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76-530: The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Kykkos was founded around the end of the 11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). The monastery lies at an altitude of 1318 meters on the north west face of Troödos Mountains . There are no remains of the original monastery as it was burned down many times. The first President of Cyprus , Archbishop Makarios III started his ecclesiastical career there as

152-514: A bishop. His proper title is "Right Reverend Metropolitan of Kykkos and Tillyria Monsigneur Nikephoros". He stood for election to become Archbishop of Cyprus . The grave of Archbishop Makarios III is located in Throni, near the monastery. Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( Ancient Greek : Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός , romanized :  Aléxios Komnēnós , c.  1057 – 15 August 1118), Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus ,

228-494: A cave on the mountain of Kykkos. One day, the Byzantine governor of the island, doux Manuel Boutoumites , who was spending the summer at a village of Marathasa because of the heat of the season, went into the forest to hunt. Having lost his way in the forest he met Monk Esaias and asked him to show him the way. The hermit who was not interested in the things of this world would not answer his questions. Boutoumites got angry at

304-513: A demotion, as Alexios was needed to counter the expected invasion of the Normans of Southern Italy, led by Robert Guiscard . While Byzantine troops were assembling for the expedition, the Doukas faction at court approached Alexios and convinced him to join a conspiracy against Nikephoros III. The mother of Alexios, Anna Dalassene, was to play a prominent role in this coup d'état of 1081, along with

380-464: A monk in 1926. He remained fond of the place and returned there many times. His request to be buried there materialised after his death in 1977. His tomb lies 3 km west of Kykkos monastery and remains a popular visitor destination. According to tradition written by Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky , the Ukrainian pilgrim who travelled to Kykkos Monastery in 1735, a virtuous hermit called Esaias was living in

456-631: A promised land of milk and honey. Not quite ready to supply this number of people as they traversed his territories, the emperor saw his Balkan possessions subjected to further pillage at the hands of his own allies. Eventually Alexios dealt with the People's Crusade by hustling them on to Asia Minor. There, they were massacred by the Turks of Kilij Arslan I at the Battle of Civetot in October 1096. The "Prince's Crusade",

532-550: A result, Alexios and Constantine, Maria's son, were now adoptive brothers, and both Isaac and Alexios took an oath that they would safeguard his rights as emperor. By secretly giving inside information to the Komnenoi, Maria was an invaluable ally. As stated in the Alexiad, Isaac and Alexios left Constantinople in mid-February 1081 to raise an army against Botaneiates. However, when the time came, Anna quickly and surreptitiously mobilized

608-518: A theological dispute. In spite of the success of the First Crusade, Alexios also had to repel numerous attempts on his territory by the Seljuqs in 1110–1117. Alexios was for many years under the strong influence of an eminence grise , his mother Anna Dalassene , a wise and immensely able politician whom, in a uniquely irregular fashion, he had crowned as Augusta instead of the rightful claimant to

684-510: Is ascribed by Alexios' daughter Anna to his policy and diplomacy, but by the Latin historians of the crusade to his treachery and deception. In 1099, he sent a Byzantine fleet of ten ships to assist the Crusaders in capturing Laodicea and other coastal towns as far as Tripoli . The Crusaders believed their oaths were made invalid when the Byzantine contingent under Tatikios failed to help them during

760-534: Is never looked at, and its top half remains hidden behind a protective covering as it is said that whoever looks at it will be blinded. The last person to have seen the icon is the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Gerasimos, in 1669. The icon is rarely uncovered, although this happens on occasion. In recent years there had been a drought affecting Cyprus, in response to which the fathers took the icon to her throne, and read special supplications for rain, whilst looking away from

836-586: Is translated, "I received this rule and ordinance from our blessed father/pope, Heraclas." According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the earliest recorded use of "pope" in English is in an Old English translation ( c . 950) of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People , "Þa wæs in þa tid Uitalius papa þæs apostolican seðles aldorbiscop." In modern English, "At that time, Pope Vitalian

