Emperor John Comnenus of Romania II (Kalo Ioannes (John the Beautiful)) 
John was born in 1088 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire.1 John's father was Emperor Alexius Comnenus I and his mother was Irini Dukas. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Ioannis Comnenus of Byzantium and Anna Dalassena; his maternal grandparents were Emperor of Byzantium Andronicus Dukas and Princess Marija Vladislav. He had a brother and a sister, named Isaak and Theodora. He was the oldest of the three children. He died in an accident or as a result of an injury, accidentally poisoned by his own arrow during a wild-boar hunt on Mount Taurus, on April 8, 1143, at the age of 55 on April 8th, 1143 in Mount Taurus, Cilicia.1 General Notes
John II Comnenus, (1088 - 1143), was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as Kalo Ioannes (John the Beautiful), he was the eldest son of the emperor Alexius, whom he succeeded in 1118.
On account of his mild and just reign he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius. By the personal purity and piety of his character he effected a notable improvement in the manners of his age, and he devoted his reign to restoring the Byzantine Empire to its former extents, before the disaster at Manzikert in 1071. His various successes against the invading Petchenegs, Serbians and Seljuk Turks, whose progress in Asia Minor he reverted, along with his attempts to establish Byzantine suzerainity over the Crusader States in Antioch and Edessa, did much to restore the reputation of his empire, even if the Comnenian dynasty in hindsight gave Byzantium, torn apart by corruption and invasions, but a brief respite against disintegration. His only serious - but very telling - setbacks were against the Venetians, upon whose naval strength the empire was dependent after the breakdown of the Byzantine fleet in the 11th century. An effort to reduce their extensive privileges within the empire ended with a humiliating return to status quo, many Byzantine ports being plundered in the process.
He was accidentally poisoned by his own arrow during a wild-boar hunt on Mount Taurus, on April 8, 1143.
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Ancestor Pedigree Chart
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*There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated. See their page(s) for details (click name)
- b.0925
- b.0955 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.1025
- b.1015 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.12 Jul 1067
- b.1048 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.15 Aug 1118
- b.1020 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.1101
- b.1039
<Unknown>
<Unknown>
- b.1088 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.08 Apr 1143 in Mount Taurus, Cilicia
- d.Jun 0913
- b.0980 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.1029
<Unknown>
- b.1012 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.1088
<Unknown>
- b.1036 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.14 Oct 1077
- b.1057
- d.1060
<Unknown>
- b.1066 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.19 Feb 1122
- b.0944 d.14 Jun 0988
- b.0966 d.1018 in Durrachium
<Unknown>
- b.0998 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria d.1040
- b.0950 d.06 Oct 1014
- b.0972 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria
- b.0960
- b.1033 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria d.1081
- b.0930
- b.0967 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria
- b.0940
- b.1003 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria
- b.0880 in Cappadocia, Armenia
- b.0970 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria
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Details of John's family with Princess of Hungary Xenia Arpad
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