Alexios Komnenos

Alexios Komnenos, latinised as Alexius Comnenus (; October 1106 – summer 1142), and sometimes called Alexios the Younger, was the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos and his wife Eirene of Hungary. He was crowned co-emperor in 1119, at 13 of age, but predeceased his father in 1142. He was an elder brother of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and had a twin sister, Maria Komnene (plus other siblings). Life Alexios was born at Balabista (today Sidirokastro) in Macedonia (Greece). His exact birthday is not recorded, but it was shortly before the feast of Demetrius of Thessaloniki on 26 October 1106. He was crowned co-emperor by his father in 1119, between 12 July and 7 October (historians often date his coronation to 1122, but this is a mistake). He died of a sudden disease in the summer 1142, only one year before his father's death as the result of a hunting accident. The reign of John II is less well chronicled than those of his father, Alexios I, or successor, Manuel I, and coverage of the life of his son Alexios is very sparse. A panegyrical poem by Theodore Prodromos was addressed to John and his son on the occasion of the coronation of Alexios. It hailed both rulers as "kings born of kings and emperors, reformers of old customs and privileges, with whom the august throne and sceptre-bearing are a paternal acquisition, a matter of inheritance."