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912-805: The Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria , the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria , the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and all the East and the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria . Each of the respective churches consider their patriarch as the successor to the original early bishops of Alexandria. The title was also previously held by the Latin Patriarch of Alexandria . The vast majority of

988-676: The Council of Piacenza . The help he sought from the West was some mercenary forces, not the immense hosts that arrived, to his consternation and embarrassment, after the pope preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont later that same year. This was the People's Crusade : a mob of mostly unarmed poor peasants and serfs, led by the preacher Peter the Hermit , fleeing from hunger in their home regions to

1064-768: The Melkite Greek Catholic Church in communion with the Holy See , also has the titles of Titular Patriarch of Alexandria of the Greek-Melkites and Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Greek-Melkites. The Latin Patriarch of Alexandria was head of the titular Patriarchal See of Alexandria of the Catholic Church , established by Pope Innocent III . The title was last held by Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto until his death in 1954; it remained vacant until its abolition as

1140-601: The Seljuq Turks . By the time Alexios ascended the throne, the Seljuqs had taken most of Asia Minor. Alexios secured much of the coastal regions by sending peasant soldiers to raid the Seljuq camps, but this did not stop the Turks altogether. He also got military support from Western rulers like Robert I, Count of Flanders (Robert the Frisian). Robert, while returning from an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1086, spent time assisting

1216-533: The electrum aspron trachy worth a third of a hyperpyron and about 25% gold and 75% silver, the billon aspron trachy or stamenon , valued at 48 to the hyperpyron and with 7% silver wash and the copper tetarteron and noummion worth 18 and 36 to the billon aspron trachy . Alexios I had overcome dangerous crises and stabilized the Byzantine Empire, inaugurating a century of imperial prosperity and success. He had also profoundly altered

1292-537: The siege of Antioch ; Bohemund, who had set himself up as Prince of Antioch , did not return the ancient city, despite his previous agreement with Alexios. He briefly went to war with Alexios in the Balkans, but he was blockaded by the Byzantine forces and agreed to become a vassal of Alexios by the Treaty of Deabolis in 1108. Around this time, in 1106, the twenty-fifth year of his reign, Hesychius of Miletus records that

1368-602: The succession of church leaders until the time of the Second Council of Ephesus of 449 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which gave rise to the non-Chalcedonian Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Chalcedonian Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria . This office has historically held the title of Pope—Πάπας ( Papas ), which means "Father" in Greek and Coptic —since Pope Heraclas of Alexandria ,

1444-521: The 13th Alexandrine Bishop (227–248), was the first to associate "Pope" with the title of the Bishop of Alexandria. The word pope derives from the Greek πάππας "father". In the early centuries of Christianity, this title was applied informally (especially in the east) to all bishops and other senior clergy. In the west it began to be used particularly for the Bishop of Rome (rather than for bishops in general) in

1520-533: The Byzantine Emperor against the Turks. In one battle, Robert and three of his companions rode ahead of the main army, charging the forces under the command of Kerbogha , whose forces were scattered completely. As early as 1090, Alexios had taken reconciliatory measures towards the Papacy , with the intention of seeking western support against the Seljuqs. In 1095 his ambassadors appeared before Pope Urban II at

1596-738: The Evangelist ( Egypt , Libya , Nubia , Sudan , Ethiopia , Eritrea and all Africa ) and Successor of St. Mark the Evangelist , Holy Apostle and Martyr, on the Holy Apostolic Throne of the Great City of Alexandria . The Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts leads the Coptic Catholic Church in communion with the Holy See . The Patriarch of Antioch of the Greek-Melkites , who leads

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1672-680: The German king Henry IV , who, in exchange for 360,000 gold pieces, did attack the Normans in Italy, which forced the Normans to concentrate on their defenses at home in 1083–84. He also secured the alliance of Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo , who controlled the Gargano Peninsula and dated his charters by Alexios' reign. Henry's allegiance would be the last example of Byzantine political control on peninsular Italy. The Norman military danger subsided with

