comnenian

Updated: May 23, 2025

From the days of the Emperor Heraclius the Byzantine Empire had been most tranquil and prosperous when it could acquiesce in hereditary succession. Five dynasties the Heraclian, Isaurian, Amorian, Basilian, and Comnenian families enjoyed and transmitted the royal patrimony during their respective series of five, four, three, six, and four generations.

- The World's Greatest Books — Volume 11 — Ancient and Mediæval History

The emperor was a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age, without vigor, or wisdom, or experience: his mother, the empress Mary, abandoned her person and government to a favorite of the Comnenian name; and his sister, another Mary, whose husband, an Italian, was decorated with the title of Cæsar, excited a conspiracy, and at length an insurrection, against her odious step-mother.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

He hunted the wild boar in the valley of Anazarbus, and had fixed his javelin in the body of the furious animal; but in the struggle a poisoned arrow dropped from his quiver, and a slight wound in his hand, which produced a mortification, was fatal to the best and greatest of the Comnenian princes. Part VI.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

After their defeat, the fears of the emperor solicited a treaty, which was almost accepted by the moderation of the Comnenian. But the former was betrayed by his ambassadors, and the latter was prevented by his friends.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

A daughter of Manuel was a feeble bar to the succession of the more deserving males of the Comnenian blood; her future marriage with the prince of Hungary was repugnant to the hopes or prejudices of the princes and nobles.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

While the Roman empire was attacked by the Turks in the East, east, and the Normans in the West, the aged successor of Michael surrendered the sceptre to the hands of Alexius, an illustrious captain, and the founder of the Comnenian dynasty.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

About the end of that period, the throne of Manuel was usurped by an inhuman tyrant, who had deserved the abhorrence of his country and mankind: the sword of William the Second, the grandson of Roger, was drawn by a fugitive of the Comnenian race; and the subjects of Andronicus might salute the strangers as friends, since they detested their sovereign as the worst of enemies.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

The branches that sprang from the Comnenian trunk had insensibly withered; and the male line was continued only in the posterity of Andronicus himself, who, in the public confusion, usurped the sovereignty of Trebizond, so obscure in history, and so famous in romance.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

Provoked by a real or imaginary insult of his uncle, he escaped from the Roman to the Turkish camp: his apostasy was rewarded with the sultan's daughter, the title of Chelebi, or noble, and the inheritance of a princely estate; and in the fifteenth century, Mahomet the Second boasted of his Imperial descent from the Comnenian family.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4

The nations of Europe and Asia were mingled by the expeditions to the Holy Land; and it is under the Comnenian dynasty that a faint emulation of knowledge and military virtue was rekindled in the Byzantine empire. Part I. Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians. Their Persecution By The Greek Emperors. Revolt In Armenia &c. Transplantation Into Thrace. Propagation In The West.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5