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{{short description|Byzantine emperor in 1204}}
{{redirect|Alexios V|the 15th-century Emperor of Trebizond|Alexios V of Trebizond}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title        = [[Basileus|Emperor]] and [[Autokrator|Autocrat]] of the [[Rhomaioi|Romans]]
| name         = Alexios V Doukas
| image        = 147 - Alexios V Doukas (Mutinensis - color).png
| caption      = Portrait of Alexios V from a [[Mutinensis gr. 122|15th-century codex]] containing a copy of the ''Extracts of History'' by [[Joannes Zonaras]]
| succession   = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| reign        = 27 January – 12 April 1204
| coronation   = 5 February 1204
| predecessor  = [[Isaac II Angelos]] and [[Alexios IV Angelos]]
| successor    = [[Constantine Laskaris]] {{small|(briefly?)}}<br />[[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin I]] {{small|([[Latin Empire]])}}<br />[[Theodore I Komnenos Laskaris|Theodore I]] {{small|([[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]])}}<br />[[Michael I Komnenos Doukas|Michael I]] {{small|([[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]])}}<br />[[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios I]] {{small|([[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]])}}<br />[[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]] {{small|([[Mosynopolis]])}}<br>
[[Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat|Boniface I]] ([[Kingdom of Thessalonica|Thessalonica]])
| spouse       = Philokalina<ref> Hendrickx and Matzukis, p.113. </ref> <br /> 
[[Eudokia Angelina]]
| dynasty      = [[Angelos|Angelos dynasty]]
| birth_date   =
| death_date   = {{death-date|December 1204}}
| death_place  = (Modern day [[Istanbul University]])
| religion     = [[Greek Orthodox]]
}}
'''Alexios V Doukas''' ({{langx|el|Ἀλέξιος Δούκας|Aléxios Doúkās}}; died December 1204), [[Romanization of Greek|Latinized]] as '''Alexius V Ducas''', was [[Byzantine emperor]] from February to April 1204, just prior to the [[sack of Constantinople]] by the participants of the [[Fourth Crusade]]. His family name was [[Doukas]], but he was also known by the nickname '''Mourtzouphlos''' or '''Murtzuphlus''' ({{lang|grc|Μούρτζουφλος}}), referring to either bushy, overhanging eyebrows or a sullen, gloomy character.<ref>Choniates, p. 307, (see also: Head, p. 238) says that Alexios Doukas gained the name 'Mourtzouphlos' in his youth from his companions on account of his eyebrows meeting and overhanging his eyes.</ref> He achieved power through a [[Coup d'état#Palace coup|palace coup]], killing his predecessors in the process. Though he made vigorous attempts to defend Constantinople from the crusader army, his military efforts proved ineffective. His actions won the support of the mass of the populace, but he alienated the elite of the city. Following the fall, sack, and occupation of the city, Alexios V was [[Political mutilation in Byzantine culture|blinded]] by his father-in-law, the ex-emperor [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]], and later executed by the new [[Latin Empire|Latin regime]]. He was the last Byzantine emperor to rule in Constantinople until the Byzantine [[recapture of Constantinople]] in 1261.

==Origins and character==
[[File:Alexius V.JPG|thumb|Miniature from a 13th-century chronicle of [[Niketas Choniates]].<ref>The manuscript explicitally calls him "Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos", but there are some doubts about the authenticity of the portrait. {{cite book |last=Spatharakis |first=Ioannis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA152 |title=The Portrait in Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts |publisher=Brill |year=1976 |isbn=9789633862971 |pages=152–158}}</ref> ]]
Though in possession of the surname used by a leading Byzantine aristocratic family, there is very little definitely known concerning the ancestry of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos. The noble Doukas clan were not the only Doukai, as the surname was also employed by many families of humble origins. It has been claimed that Alexios Doukas was a great-great-grandson of the emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]] ({{reign|1081|1118}}) in the female line ([[cognatic|cognatic descent]]). This is not improbable, as all other Byzantine emperors, and the majority of attempted usurpers, of the period had a connection with the former imperial house of the [[Komnenoi]], either by descent or marriage. A more precise theory has been proposed, that he was the son of an Isaac Doukas, and was the second cousin of [[Alexios IV Angelos]] ({{reign|1203|1204}}). His date of birth is also unknown, but it is sometimes given as {{circa|1140}} because he was considered "old" in 1204.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 111</ref> A letter sent to [[Pope Innocent III]], stated that Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos was 'a blood relation' of Alexios IV Angelos.<ref>Akropolites, p. 112</ref>

