events spiraled out of control and thus constitutes a seminal moment in Byzantine history. Emperor Romanos was captured in battle and proclaimed dead by the Doukids who returned to Constantinople with Michael VII Doukas proclaimed Emperor. Romanos was released following the payment of a ransom but was captured by the Doukids on his return through Anatolia, blinded and died from his wounds. The reign of Michael VII was turbulent with new civil wars erupting with the withdrawal of Byzantine forces from the frontiers. Now Turkic bands raided in increased number, pillaging further into Eastern and then Central Anatolia unopposed. During this time, much of Anatolia was overrun by the Seljuk Turks, even raiding to the eastern bank opposite Constantinople. The military of the empire completely fell apart as defensive positions were abandoned, and territory was quickly lost to the advancing Turks. The state all but collapsed. Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118) The reign of Alexios is well-documented due to the survival of the Alexiad, written by his daughter Anna Komnene, which details all of the events of his reign, albeit with a bias towards Alexios. Upon ascension, Alexios inherited a much-weakened empire that was almost immediately beset by a serious invasion from the Normans of Southern Italy. The Normans used the deposition of the previous emperor Michael as the casus belli to invade the Balkans. Alexios did not have a strong enough army to successfully resist the invasion at first and suffered a grave defeat at the Battle of Dyrrachium (1081), which allowed Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemond to occupy much of the Balkans. The Normans took Dyrrhachium in February 1082 and advanced inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert was then forced to leave Greece to deal with an attack on his ally, the Pope Gregory VII, by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. Robert left his son Bohemond in charge of the army in Greece. Bohemond was initially successful, defeating Alexios in several battles, but he was defeated by Alexios outside Larissa. Forced to retreat to Italy, Bohemond lost all the territory gained by the Normans in the campaign. This victory began the Komnenian restoration. Shortly after the death of Robert in 1085, the Pechenegs, a nomadic group from north of the Danube, invaded the empire with a force 80,000 strong. Realizing that he would not be able to defeat the Pechenegs by conventional means, Alexios I