The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes.

Together with his father and brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos ( c. 1183 ), and thus he spent several years in exile in Muslim courts, including that of Saladin.

His younger brother Isaac was threatened with execution under orders of their first-cousin once-removed Andronikos I Komnenos on September 11, 1185.

His actions provoked a riot, which resulted in the deposition of Andronikos I and the proclamation of Isaac as Emperor.

Andronikos III was first married, in 1318, with Irene of Brunswick, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg ; she died in 1324.

Andronikos II also attempted to marry off his son and co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos to the Latin Empress Catherine I of Courtenay, thus seeking to eliminate Western agitation for a restoration of the Latin Empire.

By the end of Andronikos II's reign, much of Bithynia was in the hands of the Ottoman Turks of Osman I and his son and heir Orhan.

Andronikos I Komnenos ( or Andronicus I Comnenus, ; c. 1118 – September 12, 1185 ) was Byzantine Emperor from 1183 to 1185 ).

While under the protection of Yaroslav, Andronikos brought about an alliance between him and the Emperor Manuel I, and so restored himself to the emperor's favour.

After a successful campaign Manuel I and Andronikos returned together to Constantinople ( 1168 ); but a year later, Andronikos refused to take the oath of allegiance to the future king Béla III of Hungary, whom Manuel desired to become his successor.

Andronikos I was the last of the Komnenoi to rule Constantinople, although his grandsons Alexios and David founded the Empire of Trebizond in 1204.

Andronikos I Komnenos was married twice and had numerous mistresses.

By his mistress Theodora Komnene, Andronikos I had the following issue:

The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes.

als: Andronikos I.

cs: Andronikos I. Komnenos

de: Andronikos I.

et: Andronikos I Komnenos

id: Andronikos I Komnenos

nl: Andronikos I Komnenos

fi: Andronikos I Komnenos

Their party was defeated ( 2 May 1182 ), but Andronikos Komnenos, a first cousin of Emperor Manuel, took advantage of these disorders to aim at the crown, entered Constantinople, where he was received with almost divine honours, and overthrew the government.

Andronikos was now formally proclaimed as co-emperor before the crowd on the terrace of the Church of Christ of the Chalkè, and not long afterwards, on the pretext that divided rule was injurious to the Empire, he caused Alexios II to be strangled with a bow-string ( October 1183 ).

Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa.

* Eirene Angelina, who married ( 1 ) Andronikos Kontostephanos, and ( 2 ) Alexios Palaiologos, by whom she was the grandmother of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.

Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus (; 25 March 1297 – 15 June 1341 ) was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321.

Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia ( renamed Maria ).

Andronikos was born in Constantinople on his grandfather's 38th birthday.

Effective administrative authority during the reign of Andronikos III was wielded by his megas domestikos John Kantakouzenos, while the Emperor enjoyed himself hunting or waging war.

Andronikos III's attempt to make up for this setback by annexing Bulgarian Thrace failed in 1332, when he was defeated by the new Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander at Rousokastron.

Yet none of this was due to a lack of leadership on Andronikos ' part and his reign could be said to end before the Byzantine Empire's position became untenable due to the ensuing civil war which consumed the empire's remaining resources on Andronikos's death.

Andronikos II Palaiologos () ( 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332 ), Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328.

Andronikos II Palaiologos was born at Nicaea.

Sole emperor from 1282, Andronikos II immediately repudiated his father's unpopular Church union with the Papacy ( which he had been forced to support while his father was still alive ), but was unable to resolve the related schism within the Orthodox clergy until 1310.

Andronikos II was also plagued by economic difficulties and during his reign the value of the Byzantine hyperpyron depreciated precipitously while the state treasury accumulated less than one seventh the revenue ( in nominal coins ) that it had done previously.

In spite of the resolution of problems in Europe, Andronikos II was faced with the collapse of the Byzantine frontier in Asia Minor, despite the successful, but short, governorships of Alexios Philanthropenos and John Tarchaneiotes.

In 1328 Andronikos III entered Constantinople in triumph and Andronikos II was forced to abdicate.

Constantine was forced to become a monk by his nephew Andronikos III Palaiologos.

When Andronikos arrived he found that his authority was overthrown: Isaac had been proclaimed Emperor.

* September 11 – Isaac II Angelus leads a revolt in the Byzantine Empire which deposes Andronikos I Komnenos and ends the Komnenos dynasty.

During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved ( alongside his father and brothers ) in the revolt of Nicaea and Prousa.

On September 11, 1185, during Andronikos ' absence from the capital, the latter's lieutenant Stephanos Hagiochristophorites moved to arrest Isaac.

When Andronikos arrived he found that during his absence he had lost popular support, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor.

" She was the eldest of seven children and her younger siblings were ( in order of birth ) Maria Komnene, John II Komnenos, Andronikos Komnenos, Isaac Komnenos, Eudokia Komnene, Theodora Komnene.

Another oracle gave the date when the next Emperor would start to rule, and Andronikos I was greatly relieved, as the time was much too short for Isaac to make the crossing from Cyprus.

Andronikos I had usurped the throne in 1183 and after a two year reign of terror was tortured and killed by the populace of Constantinople after being deposed by Isaac II Angelos.

After Manuel I's reign the Komnenos dynasty fell into conspiracies and plots like many of their ancestors ( and the various contenders within the family sought power and often succeeded in overthrowing the preceding kinsman ); Alexios II, the first Komnenos to ascend as a minor, ruled for three years and his conqueror and successor Andronikos I ruled for two, overthrown by the Angelos family under Isaac II who was dethroned and blinded by his own brother Alexios III.

At this time, too, Theodora interceded with Andronikos to pay the ransom for her nephew, Isaac, a former Byzantine governor of Isauria now a captive in Armenia ; Andronikos afterwards regretted doing so, since Isaac rebelled and seized control of Cyprus.

Among their children were John Doukas ( who took his grandmother's surname ) and Andronikos Angelos, father of the emperors Alexios III Angelos and Isaac II Angelos.