John Komnenos the Fat

John Komnenos
Usurper of the Byzantine Empire
Usurpation	31 July 1201 (or 1200)
Died	31 July 1201 (or 1200)
Father	Alexios Axouch
Mother	Maria Komnene

John Komnenos (Latinized as Comnenus), nicknamed "the Fat" (Greek: Ἰωάννης Κομνηνὸς ὁ παχύς), was a Byzantine noble who attempted to usurp the imperial throne from Alexios III Angelos in a short-lived coup in Constantinople on 31 July 1201 (or 1200). The coup drew on opposition to the ruling Angelid dynasty among both rival aristocratic families and the common people, who were dissatisfied by the dynasty's failures against external foes. Hitherto an obscure figure, John became the figurehead of the uprising because of his imperial blood, as he was descended from the illustrious Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185), but the real driving force behind his coup was probably the ambitious Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos. With the support of the capital's populace, the plotters managed to seize most of the Great Palace in Constantinople's southeastern corner, which the mob proceeded to loot, and John Komnenos was crowned in the Hagia Sophia. Alexios III, however, secure in his residence in the northwestern Blachernae Palace, sent forces by sea to land in the part of the Great Palace still held by the loyal Varangian Guard. With most of the urban mob dispersed for the night, the Varangians had little difficulty in suppressing the coup. John Komnenos with many of his followers were captured and executed.

John was the son of the distinguished protostrator Alexios Axouch. The Axouchoi were a prominent family of Turkish origin, which was closely associated with the Komnenian dynasty and provided a number of distinguished generals. The two families also intermarried: John's mother Maria was the daughter of Alexios Komnenos, eldest son and co-emperor of Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143). John was thus able to claim a pedigree comparable, if not superior, to the reigning Angeloi, albeit from the maternal side.

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