Alexios Branas or Vranas was a Byzantine nobleman, attempted usurper, and the last Byzantine military leader of the 12th century to gain a notable success against a foreign enemy.
13 Facts About Alexios Branas
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Alexios Branas was a notable Greek aristocrat, who was doubly linked to the imperial Komnenos family.
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Alexios Branas was the son of Michael Branas and of Maria Komnene, who was the great-niece of Alexios I Komnenos.
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Alexios Branas himself married Anna Vatatzaina, the niece of Manuel I Komnenos.
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The Branas family had been prominent in the city and region of Adrianople since the middle of the 11th century.
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Alexios Branas was described by a contemporary as "Small in stature, but colossal in the depth and the deviousness of his understanding and by far the best general of his time".
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Alexios Branas was one of relatively few prominent Byzantine generals never to raise a rebellion against Andronikos I Komnenos.
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Alexios Branas held the new emperor Isaac II Angelos in contempt, and this, combined with his successes as a general and connections to the former imperial dynasty of the Komnenoi, emboldened him to aspire to the throne.
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In 1187, Alexios Branas was sent to counter the Vlach-Bulgarian Rebellion and Niketas Choniates praised him for his deeds against the rebels.
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The troops of Alexios Branas began to give way under pressure from Conrad's heavily equipped infantry.
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Once on the ground, Alexios Branas was beheaded by Conrad's supporting footsoldiers.
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Alexios Branas' head was taken to the imperial palace, where it was treated like a football, and was then sent to his wife Anna, who reacted bravely to the shocking sight.
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Alexios Branas had a daughter, probably named Eudokia, who married Isaac Angelos, son of the sebastocrator John Doukas.