Isaac II Angelos
Isaac II Angelos was made emperor by a mob, deposed and blinded by his brother, restored by a crusader fleet, and deposed again within months. He came to the throne in 1185 by accident. Andronikos I had been running a reign of terror, and an officer sent to arrest Isaac killed the officer instead and fled to Hagia Sophia, where the crowd that gathered proclaimed him emperor and then tore Andronikos apart in the Hippodrome over several days. His reign began with a disaster he did not cause and made worse. The Bulgarians and Vlachs rose in 1185 over a tax levied for his wedding, and the campaigns he sent against them failed repeatedly, so that a second Bulgarian empire was established in territory the empire had held for 170 years. He also negotiated with Saladin while Frederick Barbarossa's crusade was crossing his territory, which nearly produced a war with the Germans. The administration was sold. Offices went to the highest bidder, the fleet was allowed to rot to nothing, and taxation rose while the provinces slipped away. His brother deposed and blinded him in 1195 and reigned as Alexios III. The Fourth Crusade then arrived in 1203 with Isaac's son, who had promised the crusaders enormous sums to restore his father, and the blind ex-emperor was brought out of prison and made co-emperor with him. Neither could raise the money, the city rioted, and both were overthrown in January 1204. Isaac died within days, and the crusaders sacked Constantinople in April.
- Lived: 1156 CE – 1204 CE
- Nationality: Byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
