acted as the power behind the throne, not allowing Alexios any voice in public affairs. One after another, Andronikos suppressed most of Alexios' defenders and supporters: his half-sister Maria Komnene, the caesar John, his loyal generals Andronikos Doukas Angelos, Andronikos Kontostephanos and John Komnenos Vatatzes, while Empress Dowager Maria was put in prison. In 1183, Alexios was compelled to condemn his own mother to death. In September 1183, Andronikos was formally proclaimed emperor before the crowd on the terrace of the Church of Christ of the Chalkè. Probably by the end of the same month, Andronikos ordered Alexios' assassination; the young emperor was secretly strangled with a bow-string and his body thrown in the Bósporos. In the years following Alexios' mysterious disappearance, many young men resembling him tried to claim the throne. In the end, none of those pseudo-Alexioi managed to become emperor. Portrayal in fiction Alexios is a character in the historical novel Agnes of France (1980) by Greek writer Kostas Kyriazis. The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II, and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes. Notes References Further reading Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014. , Vols. A1, A2 & B 1169 births 1183 deaths Komnenos dynasty Monarchs who died as children Medieval child monarchs 12th-century Byzantine emperors People executed by ligature strangulation Eastern Orthodox monarchs Assassinated Byzantine emperors 12th-century murdered monarchs Manuel I Komnenos Porphyrogennetoi Sons of Byzantine emperors