1748-542: The Monastery was destroyed three times in its history. The current church dates from 1745. Throughout the centuries locals have revered the icon and have attributed miracles to its presence. In 1760 a success in the struggle against locust devastation, a frequent problem of the time, was believed to be the work of the icon. The icon has also served as a template for other paintings depicting the Madonna in eastern Orthodoxy. The icon

1824-401: The Patriarch of Alexandria. But neither Rome nor Alexandria recognized the claim until many years later. During the first two centuries of our era, though Egypt enjoyed unusual quiet, little is known of the ecclesiastical history of its chief see, beyond a barren list of the names of its patriarchs, handed down to us chiefly through the church historian Eusebius . All denominations acknowledge

1900-623: The Pecheneg threat, but in 1094 the Cumans began to raid the imperial territories in the Balkans. Led by a pretender claiming to be Constantine Diogenes , a long-dead son of the Emperor Romanos ;IV , the Cumans crossed the mountains and raided into eastern Thrace until their leader was eliminated at Adrianople . With the Balkans more or less pacified, Alexios could now turn his attention to Asia Minor , which had been almost completely overrun by

1976-623: The Pechenegs, who forced him to sign a truce and to pay protection money. In 1090 the Pechenegs invaded Thrace again, while Tzachas , the brother-in-law of the Sultan of Rum , launched a fleet and attempted to arrange a joint siege of Constantinople with the Pechenegs. Alexios overcame this crisis by entering into an alliance with a horde of 40,000 Cumans , with whose help he conquered the Pechenegs at Levounion in Thrace on 29 April 1091. This put an end to

2052-459: The Seljuk Turks. Desiring western support, he took reconciliatory measures towards the Papacy , and in 1095 his envoys made a formal appeal to Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza . At the subsequent Council of Clermont , Pope Urban formally called the First Crusade, which began a year after and concluded with much of western Anatolia restored to Byzantine rule. On Alexios' death in 1118, he

2128-481: The Western troops guarding the city, Isaac and Alexios Komnenos entered the capital victoriously on 1 April 1081. During this time, Alexios was rumored to be the lover of Empress Maria , the daughter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia , who had been successively married to Michael VII Doukas and his successor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and who was renowned for her beauty. Alexios arranged for Maria to stay on

2204-453: The age of five in 1092, his wife Irene Doukaina wished to alter the succession in favor of their daughter Anna and Anna's husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger . Apart from all of his external enemies, a host of rebels also sought to overthrow Alexios from the imperial throne, thereby posing another major threat to his reign. Due to the troubled times the empire was enduring, he had by far

2280-462: The construction of its purpose built premises, the Cyprus State Fair was held on these grounds. In 1974, whilst Archbishop Makarios was under pursuit by the military junta, he headed for refuge here. As a result, the building was hit by tank fire and part of it collapsed. When he died subsequently, he was buried on the grounds. The current abbot, Nikephoros, whose symbol is the bee, was made

2356-485: The current empress, Maria of Alania . First married to Michael VII Doukas and secondly to Nikephoros III Botaneiates , she was preoccupied with the future of her son by Michael VII, Constantine Doukas . Nikephoros III intended to leave the throne to one of his close relatives, and this resulted in Maria's ambivalence and alliance with the Komnenoi, though the real driving force behind this political alliance

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2432-802: The death of Guiscard in 1085, and the Byzantines recovered most of their losses. Alexios next had to deal with disturbances in Thrace , where the heretical sects of the Bogomils and the Paulicians revolted and made common cause with the Pechenegs from beyond the Danube . Paulician soldiers in imperial service likewise deserted during Alexios' battles with the Normans. As soon as the Norman threat had passed, Alexios set out to punish

2508-469: The emperor. She refused to go with them and demanded that they allow her to pray to the Mother of God for protection. This request was granted and Anna then manifested her true communicative and leadership capabilities: She was allowed to enter. As if she were weighed down with old age and worn out by grief, she walked slowly and when she approached the actual entrance to the sanctuary made two genuflections; on

2584-613: The emperor. By divine dispensation the daughter of the emperor had fallen ill with the same illness that had struck Boutoumites. The latter grasped the opportunity and went to see the Emperor Alexios III Angelos . He recounted to him his personal experience with the monk Esaias and assured him that his daughter would be cured if he sent to Cyprus the holy icon of the Virgin. In his desperation the emperor, seeing that he had no other option, agreed. His daughter became well instantly. The emperor, however, not wanting to be parted from

2660-572: The fifth century. Up to the time of the First Council of Constantinople (381) the Patriarch of Alexandria ranked next to the Bishop of Rome . By the third canon of this council, afterwards confirmed by the twenty-eighth canon of the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Patriarch of Constantinople , supported by imperial authority and by a variety of concurring advantages, was given the right of precedency over

2736-540: The first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty , it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. The son of John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos , Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took the throne for himself. He immediately faced an invasion of

2812-482: The forum of Constantine. The tutor discovered they were missing and eventually found them on the palace grounds, but Anna was able to convince him that they would return to the palace shortly. Then to gain entrance to both the outer and inner sanctuary of the church, the women pretended to the gatekeepers that they were pilgrims from Cappadocia who had spent all their funds and wanted to worship before starting their return trip. However, before they were to gain entry into

2888-410: The greatest number of rebellions against him of all the Byzantine emperors. These included: Under Alexios the debased solidus ( tetarteron and histamenon ) was discontinued and a gold coinage of higher fineness (generally .900–.950) was established in 1092, commonly called the hyperpyron at 4.45 grs. The hyperpyron was slightly smaller than the solidus . It was introduced along with

2964-414: The guards from whom they learned the latest news. Anna was highly successful in three important aspects of the revolt: she bought time for her sons to steal imperial horses from the stables and escape the city; she distracted the emperor, giving her sons time to gather and arm their troops; and she gave a false sense of security to Botaneiates that there was no real treasonous plot against him. After bribing

3040-488: The hermit and revealed to him that the very thing that had happened had been planned by the divine will and advised him to ask Boutoumites to bring the icon of the Virgin, that had been painted by the Apostle Luke , to Cyprus. The icon was kept in the imperial palace at Constantinople. When Boutoumites heard the hermit's wish he was taken aback because he considered such a thing impossible. Then Esaias explained to him that it

3116-434: The icon of the Virgin, called a first-class painter and ordered him to paint an exact copy of the icon with the aim of sending this one to Cyprus. In the evening the Mother of God herself appears in a dream of the emperor's and tells him that her wish is for her icon to be sent to Cyprus and for the copy to be kept by the emperor. On the following day the royal boat with the icon of the Virgin departed for Cyprus where Esaias

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3192-539: The metropolitan see of Alexandria (already the prevailing custom). In the sixth century, these five archbishops were formally granted the title of " patriarch " and were subsequently known as the Pentarchy . Due to several schisms within Christianity, the title of the Patriarch of Alexandria is currently claimed by different churches (two of which are part of the Catholic Church ) and held respectively by four persons:

3268-423: The monk's indifference and called him names and even maltreated him. Not long after, when the doux returned to Nicosia , he fell ill with an incurable illness by the name of lethargia. In his terrible condition he remembered how inhumanly he had treated the hermit Esaias and asked God to cure him so that he might go to ask the hermit personally for forgiveness. And this came to pass. But God had appeared in front of

3344-400: The nature of the Byzantine government. By seeking close alliances with powerful noble families, Alexios put an end to the tradition of imperial exclusivity and co-opted most of the nobility into his extended family and, through it, his government. Those who did not become part of this extended family were deprived of power and prestige. This measure, which was intended to diminish opposition,

3420-493: The nobility bore the fruit of continuity: every Byzantine emperor who reigned after Alexios I Komnenos was related to him by either descent or marriage. By his marriage with Irene Doukaina , Alexios I had the following children: Patriarchate of Alexandria The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria , Egypt . Historically, this office has included the designation " pope " (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot"). The Alexandrian episcopate

3496-570: The offensive and pushed his army deep into the Turkish-dominated Anatolian Plateau, where he defeated the Seljuq sultan at the Battle of Philomelion . During the last twenty years of his life Alexios lost much of his popularity. The years were marked by persecution of the followers of the Paulician and Bogomil heresies —one of his last acts was publicly to burn at the stake Basil , a Bogomil leader, with whom he had engaged in

3572-572: The palace grounds, and it was thought that he was considering marrying her. However, his mother consolidated the Doukas family connection by arranging the Emperor's marriage to Irene Doukaina , granddaughter of the Caesar John Doukas , the uncle of Michael VII, who would not have supported Alexios otherwise. As a measure intended to keep the support of the Doukai, Alexios restored Constantine Doukas ,

3648-564: The people, a bird with human voice was flying around the area singing: Kykkou, Kykkou, Kykkos' hill A monastery the site shall fill A golden girl shall enter in And never shall come out again The "golden girl" is, without a doubt, the icon of the Virgin while the monastery is the Holy Royal and Stauropegial Monastery of Kykkos which has been sheltering the icon for over nine hundred years. The church of

3724-638: The population of Christians within Alexandria and Egypt, as well as almost all of the Egyptian monastic communities, are part of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. According to church tradition, the patriarchate was founded in 42 AD by Mark the Evangelist . It was the centre from which Christianity spread throughout all Egypt. Within its jurisdiction, during its most flourishing period, were included about 108 bishops; its territory embraced

3800-418: The rebels and deserters, confiscating their lands. This led to a further revolt near Philippopolis , and the commander of the field army in the west, Gregory Pakourianos, was defeated and killed in the ensuing battle. In 1087 the Pechenegs raided into Thrace, and Alexios crossed into Moesia to retaliate but failed to take Dorostolon ( Silistra ). During his retreat, the emperor was confronted and defeated by

3876-409: The remainder of the family and took refuge in the Hagia Sophia . From there she negotiated with the emperor for the safety of family members left in the capital, while protesting her sons' innocence of hostile actions. Under the falsehood of making a vesperal visit to worship at the church, she deliberately excluded the grandson of Botaneiates and his loyal tutor, met with Alexios and Isaac, and fled for

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3952-416: The sanctuary, Straboromanos and royal guards caught up with them to summon them back to the palace. Anna then protested that the family was in fear for their lives, her sons were loyal subjects (Alexios and Isaac were discovered absent without leave), and had learned of a plot by enemies of the Komnenoi to have them both blinded and had, therefore, fled the capital so they may continue to be of loyal service to

4028-399: The sea. Kykkos monastery maintains separate grounds Engomi , Nicosia called Metochi tou Kykkou (Μετόχι του Κύκκου). The land on which it lies was acquired over the years by the monastery through bequests. With the city's rapid expansion, the area which once used to be in the outskirts has now become prime property. Despite this, much of it is still used for agricultural purposes. Up until

4104-530: The second and much more formidable host of Crusaders, gradually made its way to Constantinople, led in sections by Godfrey of Bouillon , Bohemond of Taranto , Raymond IV of Toulouse , and other important western nobles. Alexios met the Crusader leaders separately as they arrived, extracting from them oaths of homage and the promise to turn over conquered lands to the Byzantine Empire. Transferring each contingent into Asia, Alexios promised to supply them with provisions in return for their oaths of homage. The Crusade

4180-408: The six provinces of Libya Superior , Libya Inferior , the Thebaid , Egypt, Heptanomis , and Augustamnica . In the beginning the successor of St. Mark was the only metropolitan bishop , and he governed ecclesiastically the entire territory. As the Christians multiplied, and other metropolitan sees were created, he became known the arch-metropolitan. The title of patriarch did not come into use until

