Alexios IV Angelos

Alexios IV Angelos was a Byzantine prince who became co-emperor in 1203 after persuading leaders of the Fourth Crusade to restore his blinded father, Isaac II Angelos, to the throne. He promised money, military support and the submission of the Byzantine Church to Rome, but could not satisfy either the crusaders or the population of Constantinople. He was deposed and killed during the political crisis of 1204.

Historical fiction about the Fourth Crusade frequently presents Alexios as both a victim of dynastic violence and a dangerously unrealistic claimant whose promises helped draw a western army into Byzantine politics. His story provides a direct route into the competing ambitions of crusaders, Venetians and Constantinopolitan factions before the sack of the city, while also showing why simple accounts of a purely religious crusade are inadequate.