Editing Alexios I Komnenos (section)

===Conspiracy and revolt of the Komnenoi against Botaneiates===
While Byzantine troops were assembling for the expedition, the Doukas faction at court approached Alexios and convinced him to join a [[conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] against Nikephoros&nbsp;III. The mother of Alexios, Anna Dalassene, was to play a prominent role in this coup d'état of 1081, along with the current empress, [[Maria of Alania]].<ref name="Garland 2007">Garland 2007</ref> First married to Michael&nbsp;VII Doukas and secondly to [[Nikephoros&nbsp;III Botaneiates]], she was preoccupied with the future of her son by Michael&nbsp;VII, [[Constantine Doukas (co-emperor)|Constantine Doukas]]. Nikephoros&nbsp;III intended to leave the throne to one of his close relatives,<ref name="Finlay 1854, p. 59">Finlay 1854, p. 59</ref> and this resulted in Maria's ambivalence and alliance with the Komnenoi, though the real driving force behind this political alliance was Anna Dalassene.<ref>"Alexiad", 2.2.1–2</ref>

The empress was already closely connected to the Komnenoi through Maria's cousin, Irene who had been married to Isaac Komnenos,<ref name="Finlay 1854, p. 59" /> thus the Komnenos brothers were able to treat her as member of the family's enlarged kinship. Furthermore, by espousing the custom of adoptive kingship, which was a social trend in the palace during the reign of [[Zoe Porphyrogenita|empress Zoe]], Maria had accepted to adopt Alexios as her son in order to aid the conspiracy.<ref name="Norwich 1995, p. 5">Norwich 1995, p. 5</ref> Maria was induced to do so on advice of her own "Alans", that is her Georgian entourage, and her eunuchs, the latter being instructed by Isaac Komnenos to talk the empress into. Apparently, Anna must have been informed of the arrangement of the adoptive kingship, and her tacit agreement on the matter allowed for the final conclusion of Alexios' adoption by the empress.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> As a result, Alexios became the adoptive brother of Constantine Doukas's, natural son of empress Maria. The completion of the adoptive kingship entailed as part of the ritual performed from the adoptive member's behalf pledging an oath of loyalty and allegiance to the heir of the throne, a typical practice in which the prospective member since he bore no blood relation and was not of imperial lineage he had to be tied to the emperor's person by a sacred oath. Therefore, both Alexios and his brother, Isaac pledged to safeguard the heir's rights to the throne.<ref>"Alexiad", 2,1,4–6, 2.3.2–3,2.3.4; cf. Bryennius 4.2, who dates the adoption to early in the reign of Botaneiates</ref>

[[File:Seal of Alexios Komnenos as Grand Domestic of the West.jpg|thumb|250px|Seal of Alexios as "[[Domestic of the Schools|Grand Domestic of the West]]"]]

According to Anna Comnena's narrative in the Alexiad, Isaac and Alexios left Constantinople in mid-February 1081 to raise an army against Botaneiates.<ref>Norwich 1995, p. 6</ref> When the time was right and the army already marching to the capital, Anna Dalassene quickly and surreptitiously mobilised the remainder of the family and took sanctuary in the cathedral of [[Hagia Sophia]], wherefrom she negotiated with [[Nikephoros III Botaneiates]] for the safety of her family, while disclaiming her two sons' hostile actions against the emperor. Anna Comnena offers in detail the course of steps her grandmother took to be able to enter the church. Under the pretence of making a vesperal visit to worship at the church, she deliberately excluded the grandson of Botaneiates and his loyal tutor and met with her sons' Alexios and Isaac and went with them to the forum of Constantine.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> When the tutor discovered she had gone missing, he went looking for her to eventually find her on the palace's grounds. Yet again cunningly Anna convinced him that they would leave the palace shortly. However, the rest of the female members of her family in order to be allowed to gain entrance although the church was at that time closed, pretended to be pilgrims from [[Cappadocia]] who had been penniless and wanted to prostrate the holy icons before their return trip. Straboromanos and royal guards who were caught up with them, were summoned back to the palace.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> Anna then went on protesting for the safety of her family, that she feared of the emperor's wrath and that her sons were nothing but loyal subjects, despite the fact that Alexios and Isaac were discovered to be missing without the emperor's consent. She even suggested that a plot had been unravelling by enemies of the family to have them blinded and for that she had fled to the capital so they may continue to be of loyal service to the emperor.<ref>"Alexiad", 2.5.5</ref> 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:

{{Blockquote|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 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".<ref>"Alexiad", 2.5.6</ref>}}
[[File:Alexius I.png|thumb|right|200px|Alexios I in a 12th-century Greek manuscript, [[Vatican Library|Vatican library]]]]
Nikephoros&nbsp;III Botaneiates was forced into a public vow that he would grant protection to the family.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> Straboromanos tried to give Anna his cross, but for her it 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.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> 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 the guards from whom they learned the latest news.<ref>"Alexiad", 2.5.7–9</ref> 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.<ref name="Garland 2007"/> After bribing the Western troops guarding the city, Isaac and Alexios Komnenos entered the capital victoriously on 1 April 1081.<ref>Finlay 1854, p. 63</ref>

During this time, Alexios was rumored to be the lover of Empress [[Maria Bagrationi|Maria]], the daughter of King [[Bagrat&nbsp;IV of Georgia]], who had been successively married to [[Michael&nbsp;VII]] Doukas and his successor Nikephoros&nbsp;III Botaneiates, and who was renowned for her beauty.<ref>Norwich 1995, p. 10</ref> Alexios arranged for Maria to stay on 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 [[John Doukas, Caesar|Caesar John Doukas]], the uncle of Michael&nbsp;VII, who would not have supported Alexios otherwise. As a measure intended to keep the support of the Doukai, Alexios restored [[Constantine Doukas (co-emperor)|Constantine Doukas]], the young son of Michael&nbsp;VII and Maria, as co-emperor.<ref>Norwich 1995, p. 12</ref>

This situation changed drastically, however, when Alexios' first son [[John&nbsp;II Komnenos]] was born in 1087:<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 658">Kazhdan 1991, p. 658</ref> 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 was deprived of his status as co-emperor.<ref name="Kazhdan 1991, p. 658" />