Home > Alexius III Angelus

In 1195, while his brother Isaac II was away hunting in Thrace, he was proclaimed emperor by the troops; he captured Isaac at Stagira in Macedonia, put out his eyes, and kept him henceforth a close prisoner, though he had been redeemed by him from captivity at Antioch and loaded with honours.

To compensate for this crime and to confirm his position as emperor, he had to scatter money so lavishly as to empty his treasury, and to allow such licence to the officers of the army as to leave the Empire practically defenceless. He consummated the financial ruin of the state. The able and forceful empress Euphrosyne tried in vain to sustain his credit and his court; Vatatzes, the favourite instrument of her attempts at reform, was assassinated by the emperor's orders.

Eastward the Empire was overrun by the Seljuk Turks; from the north Bulgarians and Vlachs descended unchecked to ravage the plains of Macedonia and Thrace; while Alexius squandered the public treasure on his palaces and gardens. Soon he was threatened by a new and yet more formidable danger. In 1202 the Western princes of the Fourth Crusade assembled at VeniceVenice ( Italian Venezia German Venedig , the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto, population 271,073 (2001). The city stretches across numerous small islands in a marshy lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater l, bent on a new crusadeThis article is about the historical Crusades and the extended term "Crusade". For the artillery system, see XM2001 Crusader; for the fighter jet, see F-8 Crusader; for the television series, see Crusade. Historically, the Crusades were a series of severa. Alexius, son of the deposed Isaac, escaped from ConstantinopleConstantinople (Roman name: Constantinopolis; Greek: Konstantinoupolis or ) is the former name of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Its original name was Byzantium ( Greek: Byzantion or Bυζαντιο&nu pronounced roughly B and appealed to the crusaders, promising as a crowning bribe to heal the schismIn Christianity, the East-West Schism usually called the Great Schism (though this latter term sometimes refers to the Western Schism), was the event that separated Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Roman Catholicism in 1054. The two churches split along doct of EastEastern Orthodox Christianity (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox) is the modern name primarily applied to the Christian church that claims to be the original historical church started by Christ Jesus and his Apostles 2000 years ago. They claim unbroken apo and West if they would help him to depose his uncle.

The crusaders, whose objective had been EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797, were persuaded to set their course for Constantinople, before which they appeared in June 1203Events April 16 Philip II of France enters Rouen, leading to the eventual unification of Normandy and France. June 23 Fleet of the Fourth Crusade enters Bosphorus July 17 Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople by assault; the Byzantine emperor Alexius III, proclaiming Alexius as emperor Alexius IV and summoning the capital to depose his uncle. Alexius III, sunk in debauchery, took no efficient measures to resist. His son-in-law, Lascaris, who was the only one to do anything, was defeated at Scutari, and the siege of Constantinople began. On the July 17 the crusaders, the aged doge Enrico Dandolo at their head, scaled the walls and took the city by storm. During the fighting and carnage that followed Alexius hid in the palace, and finally, with one of his daughters, Irene, and such treasures as he could collect, got into a boat and escaped to Develton in Thrace, leaving his wife, his other daughters and his Empire to the victors. Isaac, drawn from his prison and robed once more in the imperial purple, received his son in state.

Shortly afterwards Alexius made an effort in conjunction with Murtzuphlos ( Alexius V) to recover the throne. The attempt was unsuccessful and, after wandering about Greece, he surrendered with Euphrosyne, who had meanwhile joined him, to Boniface of Montferrat, then master of a great part of the Balkan peninsula (the so-called Kingdom of Thessalonica). Leaving his protection he sought shelter with Michael, despot of Epirus, and then repaired to Asia Minor, where his son-in-law Lascaris was holding his own against the Latins.

Alexius, joined by Kay Khusrau I , the sultan of Rüm (also called the sultan of Iconium or Konya), now demanded the crown of Lascaris, and on his refusal marched against him. Lascaris, however, defeated and took him prisoner. Alexius was relegated to a monastery at Nicaea, where he died on some date unknown.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica