'''Alexios II Komnenos''' or '''Alexius II Comnenus''' ([[Greek Language|Greek]]: Αλέξιος Β’ Κομνηνός, ''Alexios II Komnēnos'') ([[14 September]] [[1169]] – October [[1183]], [[Constantinople]]), [[Byzantine emperor]] ([[1180]]-[[1183]]), was the son of Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos]] and [[Maria of Antioch|Maria]], daughter of [[Raymond of Antioch|Raymond]], [[Principality of Antioch|prince of Antioch]].<ref>An alternative date of birth occasionally given is 1168 {{Harv|van Dieten|1975|p=169}}, based on [[William of Tyre]]'s statement that Alexios was 13 in 1180. For discussion, concluding that [[14 September]] [[1169]] is correct, see {{Harv|Wirth|1956}}; {{Harv|Magoulias|1984|p=383}}.</ref> He was the long-awaited male heir, and was named Alexius as a fulfilment of the [[AIMA prophecy]].
==His reign and death==
[[Image:Byzantium1173.JPG|thumb|right|350px|The Empire in 1180 A.D when Alexios II became Emperor]]On Manuel's death in [[1180]], Maria, who became a nun under the name Xene ("foreigner"), took the position of regent (according to some historians). She excluded her young son from power, entrusting it instead to Alexios the ''[[Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy|prōtosebastos]]'' (a cousin of Alexios II), who was popularly believed to be her lover. Friends of the young Alexios II now tried to form a party against the empress mother and the prōtosebastos; Alexios II's half-sister Maria, wife of Caesar John ([[Renier of Montferrat]]), stirred up riots in the streets of the capital.
Their party was defeated ([[May 2]], [[1182]]), but [[Andronikos I Komnenos|Andronikos Komnenos]], a first cousin of the late Emperor Manuel, took advantage of these disorders to aim at the crown, entered Constantinople, where he was received with almost divine honours, and overthrew the government. His arrival was celebrated by a massacre of 80,000 Latins in Constantinople, especially the [[Venice|Venetian]] merchants, which he made no attempt to stop. He allowed Alexios II to be crowned, but was responsible for the death of most of the young emperor's actual or potential defenders, including his mother, his half-sister and the Caesar, and refused to allow him the smallest voice in public affairs.
The betrothal in 1180 of Alexios II to [[Agnes of France, Empress consort of the Eastern Roman Empire|Agnes of France]], daughter of [[Louis VII of France]] and his third wife [[Adèle of Champagne]] and at the time a child of nine, had not apparently been followed by their marriage. Andronikos was now formally proclaimed as co-emperor, and not long afterwards, on the pretext that divided rule was injurious to the Empire, he caused Alexios II to be strangled with a bow-string (October 1183). During Alexius II's reign, the Byzantine Empire lost [[Syrmia]], [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]], and [[Croatia]] to the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] in AD 1181. Then [[Dalmatia]] was lost to the Venetians and some territories in western Asia Minor to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in AD 1182, including the cities of [[Cotyaeum]], [[Sozopolis]], and [[Ankara]].
==Portrayal in fiction==
Alexios is a character in the historical novel ''Agnes of France'' ([[1980]]) by [[Greece|Greek]] writer [[Kostas Kyriazis]]. The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes.
==Notes==
<references />
==References==
* ''The [[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]]'', Oxford University Press, 1991.
* Magdalino, Paul, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 1993.
*{{Harvard reference | Surname=Magoulias | Given=Harry J., translator | Title=O city of Byzantium: annals of Niketas Choniates | Publisher=Wayne State University Press | Place=Detroit | Year=1984 | ISBN=0814317642 }}
*{{Harvard reference | Surname=van Dieten | Given=J. L., editor | Title=Nicetae Choniatae historia | Publisher=De Gruyter | Place=Berlin | Year=1975 }}
*{{Harvard reference | Surname=Wirth | Given=Peter | Title=Wann wurde Kaiser Alexios II. geboren? [When was Emperor Alexios II born?] | Journal=Byzantinische Zeitschrift | Volume=49 | Year=1956 | Page=65-67 }}
*{{1911|article=Alexius II|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Alexius_II}}
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{{s-hou|[[Komnenos|Komnenid]] dynasty|14 September|1169|October|1183}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Manuel I Komnenos]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Byzantine Emperors|Byzantine Emperor]]|years=1180–1183}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Andronikos I Komnenos]]}}
{{end}}
{{Roman Emperors}}
[[Category:Byzantine emperors|Alexios 02]]
[[Category:Comnenid dynasty|Alexios 02]]
[[Category:1169 births|Alexius Komnenos]]
[[Category:1183 deaths|Alexius Komnenos]]
[[ca:Aleix II Comnè]]
[[de:Alexios II. (Byzanz)]]
[[el:Αλέξιος Β']]
[[es:Alejo II Comneno]]
[[fr:Alexis II Comnène]]
[[gl:Aleixo II Comneno]]
[[it:Alessio II di Bisanzio]]
[[la:Alexius II Comnenus]]
[[hu:II. Alexiosz]]
[[nl:Alexios II Komnenos]]
[[ja:アレクシオス2世コムネノス]]
[[pl:Aleksy II Komnen]]
[[pt:Aleixo II Comneno]]
[[sr: Алексије II Комнин]]
[[fi:Aleksios II Komnenos]]