Overthrow and Execution of Andronikos I Komnenos (1185)

Timeline

1. 1185Thessaloniki · Byzantine EmpireThe Normans captured and sacked Thessaloniki in August 1185, and the empire's eastern defenses collapsed. Andronikos I conducted years of purges of the nobility and oppressive rule, provoking resentment in the capital and provinces; military and political elites broadly lost trust in him.
2. 1185Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireIsaac Angelos, sheltering in the church of Hagios Demetrios, won popular support and immediately led troops into the palace. Andronikos I abandoned the city and fled, was captured by guards outside the capital and brought back.
3. 1185Hippodrome of Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireAndronikos was paraded to the hippodrome and publicly executed by collective dismemberment at the hands of the populace and nobles. Isaac II was immediately crowned, ending the Komnenos dynasty's de facto rule and beginning the Angelos dynasty's reign.