Editing Anna Komnene (section)

==Claim to the throne==
[[File:Jean II Comnene.jpg|thumb|310x310px|[[John II Komnenos|John II]], Anna's brother and Alexios I's successor to the imperial throne.]]
In 1087, Anna's brother, [[John II Komnenos|John II]], was born. Several years after his birth, in 1092, John was designated emperor.{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=126}} According to Choniates, Emperor Alexios "favoured" John and declared him emperor while the Empress Irene "threw her full influence on [Anna's] side" and "continually attempted" to persuade the emperor to designate Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna's husband, in John's place.<ref>Choniates 1984, p. 5.</ref> Around 1112, Alexios fell sick with [[rheumatism]] and could not move. He therefore turned the civil government over to his wife, Irene; she in turn directed the administration to Bryennios.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=46}} Choniates states that, as Emperor Alexios lay dying in his imperial bedchamber, John arrived and "secretly" took the emperor's ring from his father during an embrace "as though in mourning."<ref>Choniates 1984, p. 6.</ref> Anna also worked in her husband's favour during her father's illness.{{sfnp|EB|1878}} In 1118, Alexios I Komnenos died.{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=127}}  A cleric acclaimed John emperor in [[Hagia Sophia]].{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}}

According to Dion C. Smythe, Anna "felt cheated" because she "should have inherited."{{sfn|Smythe|1997|p=241}} Indeed, according to Anna Komnene in the ''Alexiad'', at her birth she was presented with "a crown and imperial diadem."<ref>Komnene 1969, p. 197.</ref> Anna's "main aim" in the depiction of events in the ''Alexiad'', according to Vlada Stankovíc, was to "stress her own right" to the throne and "precedence over her brother, John."<ref>Stankovíc 2007, p. 174.</ref>

In view of this belief, Susan C. Jarratt et al. record that Anna was "almost certainly" involved in the murder plot against John at Alexios's funeral.<ref name="Jarratt 2008, p. 308">Jarratt 2008, p. 308.</ref> Indeed, Anna, according to Barbara Hill, attempted to create military forces to depose John.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}} According to Choniates, Anna was "stimulated by ambition and revenge" to scheme for the murder of her brother.<ref name="Jarratt 2008, p. 308"/> Smythe states the plots "came to nothing."{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=126}} Jarratt et al., record that, a short time afterward, Anna and Bryennios "organized another conspiracy."<ref name="Jarratt 2008, p. 308"/> However, according to Hill, Bryennios refused to overthrow John, making Anna unable to continue with her plans.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}} With this refusal, Anna, according to Choniates, exclaimed "that nature had mistaken their sexes, for he ought to have been the woman."{{sfnp|EB|1878}} According to Jarratt et al., Anna shows "a repetition of sexualized anger."<ref name="Jarratt 2008, p. 308"/> Indeed, Smythe asserts that Anna's goals were "thwarted by the men in her life."{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=125}} Irene, however, according to Hill, had declined to participate in plans to revolt against an "established" emperor.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}} Hill, however, points out that Choniates, whom the above sources draw upon, wrote after 1204, and accordingly was "rather far removed" from "actual" events and that his "agenda" was to "look for the causes" of the toppling of Constantinople in 1204.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}}

In contrast, Leonora Neville argues that Anna was probably not involved in the attempted usurpation.<ref name=":10">Neville 2016, p. 111.</ref> Anna plays a minor role in most of the available medieval sources – only Choniates portrays her as a rebel.<ref name=":10" /> Choniates' history is from around 1204, almost a hundred years after Alexios I's death.{{sfn|Hill|2000|p=47}} Instead, most of the sources question whether John II Komnenos' behaviour at his father's deathbed was appropriate.<ref>Neville 2016, p. 112.</ref>

According to the account by Choniates (written after the Fourth Crusade), plots were discovered and Anna forfeited her estates.{{sfnp|EB|1878}} After her husband's death, she entered the [[convent]] of Kecharitomene, which had been founded by her mother. She remained there until her death.<ref>Jarratt 2008, p. 305.</ref>