Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Portrait of Alexios within the Panoplia Dogmatica written by Euthymios Zigabenos
Byzantine emperor
Reign	1 April 1081[1] – 15 August 1118
Coronation	4 April 1081[2]
Predecessor	Nikephoros III Botaneiates
Successor	John II Komnenos
Co-emperor	Constantine Doukas (1081–87)
Born	c. 1057
Died	15 August 1118[3] (aged 61–62)
Spouse	Irene Doukaina
Issue	Anna Komnene Maria Komnene John II Komnenos Andronikos Komnenos Isaac Komnenos Eudokia Komnene Theodora Komnene Manuel Komnenos Zoe Komnene
Names Alexios Komnenos Αλέξιος Κομνηνός
Dynasty	Komnenian
Father	John Komnenos
Mother	Anna Dalassene
Religion	Eastern Orthodox

Alexios I Komnenos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, translit. Aléxios Komnēnós, 1057 – 15 August 1118), 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.