The Familial, the Foreign, and the Forgiven: How to plot against the emperor in twelfth century Romanía and how to get away with it

This thesis examines political troublemaking in the medieval Roman Empire during the Komnenian period (1081–1183 CE), arguing that the nature and tactics of domestic opposition underwent a fundamental transformation across this century, reflecting a broader consolidation of dynastic power by the Komnenian family. Drawing on a prosopographical methodology and engaging critically with primary sources such as the domestic chronicles of Niketas Choniates, Anna Komnene's Alexiad, and Ioannes Kinnamos