John Axouch was the emperor's only close personal friend and confidant, and all members of the imperial family were required to make obeisance to him.
19 Facts About John Axouch
1.
2.
John Axouch wisely refused, realising that such a gift would further sour his relations with the imperial family and make him unpopular with the higher aristocracy.
3.
John Axouch asked the emperor for clemency for Anna, and the two siblings were reconciled, at least to a degree.
4.
The emperor was an active soldier, campaigning in the Balkans, Anatolia and Syria, therefore he and John Axouch often collaborated in their efforts.
5.
When fighting the Pechenegs in the Balkans in 1122, John Axouch was wounded in the leg or foot.
6.
In 1143, while preparing to conquer Crusader Antioch, John Axouch II died following a hunting accident in Cilicia.
7.
John Axouch was instrumental in gaining control of Constantinople for John's chosen successor, his younger surviving son Manuel I Komnenos, against the possible candidacies of his elder brother and uncle, both named Isaac.
8.
John Axouch was the one responsible for the introduction of an oath of allegiance to the new emperor in the coronation ceremony, a practice which lasted until the end of the Empire.
9.
John Axouch offensively extolled John II to the detriment of Manuel, and was vociferously supported by Manuel's brother Isaac.
10.
John Axouch was punished for his part in the debacle by being deprived of the privilege of bearing the imperial seal.
11.
John Axouch commanded the forces acting against the Normans of Sicily in Corfu, initially as commander of the land forces, while the megas doux Stephanos Kontostephanos commanded the fleet, but after the latter's death in 1149, Axouch assumed command of the entire expedition.
12.
When rioting broke out between the Byzantine soldiery and the allied Venetians, John Axouch tried to mediate.
13.
John Axouch's forces starved the Normans into submission in 1149, they surrendered their fortifications and withdrew from the island.
14.
John Axouch is believed to have died shortly after, possibly in 1150 or in early 1151 at the latest.
15.
Unsurprisingly, for someone raised by Alexios I, John Axouch appears to have been very well educated.
16.
John Axouch had a lively interest in theology, and is known to have asked searching questions of the theologian Nicholas of Methone concerning the nature of the 'indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the apostles'.
17.
John II led virtually all of the important campaigns conducted during his reign personally; as a result of this circumstance, Axouch is one of the few Byzantine commanders of this period to receive the notice of contemporary historians and chroniclers.
18.
John Axouch had a son, Alexios, who married Maria Komnene, the daughter of John Axouch II's eldest son and co-emperor Alexios.
19.
Alexios John Axouch was made protostrator, the second-in-command of the Byzantine army.