Andronikos Komnenos (son of John II)

Andronikos Komnenos (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός) (c. 1108 – 1142), Latinized as Andronicus Comnenus, was a Byzantine prince of the Komnenian dynasty.

Andronikos Komnenos
Born	c. 1108 Constantinople
Died	1142
Noble family	Komnenos
Spouse(s)	Irene
Issue Maria Komnene John Doukas Komnenos Theodora Komnene Eudokia Komnene Alexios Komnenos
Father	John II Komnenos
Mother	Piroska of Hungary

Biography

Andronikos Komnenos was born in ca. 1108/9, as the third child and second son of the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos and his Hungarian wife, Piroska (Irene).[1] Probably in 1122, when his elder brother Alexios was raised to co-emperor, he received the rank of sebastokratōr along with his younger brothers Isaac and Manuel.[2]

Komnenos became early on involved in military affairs. His first campaign was when he accompanied his father in his decisive victory against the Hungarians in 1129. Like his other brothers, he then accompanied John II during his successive campaigns against the Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor.[3] The court poets Michael Italikos and Theodore Prodromos praised Andronikos' military ability, the former comparing him to the mythical heroes of the Iliad.[4] He died in August 1142, shortly after his elder brother Alexios. The brothers had once again followed their father, who campaigned against the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, but at Attaleia Alexios suddenly fell ill and died. Andronikos, who thus became the heir-apparent, outlived him a short while, before succumbing as well. While John II continued his campaign, the third brother Isaac finally brought the corpses of his two brothers back to Constantinople, where they were entombed in the Pantokrator Monastery.[5]

Family

Komnenos was married around 1124 a woman named Irene, whose family and origin are unknown, except for a reference by an unknown poet who claimed in an encomiastic poem of her that she descended from the Aeneads.[6] The couple had several children:

• Maria Komnene, who married Theodoros Dasiotes, then John Kantakouzenos.[7]
• John Doukas Komnenos (died c. 17 September 1176), who married (first name unknown) Taronitissa, and had a daughter Maria.[8]
• Theodora Komnene (died 2 January 1184), who married Henry II Jasomirgott,[9]
• Eudokia Komnene, who married an unknown first husband and then Michael Gabras. She was also one of the mistresses of Andronikos I Komnenos.[10]
• Alexios Komnenos, who was married to Maria Doukaina, and had a daughter, Eudokia, and two short-lived sons. He is believed to have had Maria of Antioch (widow of Manuel I) as a mistress. He headed the regency council for her son, Alexios II.[11]

Footnotes

1. Varzos 1984, p. 357.
2. Varzos 1984, p. 357, esp. note 5.
3. Varzos 1984, p. 358.
4. Varzos 1984, pp. 358–359.
5. Varzos 1984, pp. 359–361.
6. Varzos 1984, pp. 361–362.
7. Cawley 2011, MARIA Komnene Cites: Niketas Choniates, Liber VII de Rebus Gesti Manuelis Comneni, 1, p. 68; Ioannes Kinnamos Liber III, 9, p. 109.
8. Cawley 2011, IOANNES Doukas Komnenos Cites: For the wife (Rüdt-Collenberg (1975) [no book title given], p. 125, footnote 30; and other sources); For the daughter (RHC, Historiens occidentaux I, Historia Rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum ("L'estoire de Eracles Empereur et la conqueste de la terre d'Outremer") XX.I, p. 942).
9. Cawley 2011, THEODORA Komnene Cites: For the marriage (Annales Mellicenses 1149, MGH SS IX, p. 504; and other sources)
10. Cawley 2011, EVDOKIA Komnene Cites Niketas Choniates, Liber III Rerum a Manuele Comneno Gestarum, 2, p. 135; Niketas Choniates, Liber IV Rerum a Manuele Comneno Gestarum, 1, p. 1; Ioannes Kinnamos Liber V, 8, p. 226.
11. Choniates, p. 293. sfn error: no target: CITEREFChoniates (help)

References

• Cawley, Charles (14 February 2011), Byzantium 1057–1204:, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
• Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). A. Thessaloniki: Centre for Byzantine Studies, University of Thessaloniki. OCLC 834784634., pp. 357–379