Isaac Komnenos (brother of Alexios I)
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus was a notable Byzantine aristocrat and military commander in the 1070s. Isaac played a major role in the rise to the throne of his younger brother, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and remained a leading figure in his brother's administration until his death.
Seal of Isaac as protoproedros and domestikos ton scholon of the East in c. 1073, showing the military saint St. Theodore
Portrait of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, from a 12th-century Greek manuscript
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks was the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade.
Portrait of Alexios within the Panoplia Dogmatica written by Euthymios Zigabenos
Seal of Alexios as "Grand Domestic of the West"
Low relief depicting Alexios I, Campiello de Cà Angaran, Venice, early 12th century.
Scyphate (cup-shaped) hyperpyron minted under Manuel I Komnenos