two genuflections; on the third she sank to the floor and taking firm hold of the sacred doors, cried in a loud voice: "Unless my hands are cut off, I will not leave this holy place except on one condition: that I receive the emperor's cross as guarantee of safety". Nikephoros III Botaneiates was forced into a public vow that he would grant protection to the family. Straboromanos tried to give her his cross, but for Anna this was not sufficiently large enough so that all bystanders could witness the oath. She also demanded that the cross be personally sent by Botaneiates as a vow of his good faith. He obliged, sending a complete assurance for the family with his own cross. At the emperor's further insistence, and for their own protection they took refuge at the convent of Petrion, where eventually they were joined by Irene Doukaina's mother, Maria of Bulgaria. Botaneiates allowed them to be treated as refugees rather than guests. They were allowed to have family members bring in their own food and were on good terms with the guards from whom they learned the latest news. Anna was highly successful in three important aspects of the revolt: she bought time for her sons to steal imperial horses from the stables and escape the city, she distracted the emperor and gave her sons time to gather and arm their troops and she gave a false sense of security to Botaneiates that there was no real treasonous coup against him. Rise to power Isaac and Alexios Komnenos entered the capital victoriously on 1 April 1081. However, even this fortunate turn of events did not deter Anna from preventing the Doukas family from sharing the imperial coronation - she had never approved of the marriage of Alexios and Irene Doukaina, and the situation became acute now that the teenage Irene would become Augusta. Although Alexios' candidature for the throne had been agreed upon by the Doukai and the Komnenoi at the army camp at Schiza, the elder Isaac still had supporters. The fact that Alexios was crowned on April 4 while Irene was crowned a full week later is highly suspicious. It is likely that Anna and Maria of Alania had planned for Irene's departure and wanted to rule with Alexios as "both" mothers and wife. The latter was already an empress mother twice-over and far more experienced than