Nikeforos Bryennios names (in order) "Manuel, Isaacius, Alexius, Adrianus, Nicephorus" as the five sons of "Ioanni" and his wife Anna. His parentage is confirmed by the Alexeiad naming "Ioannes Komnenos, my grandfather on my father's side". His birth date is estimated from the Alexeiad recording that he was "only fourteen years old" when he wished to campaign with Emperor Romanos Diogenes "against the Persians", assumed to refer to the campaign against the Seljuks which culminated in the battle of Manzikert in 1071. On the other hand, Zonaras records that Emperor Alexios lived "annos LXX fere aut circiter", placing his birth in [1048]. Chalandon suggests that the age indicated by Zonaras “[offre] plus de chances d’avoir été connu exactement et tirant en outre plus de vraisemblance des événements”, pointing out that otherwise Alexios would have commanded troops at the age of 22 which he says “me paraît peu probable”. However, the age given by Zonaras does not appear consistent with the chronology of the family of his parents, particularly because Alexios appears to have been their sixth child. Nikeforos Bryennios records that "Anna...cum filiis" were banished "in insulam principis dictam" [Prinkipo], dated to [1072]. Nikeforos Bryennios records that, after the death of "Diogenis", Emperor Mikhael VII recalled "curopalatissam Annam...Comnenorum matrem...cum filiis" from exile, dated to late 1072.
Proedros 1074. Stratopedarchos. Appointed doux and megas domestikos 1078 by Emperor Nikeforos Botaneiates. Sébastos 1079. An undated seal records “Alexis Comnène sébaste et domestique de l’Occident”. An undated seal records “sebaston ede s domestikon meg Alexion men ton Komnenon deiknyo”. Following a Doukas/Komnenos family council at Tzurullon in Thrace, Alexios invaded Constantinople. He succeeded 4 Apr 1081 as Emperor ALEXIOS I, after rebelling against Emperor Nikeforos Botaneiates who was obliged to abdicate. Faced with an empire weakened by the loss of most of Asia Minor as well as its Italian possessions, in economic ruin, and with a depleted army and navy, Emperor Alexios set about the slow process of reconstruction and restoring the power of Byzantium. He allied himself with Venice to prevent Robert "Guiscard" Duke of Apulia from capturing Durazzo. He granted Venice duty-free trade throughout the empire and the right to establish colonies under its own administration, as a reward for having defeated the Norman fleet in 1081. The setback for the Normans was short-lived as Durazzo fell to Robert "Guiscard" in Oct 1081, although it was recaptured in 1085 by Byzantium. In 1085, Emperor Alexios agreed a treaty with the Seljuks under which Nikomedia and parts of the Anatolian coast were returned to Byzantium, although Chaka, a rival Turkish leader, captured the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Rhodos in the 1080s. Emperor Alexios also allied himself with the Kumans [Polovtsy] to beat the Pechenegs at Mount Lebounion 29 Apr 1091. The emperor suppressed rebellions led by Theodoros Gabras in 1092 and Nikeforos Diogenes in 1094. Good relations were restored with the Papacy in Sep 1089 when, at the Council of Melfi, Pope Urban IV lifted the papal excommunication on the emperor. After the armies of the First Crusade arrived in Constantinople, their relations with Emperor Alexios I were tense. Albert of Aix records that the emperor gave "filium suum Johannem" as hostage to guarantee the army’s safe passage through imperial territory, dated to end 1096. Godefroi de Bouillon [Duke of Lower Lotharingia] finally swore allegiance to the emperor on Easter Sunday in 1097, agreeing that the emperor should become overlord of any new principalities founded in the Levant by the crusaders and that any land captured which had previously belonged to the empire should be handed back to Byzantium. Building on the crusading army's capture of Nikaia, Alexios recaptured Smyrna, Ephesus and Sardes from the Turks. After the fall of Antioch 3 Jun 1098, Bohémond of Apulia refused to acknowledge the emperor as his overlord in breach of the earlier agreement and declared himself Prince of Antioch. The threat to Byzantine interests posed by this new principality on its borders provoked Emperor Alexios to attack. Bohémond left his nephew Tancred as regent in Antioch and returned to Europe to prepare a larger-scale campaign against Byzantium. Alexios defeated him at Avlona on the Adriatic coast in Oct 1107, and forced Bohémond to recognise his suzerainty in 1108. Emperor Alexios carried out a major reorganisation of the administration of the empire, aimed at lightening the old bureaucracy, and introduced a range of new titles which he distributed to the numerous potential challengers from his own and other ex-imperial families....
The list of obituaries of the monastery of Christ Philanthropos, founded by Empress Eirene Doukas, records the death 15 Aug of "tou eusebos basileusavtos kyrou Alexiou tou Komneneou kai ktetoros tis autis monis". Zonaras records that Emperor Alexios lived "annos LXX fere aut circiter", reigned for 37 years, 4 months "et dies aliquot", and died “anno mundi 6626”. 1
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