4256-526: The sixth century; in 1075, Pope Gregory VII issued a declaration widely interpreted as stating this by-then-established convention. By the sixth century, this was also the normal practice in the imperial chancery of Constantinople. The earliest record of this title was regarding Pope Heraclas of Alexandria (227–240) in a letter written by his successor, Pope Dionysius of Alexandria , to Philemon (a Roman presbyter ): "τοῦτον ἐγὼ τὸν κανόνα καὶ τὸν τύπον παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου πάπα ἡμῶν Ἡρακλᾶ παρέλαβον." This

4332-414: The sky suddenly darkened and a "violent southern wind" blew the great statue of Constantine at the Strategion from its column, killing a number of men and women nearby. In 1116, though already terminally ill, Alexios conducted a series of defensive operations in Bithynia and Mysia to defend his Anatolian territories against the inroads of Malik Shah , the Seljuq Sultan of Iconium. In 1117 he moved onto

4408-413: The third she sank to the floor and taking firm hold of the sacred doors, cried in a loud voice: "Unless my hands are cut off, I will not leave this holy place except on one condition: that I receive the emperor's cross as guarantee of safety". Nikephoros III Botaneiates was forced into a public vow that he would grant protection to the family. Straboromanos tried to give Anna his cross, but for her it

4484-462: The title, his wife Irene Doukaina. Anna Dalassene's ability to help him seize power and control the aristocracy, as well as her ability to understand and resolve dilemmas, assured Alexius that her mother was a capable counsel and managing partner by his side, and a sane and trusted regent in his absence. Alexios was never happier than when taking part in military exercises and he assumed personal command of his troops whenever possible. As such, Dalassene

4560-407: The uncovered icon. There are placed to the right of the icon a bronze arm, and a sword fish saw. Regarding the arm, this serves as a reminder the story of a Turk who tried to light a cigarette using one of the vigil lamps and he was cursed and suffered a gangrenous arm. The saw from the sword fish represents the gratefulness of sailors who prayed to Our Lady of Kykkos to save them from the storms of

4636-484: The western Balkans by the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemond . Despite initial defeats, Alexios secured an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and drove back the Normans, recovering most of Byzantine losses by 1085. In 1091, he achieved a decisive victory over the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion in Thrace with the help of Cuman allies. Later in the 1090s, Alexios directed his attention towards Asia Minor, most of which had fallen to

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4712-427: The young son of Michael VII and Maria, as co-emperor. This situation changed drastically, however, when Alexios' first son John II Komnenos was born in 1087: Anna's engagement to Constantine was dissolved, and she was moved to the main Palace to live with her mother and grandmother. Alexios became estranged from Maria, who was stripped of her imperial title and retired to a monastery, and Constantine Doukas

4788-406: Was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration . His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade . Although he was not

4864-577: Was Anna Dalassene. The empress was already closely connected to the Komnenoi through Maria's cousin Irene's marriage to Isaac Komnenos, so the Komnenoi brothers were able to see her under the pretense of a friendly family visit. Furthermore, to aid the conspiracy Maria had adopted Alexios as her son, though she was only five years older than he. Maria was persuaded to do so on the advice of her own "Alans" and her eunuchs, who had been instigated by Isaac Komnenos. Given Anna's tight hold on her family, Alexios must have been adopted with her implicit approval. As

4940-415: Was a matter of divine wish and they agreed to travel together to Constantinople for the realization of their aim. Time was passing and Boutoumites could not find the right opportunity to present himself in front of the emperor and ask for the icon. For this reason he provided Esaias with other icons and other necessary things and sent him back to Cyprus, at the same time placating him that he would soon see

5016-441: Was a notable success for Byzantium, as Alexios recovered a number of important cities and islands. The siege of Nicaea by the Crusaders forced the city to surrender to the emperor in 1097, and the subsequent Crusader victory at Dorylaion enabled Alexios to recover much of western Asia Minor. John Doukas re-established Byzantine rule in Chios , Rhodes , Smyrna , Ephesus , Sardis , and Philadelphia in 1097–1099. This success

