Isaac II Komnenos, Emperor of the Romans

Isaac II Komnenos (8th July 1047-25th August 1122) was Roman Emperor from October 3rd 1117 until his death just under five years later. He was the third member of the House of Komnenos to rule as Emperor, following his uncle Isaac I and brother Alexios. Isaac was succeeded by his elder son Manuel.

Born on the Komnenid family estates in Anatolia, Isaac came to Constantinople with his elder brother Manuel as part of their uncle's army. They were later joined by their parents and younger brother Alexios, and the family settled at Adrianople in Thrace in 1060, from where, in the spring of 1063, they were briefly kidnapped by the Domestikos tēs Dyseōs  Rōmanos Diogenēs. This incident seems to have had a deep impact upon the young Isaac, who was fifteen at the time, and it certainly caused a deep rift between he and his mother Anna Dalassēnē.

Following the death of his elder brother Manuel, Isaac fought at the side of his father John in Italy, succeeding to the position of Katepánō in 1073, after his father died in battle. He had expected to be named the heir of his uncle Emperor Isaac I, but did not revolt when the Emperor instead named Alexios. Relations between the brothers were strained for much of Alexios' reign. Isaac did little to prevent the Norman invasion of Epiros in 1079, and conducted himself in Italy in the 1080s almost as an independent monarch. In 1092, Isaac marched on Constantinople and purged the court of elements unfavourable to himself (most notably his mother Anna) without much protest from Alexios. Thereafter, however, Isaac was kept in virtual house-arrest in Constantinople, a position which at least allowed him to quickly seize the throne upon his brother's death in 1117.

Isaac's short reign was dominated by a major revolt that broke out in 1117, led by Basil Palaiologos, the husband of Alexios' eldest daughter Anna.