Angelus (dynasty)
| Angeloi | |
|---|---|
| Country | Byzantine Empire |
| Titles | Byzantine Emperor |
| Founded | 11th century |
| Founder | Constantine Angelos |
| Final ruler | Alexios IV Angelos |
| Ethnicity | Greek |
The Angelos family (Greek: Ἄγγελος), feminine form Angelina (Άγγελίνα), plural Angeloi (Ἄγγελοι), was a Greek noble lineage which gave rise to three Byzantine emperors who ruled between 1185 and 1204. From the 13th to the 14th century, a branch of the family ruled Epiros, Thessaly and Thessaloniki under the name of Komnenos Doukas. The family name means angel (messenger of God).
The lineage was founded by Constantine Angelos, a minor noble from Philadelphia (Asia Minor), who married Theodora Komnene (born 1096), a daughter of emperor Alexios I Komnenos. According to a 12th-century historian, Constantine was brave, skilled and handsome, but of lowly origin. He was the son of one Manuel Angelos from Philadelphia and had three brothers: Nicholas Angelos, Michael Angelos and John Angelos. Constantine and Theodora had three sons: the sebastokrator John Doukas, Andronikos Doukas Angelos and Alexios Komnenos Angelos, who erected a church in Nerezi in 1164, famed for its frescoes. Several members of the Angelos family, like John Doukas and his sons, often preferred to use other surnames rather than the family name.
Constantine's son Andronikos was the progenitor of the Angelos dynasty. In 1185, Andronikos' son Isaac II Angelos deposed Andronikos I Komnenos and was proclaimed Byzantine Emperor. Irene Angelina, a daughter of Isaac II Angelos, married Philip of Swabia, King of the Germans. Their daughters married into a number of western European royal and princely families. Many of the extant aristocratic families of Europe are, therefore, descendants of the Angeloi. Isaac was deposed by his brother Alexios III Angelos, who was in turn overthrown by Alexios IV Angelos with the aid of the Fourth Crusade. Under the corrupt and dissolute reign of the Angelos dynasty, the Byzantine empire deteriorated and soon fell prey to Latin crusaders and Venetians in the Fourth Crusade.
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