The contemporary historian [[Niketas Choniates]] was dismissed from office as [[Logothetes ton sekreton|logothete of the ''sekreta'']] by Mourtzouphlos. His assessment of the emperor's character might therefore be biased; however, Choniates allows that he was extremely clever by nature, though arrogant in his manner and lecherous.<ref>Choniates, pp. 311, 314</ref>

==Political intrigues and usurpation==
[[File:PriseDeConstantinople1204PalmaLeJeune.JPG|300px|thumb|left|The siege of Constantinople in 1204, by [[Palma il Giovane]]]]
The participation of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos in the attempted overthrow of [[Alexios III Angelos]] ({{reign|1195|1203}}) by [[John Komnenos the Fat]] in 1200 had led to his imprisonment. Mourtzouphlos was probably imprisoned from 1201 until the restoration to the throne of [[Isaac II Angelos]] ({{reign|1185|1195|1203|1204}}), the brother and predecessor of Alexios III. Isaac II, along with his son Alexios IV Angelos, were restored to the throne through the intervention of the leaders of the [[Fourth Crusade]] in July 1203. On release, Mourtzouphlos was invested with the court position of ''[[protovestiarios]]'' (head of the imperial finances). He had been married twice but was allegedly the lover of [[Eudokia Angelina]], a daughter of Alexios III.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 112-113</ref>

By the beginning of 1204, Isaac II and Alexios IV had inspired little confidence among the people of [[Constantinople]] with their efforts to protect the city from the [[Latins (Middle Ages)|Latin]] crusaders and their [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] allies, and the citizens were becoming restless. The crusaders were also losing patience with the emperors; they rioted and set fires in the city when the money and aid promised by Alexios IV was not forthcoming. The fires affected about a sixth of the area of Constantinople and may have made up to a third of the population homeless; the dislocation and desperation of those affected eventually sapped the will of the people to resist the crusaders. Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos emerged as a leader of the anti-Latin movement in the city. He won the approval of the populace by his valour in leading an attack on the Latins at "Trypetos Lithos"; in this clash his mount stumbled and he would have been killed or captured had a band of youthful archers from the city not defended him. Mourtzouphlos exploited the hatred of the people for the Latins to serve his personal ambition.<ref>Choniates, pp. 303–304, 307</ref><ref>Madden (1992)</ref><ref>Madden (1995) p. 742</ref>

The citizens of Constantinople rebelled in late January 1204, and in the chaos an otherwise obscure nobleman named [[Nicholas Kanabos]] was acclaimed emperor, though he was unwilling to accept the crown. The two co-emperors barricaded themselves in the [[Palace of Blachernae]] and entrusted Mourtzouphlos with a mission to seek help from the crusaders, or at least they informed him of their intentions. Instead of contacting the crusaders, Mourtzouphlos, on the night of 28–29 January 1204, used his access to the palace to bribe the "ax-bearers" (the [[Varangian Guard]]), and with their backing arrest the emperors. Choniates states that Mourtzouphlos, when bribing the guards, had the help of a eunuch with access to the imperial treasury. The support of the Varangians seems to have been of major importance in the success of the coup, though Mourtzouphlos also had help from his relations and associates. The young Alexios IV was eventually strangled in prison; while his father Isaac, both enfeebled and blind, died at around the time of the coup, his death variously attributed to fright, sorrow, or mistreatment. Kanabos was initially spared and offered an office under Alexios V, but he refused both this and a further summons from the emperor and took sanctuary in the [[Hagia Sophia]]; he was forcibly removed and killed on the steps of the cathedral.<ref>Choniates, pp. 307–309</ref><ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, p. 118-120</ref><ref>Runciman, pp. 120–121</ref>

