eirene ?

 189118302. Emperor Isaac II Angelus & 189118303. Empress Eirene ?

9/1156, Issac born in Greece, s/o §§Dukas Andronikos Angelos & Duchas Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa.

~1160, Eirene born in Greece.

[––Isaac & Eirene––]

~1178, Issac married Eirene.

9/1183, Andronikos I Komnenos [Isaac’s cousin] crowned co-emperor with Alexis II [age 14] in Constantinople.

10/1183, Andronikos I Komnenos had Alexis II strangled with a bow string. [Andronikos I Komnenos was not liked.]

1184, King Bela III (94555180) of Hungary took Beograd, Branicevo and the valley of the Morava river from the Byzantine empire. [Bela likely knew Isaac since he had been educated at court in Constantinople.]

1185, Isaac’s father died.

1185, While Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos was away from Constantinople, his lieutenant, Stephen Hagiochristophorites, attempted to arrest Isaac. Isaac killed the lieutenant by splitting his head with an axe, and took refuge in the Hagia Sofia. (S) Byzantine Empresses, Garland, 1999, P211.

[––Emperor Isaac––]

9/1185, Isaac declared Emperor. When Andronikos I Komnenos returned, he had to flee by boat, but was captured.

9/12/1185, Isaac executed Andronikos I Komnenos.

By 1185, Eirene died [or was divorced.]

[––Isaac––]

1185, Issac and King Bela III made a peace agreement; which included Isaac marrying a daughter of King Bela.

1185-86, Isaac increased taxes; a difficult burden for Romanian sheep farmers.

11/7/1185, Isaac defeated Norman King William II of Sicily at the battle of Demetritzes [modern Sidirokastro, Greece, on the banks of the Strymon]; but failed to take Cyprus.

1185-86, Isaac sent 80 galleys to liberate his brother Alexis III from Acre [unsuccessful.]

1/1186, Isaac married 2nd Margaret of Hungary, d/o King Bela III, receiving the valley of the Morava river as her dowry. (S) The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula, Madrearu, 2008, P71.

1186, Bulgarians near Anchialos (Pomorje) attacked Isaac’s fortresses in eastern Bulgaria under the leadership of Alexios Vranas.

1186, Isaac led expeditions [unsuccessful] against Bulgarians  and Walachians.

1186, Isaac sent a force of 70 ships against Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus which were decimated in defeat. [Cyprus would be captured in 1191 by King Richard I of England.]

1187, Isaac made an agreement in which the Venetian Republic would provide 40–100 galleys on 6 months notice in exchange for favorable trading concessions.

9/1187, Alexios Vranas, Isaac’s military commander, attempted to seize Constantinople.

1/6/1188, Isaac sent an embassy to Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, congratulating him on his liberation of Jerusalem. (S) The Third Crusade, Nicolle, 2005, P16.

1188, Isaac renewed a peace agreement [formerly made by Andronikos I Komnenos], with Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria. [Patriarch Dositheus of Constantinople offers unconditional absolution to any Greek killing a Westerner.]

6/1188, Isaac recognized the 2^nd Bulgarian empire; an automomous state with the empire granted as a lifetime possession to two Romanians, Asan and Theodore.

1188-89, Emperor Isaac used Turkish mercenaries to ambush forces on the way to the Holy Land.

1189, Issac and William II of Sicily made a peace agreement.

1189, King Philip Agustus of France wrote to Isaac asking permission to travel through Byzantine land on the way to the Holy Land.

9/1189, Emperor Frederick sent an embassy to Isaac; which Isaac took hostage. Because of this, Emperor Frederick threatened to attack Constantinople.

11/1189, King William II of Sicily died.

1/21/1190, Isaac II Angelus concluded the Treaty of Anrianople [negotiated with the help of King Bela III] with Emperor Frederick I, agreeing to provide transport for his forces from Hellespont to Asia Minor.

6/10/1190, Emperor Frederick died on the way to the Holy Land. [Isaac was now free to invade the Balkans.]

1190, Isaac, with the help of King Bela III, invaded and defeated the Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja [of Rascia] in battle. By Treaty, Serbia remained independent, but was under Byzantine influence [Isaac gave Stefan an imperial title].

10/1191, Emperor Isaac met with his father-in-law King Bela III.

5/1192, Isaac sent and embassy to Saladin, seeking an alliance against Western Europeans. On return, the embassy vessel was captured Genoese ships. (S) Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium, Laiou, 2001, P157.

11/1192, Isaac wrote to the Commune of Genoa describing the attack and asking for compensation of 96,000 hyperpyra and 566 nomismata. Isaac stated that without restitution, he would take the money from Genoese merchants [and those of Pisa] in Constantinople. [Isaac soon took 20,000 hyperpyra from the merchants.]

10/1193, Isaac wrote to the city of Genoa explaining why he had confiscated the merchandise of Genoese merchants. Genoa claimed the attackers were outlaws. [Genoa and Isaac came to a settlement.]

1194, Isaac defeated at the battle of Arcadiopolis [modern Lule Burgas in Turkey].

3/1195, Isaac assembled an army near the city of Cypsela for an invasion of Bulgaria.

4/8/1195, Isaac II Angelus deposed, blinded, and imprisoned with his son Alexius; by his brother Alexius III.

1195-6, Isaac’s son Alexis IV escaped imprisonment.

4/23/1196, King Bela III of Hungary died.

12/25/1201 at Hagenau, Alexis IV visited Philip of Swabia (94559150), King of Germany at his Christmas court. [Philip married to Alexis IV’ sister Irene.] (S) Pope Innocent III, Moore, 2003, P108.

5/1202, at Rome, Boniface of Montferrat proposed to Pope Innocent III the restoration of Isaac Angelus with the support of crusaders – which was refused. (S) Cambridge Medieval History, Vs1-5.

4/1203, Isaac’s son Alexis joined the crusaders sailing from Zara in Greece.

1203, All the crusaders reached Durazzo, where Alexis IV was received as their emperor.

6/24/1203, The crusader fleet anchored off the abbey of St. Stephen, 7 miles south of Constantinople. After a brief skirmish, Alexius IV demanded the surrended of his uncle Alexius III as a traitor and usurper.

7/1203, Constantinople captured; Isaac released from prison by crusaders, led by his son Alexius, and restored to office.

8/1/1203, The young Alexius IV crowned co-emperor with his father. [Alexius agreed to pay the crusaders and the Doge of Venice 200,000 marks to put him on the throne of Constantinople. (S) Archimedes Codex, Netz, 2007.]

2/1204, Issac died after his son Alexis.

(S) History of the Crusades, V-II, Setton, 2006. (S) Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare, V1, 2010, P409.

Children of Isaac and Eirene:

i. Alexis IV, born ? in Byzantium.

2/8/1204, Alexis killed during a conflict between the crusaders and the people of Constantinople.

ii. Irene Angelina (94559151), born ~1180 in Byzantium.