House of Komnenos

The Komnenoi were a Roman noble family who rose to prominence in the later tenth century, in the reign of Basil II. In 1057, they took over the governance of the Empire, and Komnenid Emperors continued to rule until 1212. Even then, the succeeding regime of George I took care to marry into the Komnenid dynasty. The final male-line Komnenid, Isaac Komnenos, son of the Emperor Alexander III and Eirene Nafpliotissa, was forced to retire to a monastery by George I in 1212, and died there thirty years later, thus ending the House of Komnenos in the male line. The reigning Emperor at Isaac's death was Constantine X Palaiologos, who had Komnenid blood through his grandmother Zoe Komnena.