==Emperor==
[[File:Gustave dore crusades mourzoufle parleying with dandolo.jpg|thumb|right|Alexios V negotiating with Doge Enrico Dandolo, by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
The timing of the deaths of the deposed emperors and of Kanabos, and their relation to the coronation of Alexios V are problematic. Alexios&nbsp;V appears to have been acclaimed emperor as early as the night he moved against the [[Angeloi]] co-emperors, on 27 January.<ref>[[Niketas Choniates|Choniates]], p. [[iarchive:o-city-of-byzantium-annals-of-niketas-choniates-ttranslated-by-harry-j-magoulias-1984/page/n333/mode/2up|299-314.]] There was a meeting on the 25th, [[Nicholas Kanabos]] was chosen on the 27th and Doukas began his coup "as soon as these deliberations were detected". [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]] ruled "8 years, 3 months and 10 days"; [[Alexios IV]] "6 months and 8 days" and [[Alexios V]] "2 months and 16 days". Regnal dates for these emperors are calculated reckoning from the fall of Constantinople on 12 April.</ref> He was crowned soon after, on or around 5 February.<ref name=C>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/31064036 |first=David |last=Savignac|year=2020|title=The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade - A New Annotated Translation}} ([[Novgorod Chronicle]])</ref>

Finding the treasury empty, the new emperor confiscated money from the aristocracy and high officials to be put to public use. These actions endeared Alexios V to the citizens, but alienated his relations and other prominent supporters. Once in firm control, Alexios V closed the gates of the city to the crusaders and strengthened the [[Walls of Constantinople|fortifications]]. Sword in hand, he was active in leading attacks on sorties made by the crusaders in search of supplies. On 2 February, [[Henry of Flanders]] led a part of the crusader army to Filea (or Phileas), in order to obtain food supplies. As he returned towards Constantinople, Alexios V attacked his rearguard. The Byzantines were defeated, the imperial standard and an important icon of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin]] (the ''[[Panagia]] Nikopoios'') were captured. The Byzantines lost some of their best soldiers in the clash, and Alexios V was lucky to escape alive. At about this time Alexios V attempted to destroy the crusader fleet with [[fire-ships]], but to little effect.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 120–122</ref><ref>Choniates, pp.311–312</ref>

The loss of the icon, traditionally seen as a physical embodiment of divine protection for the city, was a severe psychological blow. Its possession by the crusaders convinced many of the population of Constantinople that the victory of the Westerners was now divinely sanctioned, as a punishment for the sins of the Byzantines.<ref>Giarenis, p. 78</ref>

Around 8 February, Alexios V met the [[Doge of Venice]], [[Enrico Dandolo]], for peace talks. The conditions demanded by the Venetian, however, were too harsh for the Byzantines to consider. Choniates states that the meeting was brought to a close by a sudden attack by crusader cavalry on Alexios V and his entourage, the emperor narrowly escaping capture. Alexios IV was probably killed the same day; the insistence by the crusaders that he be restored to the throne may have precipitated his death.<ref>Choniates, p.312</ref><ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 123–124</ref> When news of the death of Alexios IV reached the crusaders, relations between them and Alexios V deteriorated further. The forcible expulsion of all Latins resident in Constantinople in March seems to have been the tipping point which led the crusaders to begin actively negotiating amongst themselves regarding the [[Partitio Romaniae|partition]] of the Byzantine Empire. They also began to prepare for their final assault on the city, which took place the following month.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 124–125</ref>

==The fall of Constantinople, flight and death==
The defenders of Constantinople held out against a crusader assault on 9 April.<ref name=C/> The crusaders' second attack three days later, however, proved too strong to repel. Breaking through the walls near the [[Petria Gate]], the crusaders entered the city and looted the Blachernae Palace. Alexios V attempted to rally the people to the defence of the city, but with no success. Alexios V then boarded a fishing boat and fled the city towards [[Thrace]] on the night of 12 April 1204, accompanied by Eudokia Angelina and her mother [[Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera]]. In the Hagia Sophia [[Constantine Laskaris]] was acclaimed as emperor, but being unable to persuade the Varangians to continue the fight, in the early hours of 13 April he also fled, leaving Constantinople under crusader control.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 121–127</ref><ref>Choniates, p.p. 313-314</ref>

Alexios V and his companions eventually reached [[Mosynopolis]], which had been occupied by the deposed emperor Alexios III Angelos and his followers. At first they were well received, with Alexios V marrying Eudokia Angelina. Later, however, Alexios III arranged for his new son-in-law to be made captive and [[Political mutilation in Byzantine culture|blinded]], thereby rendering him ineligible for the imperial throne. Having been abandoned by both his supporters and his father-in-law, Alexios V was captured near Mosynopolis, or possibly in [[Anatolia]], by the advancing Latins under [[Thierry de Loos]] in November 1204.<ref>Falk, p. 163</ref><ref>Akropolites, p. 117</ref> On his return to Constantinople as a prisoner, Alexios V was tried for treason against Alexios IV. In his trial the blind ex-emperor argued that it was Alexios IV who had committed treason to his country, through his intention to invite the crusaders to enter Constantinople in force. On being condemned, he was executed by novel means: he was thrown to his death from the top of the [[Column of Theodosius]].<ref>Choniates, p. 334</ref>

