Introduction

at the time of his coup Alexius I Comnenus is unlikely to have had any clear ideas about an ecclesiastical policy. His priorities were to establish his family in power, defend the Empire against its external enemies, and to reassert imperial authority. The day to day running of the imperial government he left in the hands of his mother Anna Dalassena, who did not intend to let the imperial prize slip out of her son's grasp. She had once before seen her family deprived of the imperial office when her brother-in-law Isaac I Comnenus was eased off the imperial throne in 1059. Her husband's reluctance to make a bid for power was a humiliation for a young woman who was both able and ambitious. After his death in 1067 Anna Dalassena took the veil. She was deeply pious and became the patron of monks and holy men. She made sure that her son Alexius Comnenus was accompanied on his campaigns by a monk who acted as his confessor and spiritual adviser. This connection added a dimension to the Comnenian regime, which should not be ignored. Alexius could count on support among the monks of the capital, even if he was on bad terms with the official church.

The young Alexius came to prominence under Michael VII Doukas at a time when the church of Constantinople dominated the political scene.