Editing John II Komnenos (section)

==Conspiracies of the ''sebastokrator'' Isaac==
[[File:Isaac Komnenos the Porphyrogennetos.jpg|thumb|right|Isaac Komnenos, mosaic of from the Chora Church]]
The younger brother of John II,  [[Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)|Isaac]], had been of essential support during the accession crisis. However, despite being given the highest of court titles, that of ''[[sebastokrator]]'', Isaac later became estranged from his brother and became an active conspirator. With trusted advisors of his own choosing, such as John Axouch, and later the support of his son and co-emperor, Alexios, John II offered no meaningful role to Isaac in the governance of the empire. In the reign of Alexios I ''sebastokratores'' had wielded considerable power and Isaac would have had an expectation of a similar level of authority being devolved on himself. This thwarted ambition is probably what disillusioned Isaac with his brother's rule. Isaac aimed at replacing his brother as emperor. In  1130 John became aware of a plot involving Isaac and other magnates as he was leaving to campaign against the Turks. When John tried to seize Isaac, the latter escaped and fled to the [[Danishmend]] emir [[Emir Gazi|Ghazi]], who received him, and later sent him to the breakaway Byzantine regime of the [[Gabras|Gabrades]] in [[Trabzon|Trebizond]]. Isaac then became the guest of [[Mesud I|Masoud]], the Seljuk [[Sultanate of Rum|Sultan of Rum]], and subsequently of [[Leo I, Prince of Armenia|Leo]], the Prince of Cilician Armenia. That Isaac was seeking aid from these princes in a bid to take the Byzantine throne by force is highly likely. Such a coalition did not materialise, but Isaac seems to have retained strong support in Constantinople. In 1132 John had to return from campaign in haste, when news reached him that conspirators in Constantinople had made an appeal to Isaac to become their ruler. The triumph that John celebrated following his capture of [[Kastamuni]] in 1133 can be seen as being a public affirmation of John's legitimacy as emperor embodied in the celebration of the defeat of external foes. The brothers were briefly reconciled in 1138, and Isaac returned to Constantinople; however, a year later Isaac was exiled to [[Heraclea Pontica]], where he remained for the rest of John's life. In the extensive artwork that Isaac commissioned, he made much of his [[Born in the purple|porphyrogenete]] status and his relationship with his imperial father, Alexios I, but he made little or no reference to his relationship to his brother John, or to the title of ''sebastokrator'' that he had received from him.<ref>Magdalino (2016), pp. 63-64</ref><ref>Linardou (2016), pp. 155-182</ref>