The new, alien, Latin regime of conquerors in Constantinople may have viewed the public trial and execution of the man who murdered the last "legitimate emperor" as a way to cast an aura of legitimacy on themselves. Alexios V was the last Byzantine emperor to reign in Constantinople before the establishment of the [[Latin Empire]], which controlled the city for the next 57 years, until it was recovered by the [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaean Emperor]] [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] in 1261.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 127–131</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Byzantine Empire}}
*[[List of Byzantine emperors]]
*[[Sack of Constantinople (1204)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Akropolites, G. ''The History'', trans. Ruth Macrides (2007) Oxford University Press {{ISBN| 9780199210671}}
*{{O City of Byzantium}}
*Falk, A. (2010) ''Franks and Saracens: Reality and Fantasy in the Crusades'', Karnac Books {{ISBN|9781855757332}}
*Giarenis, I. (2017) "The Crisis of the Fourth Crusade in Byzantium (1203–1204) and the Emergence of Networks for Anti-Latin Reaction and Political Action", ''Mediterranean World'', 23, pp.&nbsp;73–80. {{ISSN|1343-9626}}
*Head, C. (1980) "Physical Descriptions of the Emperors in Byzantine Historical Writing", ''Byzantion'', Vol. 50, No. 1 (1980), Peeters Publishers, pp.&nbsp;226–240 
*Hendrickx, B. and Matzukis, C. (1979) [http://media.ems.gr/ekdoseis/ellinika/Ellinika_31_1/ekd_peel_31_1_Hendrickx-C.Matzukis.pdf "Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos: His Life, Reign and Death (?–1204)]", in ''Hellenika'' (''Έλληνικά'') '''31''':&nbsp;111–117
*Madden, T.F. (1992) "The Fires of the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople, 1203–1204: A Damage Assessment", ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'', lxxxiv–v, pp.&nbsp;72–93.
*Madden, T.F. (1995) "Outside and Inside the Fourth Crusade", ''The International History Review'', Vol. 17, No. 4 (Nov., 1995), Taylor and Francis, pp.&nbsp;726–743
*{{Runciman-A History of the Crusades|volume=3|year=1987|isbn=0-14-013705-X}}

==Further reading==
* Jonathan Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades'' (London and New York, 2nd ed., 2014). {{ISBN|978-1-78093-767-0}}
* {{Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium|title=Alexios V Doukas|url=https://archive.org/details/odb_20210521/page/66/mode/1up}}
* Jonathan Phillips (2004). ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'' (London and New York, 2004)
* {{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/31064036 |first=David |last=Savignac|title=The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade – A New Annotated Translation}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Alexius V.|volume=1|page=578}}

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{{s-hou|[[Angelus (dynasty)|Angelid]] dynasty||unknown|December|1204}}
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{{s-bef|rows=4|before=[[Isaac II Angelos]]<br/>and<br/>[[Alexios IV Angelos]]}}
{{s-ttl|rows=4|title=[[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]]|years=1204}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Theodore I Laskaris]]|as=[[Empire of Nicaea|Emperor of Nicaea]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Michael I Komnenos Doukas]]|as=[[Despotate of Epirus|Ruler of Epirus]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios I Megas Komnenos]]|as=[[Empire of Trebizond|Emperor of Trebizond]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin I]]|as=[[Latin Empire|Latin Emperor of Constantinople]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Rebellion and secession in Byzantium, 1182–1205}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexios 05}}
[[Category:12th-century births|Alexios Doukas]]
[[Category:1204 deaths|Alexios Doukas]]
[[Category:12th-century Byzantine people]]
[[Category:13th-century Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:13th-century rebels]]
[[Category:Angelid dynasty]]
[[Category:Blind royalty and nobility]]
[[Category:Greek blind people]]
[[Category:Byzantine prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Christians of the Fourth Crusade]]
[[Category:Deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Doukas family]]
[[Category:Executed Byzantine people]]
[[Category:Executed monarchs]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime]]
[[Category:People executed for treason]]
[[Category:Protovestiarioi]]
[[Category:Blinded people]]