Isaac I

Isaac I Komnenos Ισαάκιος A' Κομνηνός
Gold histamenon of Isaac I Komnenos
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	5 June 1057– 22 November 1059
Coronation	1 September 1057
Predecessor	Michael VI Stratiotikos
Successor	Constantine X Doukas
Born	c. 1007
Died	1060/61 (aged 53) Monastery of Stoudios, Constantinople
Spouse	Catherine of Bulgaria
Issue	Manuel Komnenos Maria Komnene
Dynasty	Komnenoi
Father	Manuel Erotikos Komnenos

Isaac I Komnenos (or Comnenus) (Greek: Ισαάκιος A' Κομνηνός, Isaakios I Komnēnos; c. 1007 – 1060/61) was Byzantine Emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenos dynasty. During his brief reign he attempted to restore the depleted finances of the empire and the former strict organization of the government.

Isaac was the son of Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, who reportedly served as strategos autokrator of the East under Emperor Basil II, and defended Nicaea against the rebel Bardas Skleros in 978. Manuel's native language was Greek; according to Steven Runciman, he was either Greek or a Hellenized Vlach. It is said that the family name was derived from the city of Komne, near Philippopolis in Thrace. Manuel came to the notice of Basil II because of his defence, in 978, of Nicaea against the rebel Bardas Skleros. In recognition of Manuel's loyalty, Basil gave him lands near Kastamuni in Paphlagonia. On his deathbed in 1020, Manuel commended his two surviving sons Isaac and John to the emperor's care. Basil had them carefully educated at the monastery of Stoudion and afterwards advanced them to high official positions. Manuel also had a daughter, born in 1012 and married around 1031 to Michael Dokeianos, Catepan of Italy, deceased in 1050.