Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos
Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos - Mourtzouphlos meaning with the bushy eyebrows - was the last emperor to defend Constantinople before the catastrophic sack of April 1204. He was a senior court official associated with the anti-Latin faction. In late January 1204, disgusted by Alexios IV's capitulation to the Crusaders' demands, he organized a coup, had Alexios IV strangled, and seized power. Unlike his recent predecessors he was genuinely willing to fight. He immediately set about organizing the defense of Constantinople, improving the walls, leading sorties against the Crusader camp, and attempting to restore military morale. However, the position was fundamentally untenable: the treasury was empty, the army was demoralized, and the Crusader force was formidable. On April 12, 1204 they breached the walls. Mourtzouphlos fled Constantinople, the last Byzantine emperor to defend the city until its recovery in 1261. He was eventually captured and executed by the Crusaders who cast him from the top of the Column of Theodosius.
- Lived: 1140 CE – 1204 CE
- Nationality: byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state, military_leader
