Alexios Komnenos seizes Byzantine throne

April 4, 1081

After a sharp revolt supported by his mother and brother, the young general entered Constantinople and had himself crowned emperor. Over thirty-seven years Alexios I would stabilize Byzantine finances, drive back Normans and Pechenegs, and by inviting Western help inadvertently set in motion the First Crusade. His daughter Anna Komnene would later chronicle his reign in the Alexiad, one of the great works of medieval historiography.