428 Knights of Malta
Further reading:Richard W. Barber, The Knight and
Chivalry,rev. ed. (Woodbridge, England: Boydell Press,
1995); S. D. Church, The Household Knights of King John
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999); Georges
Duby, The Chivalrous Society, trans. Cynthia Postan
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977); Richard
W. Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999); Steven R. Turn-
bull, The Knight Triumphant: The High Middle Ages,
1314–1485(London: Cassell, 2001).
Knights of Malta SeeHOSPITALLERS.
Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem SeeHOSPITALLERS.
Knights of the Temple SeeTEMPLARS.
knights’ service and knights’ fees SeeFEUDALISM.
Knud SeeCANUTEII THE GREAT, KING OFDENMARK,
NORWAY, ANDENGLAND.
Komnene, Anna (Comnena)(1083–ca. 1155)Byzan-
tine princess, historian
Born on December 11/12, 1083, in CONSTANTINOPLE, Anna
was a BYZANTINEprincess, the eldest daughter of ALEXIOS
I KOMNENOS. She was the reluctant wife of Nikephoros
Bryennios (d. 1137). After her husband died on cam-
paign, Anna became a NUNand a patron of scholars. She
began to write her history of contemporary affairs. Her
book, the Alexiad,was a biography of her father and an
important source for Byzantine history from the end of
the 11th to the beginning of the 12th century. She was
not impartial in her portrayal of her father, omitting
many references to faults. The work has been long
accepted as of special importance in the historiography of
the CRUSADES, since it indicates the Byzantine reaction to
the First Crusade and to the establishment of the LATIN
KINGDOM OFJERUSALEM.
Judged as a talented, but bitter, old woman, Anna
had a good literary education as well as a conservative,
mature, but humorless knowledge of Byzantine society
and government. She was interesting and clear in her
complex characterizations of the crusaders and contem-
porary Greek imperial families. She died about 1155.
Further reading: Anna Komnene, The Alexiad of
Anna Comnena,trans. E. R. A. Sewter (New York: Pen-
guin Books, 1969); Thalia Gouma-Peterson, ed., Anna
Komnene and Her Times(New York: Garland, 2000);
Barbara Hill, Imperial Women in Byzantium, 1025–1204:
Power, Patronage and Ideology (New York: Longman,
1999); R. F. Dalven, Anna Comnena(New York: Twayne,
1972).
Komnenos dynasty (Komenoi, Komnenian dynasty,
Comneni) They were a BYZANTINEdynasty who reigned
temporarily from 1057 to 1059 and more securely from
1081 to 1185. An early Komnenos, Manuel, distinguished
himself in 978 under BASILII by his defense of Nicaea.
Manuel’s descendant Isaac I (r. 1057–59) rose to power
after a military coup, but, as a sick man, he relinquished
the empire to an accomplice, Constantine Doukas
(r. 1059–67). In April 1081 Isaac’s nephew, ALEXIOSI,
encouraged by his mother, Anna Dalassena (ca. 1030–
1101/02) seized the throne from Nikephoros III
Botaneites (r. 1078–81). In 1118, Alexios left his son,
John II (r. 1118–43), an empire essentially free of Nor-
mans and the Petchenegs, whom he had defeated at Lev-
urnion in 1091. In the East the TURKShad been pushed
back to the central plateau of ANATOLIA. Indeed, Alexios
made skillful use of the passage of the First CRUSADE,
though BOHEMOND’s refusal to hand back ANTIOCH
incited a long quarrel with the Latins.THE EMPIRE GROWS AND SHRINKS
JOHNII, the dynasty’s best general, continued his father’s
work so well that all the coasts of Anatolia were once
more under Byzantine control. John’s son, Manuel I
(r. 1143–80), tried simultaneously to invade southern
Italy, counteract the advances of the Hungarians, and
impose his rule on the SELJUKSand Danishmends in Ana-
tolia. His ambitions ended in 1176 in bloody defeat at
Myriokephalon. This finished any hope of a complete
reconquest of Anatolia. Manuel retreated to consolidate
what had been gained. Because Manuel’s son, Alexios II
(r. 1180–83), was a minor, his incompetent mother,
Maria of Antioch, became regent. In 1182, they could not
oppose the usurpation of a cousin, Andronikos I (r.
1183–85), who slew them after he entered Constantino-
ple. There was a massacre of many foreigners after he
took control of the city. The tyrannical and shifty charac-
ter of Andronikos, who violently eliminated any potential
rivals, including killing Alexios II, and his unability to
check a Norman army that took THESSALONIKIon August
15, 1185, led to the emperor’s downfall and horrific mur-
der in September, leaving the throne open to his relative,
ISAACII Angelos (r. 1185–95, 1203–4).
When peace reigned, the period of the Komnenoi
was marked by economic expansion and, the growth of
towns in Europe such as Thebes, Corinth, and ATHENS.
In western Anatolia, the construction of a network of
fortresses revitalized and safeguarded this region, now
able at least temporarily to stave off Turkish raids.
See also ISAACI KOMNENOS, BYZANTINE EMPEROR;
KOMNENE,ANNA.
Further reading:John Kinnamos, Deeds of John and
Manuel Comnenus,trans. Charles M. Brand (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1976); Niketas Choniate ̄s, O
City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Chroniate ̄s, trans.
Harry J. Magoulias (Detroit: Wayne State University