Isaac Komnenos (son of John II)
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus, was the third son of Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos by Irene of Hungary. He was bypassed by his father in favour of his younger brother Manuel I Komnenos for the succession, leading to a tense relationship between the two brothers after. He participated in the campaigns of his father and brother in Asia Minor, and was a fervent adherent of Patriarch Cosmas II of Constantinople, but little else is known about his life.
Isaac's parents, John II and Empress Irene, flanking the Madonna and Child, from a mosaic in the Hagia Sophia
Isaac's daughter, Theodora, at the deathbed of her husband, Baldwin III of Jerusalem, from the history of William of Tyre
John II Komnenos or Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good", he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina and the second emperor to rule during the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire. As he was born to a reigning emperor, he had the status of a porphyrogennetos. John was a pious and dedicated monarch who was determined to undo the damage his empire had suffered following the Battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.
Mosaic of John II at the Hagia Sophia
John II (left) and his eldest son Alexios, crowned by Christ. Byzantine manuscript, early 12th century
Isaac Komnenos, mosaic of from the Chora Church
A letter from John II to Pope Innocent II