5092-506: Was appointed commander of the field army in the West by Nikephoros III. In this capacity, Alexios defeated the rebellions of Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder (whose son or grandson later married Alexios' daughter Anna) and Nikephoros Basilakes , the first at the Battle of Kalavrye and the latter in a surprise night attack on his camp. Alexios was ordered to march against his brother-in-law Nikephoros Melissenos in Asia Minor but refused to fight his kinsman. This did not, however, lead to

5168-418: Was awaiting for it. During the procession of the icon from the coast to the Troödos Mountains , according to legend, the trees, participating in the welcoming ceremonies, were piously bending their trunks and branches. With patronage provided by the emperor Alexios Komnenos a church and monastery were built at Kykkos, where the icon of the Virgin was deposited. According to another tradition, still preserved by

5244-432: Was chief bishop of the apostolic see." The Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa in the Holy See of St. Mark the Apostle leads the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria , but has resided in Cairo since Christodoulos moved the residence in the mid-eleventh century. His full titles are Pope and Archbishop of the Great City of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa, the Holy Orthodox and Apostolic See of Saint Mark

5320-423: Was deprived of his status as co-emperor. The thirty-seven year reign of Alexios was full of struggle. At the outset he faced the formidable attack of the Normans, led by Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemond , who took Dyrrhachium and Corfu and laid siege to Larissa in Thessaly . Alexios suffered several defeats before he was able to strike back with success. He enhanced his resistance by an agreement with

5396-594: Was not large enough for all bystanders to witness the oath. She also demanded that the cross be personally sent by Botaneiates as a vow of his good faith. He obliged, sending a complete assurance for the family with his own cross. At the emperor's further insistence, and for their own protection, they took refuge at the convent of Petrion, where they were eventually joined by Maria of Bulgaria , mother of Irene Doukaina. Botaneiates allowed them to be treated as refugees rather than as guests. They were allowed to have family members bring in their own food and were on good terms with

5472-401: Was paralleled by the introduction of new courtly dignities, like that of panhypersebastos given to Nikephoros Bryennios, or that of sebastokrator given to the emperor's brother Isaac Komnenos. Although this policy met with initial success, it gradually undermined the relative effectiveness of imperial bureaucracy by placing family connections over merit. Alexios' policy of integration of

5548-488: Was revered as one of the three major episcopal sees (along with Rome and Antioch ) before Constantinople and Jerusalem were granted similar status (in 381 and 451, respectively). Alexandria was elevated to de facto archiepiscopal status by the Councils of Alexandria , and this status was ratified by Canon Six of the First Council of Nicaea , which stipulated that all the Egyptian episcopal provinces were subject to

5624-401: Was suceeeded by his son John II Komnenos . Alexios' reign and campaigns were recorded by his daughter Anna Komnene in her Alexiad , a political and military history, which she named after her father. Alexios was the son of John Komnenos and Anna Dalassene , and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who

5700-450: Was the effective administrator of the Empire during Alexios' long absences in military campaigns: she was constantly at odds with her daughter-in-law and had assumed total responsibility for the upbringing and education of her granddaughter Anna Komnene. Alexios' last years were also troubled by anxieties over the succession. Although he had crowned his son John II Komnenos co-emperor at

5776-826: Was thus succeeded by Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067) and died as a monk in 1067. Alexios and his elder brother, Manuel Komnenos served under Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071) with distinction against the Seljuk Turks . under Michael VII Doukas Parapinakes (1071–1078) and Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078–1081), he was militarily employed, along with his elder brother Isaac , against rebels in Asia Minor , Thrace , and in Epirus . In 1074, western mercenaries led by Roussel de Bailleul rebelled in Asia Minor, but Alexios successfully subdued them by 1076. In 1078, he

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