II., the legitimate heir to the throne, was
deposed and subjected to the same form of death as his unfortunate
mother. The tyrant kicked the body of the innocent youth as it lay
before him, and addressed it with a sneer: "Thy father was a knave, thy
mother a whore, and thyself a fool!"

Owing to debauchery and crime, the family of the Comneni had
degenerated. Through the nobility and greatness of its women in an
earlier period, it had risen to the height of power; and through the
debasement and weakness of its women, it finally fell. Andronicus was
the last of the line--the most heinous monster that ever sat on the
Byzantine throne. But his career in crime was cut short. The people rose
up against the author of so many assassinations. Isaac Angelus, a
nobleman, accused of treason, resisted arrest, and fled to Saint Sophia.
A mob gathered and took his side against the mercenaries of Andronicus.
The tyrant himself was seized and torn to pieces, and the Angeli
succeeded the Comneni on the throne of Constantinople.

Isaac and Alexius Angelus, the two emperors whose reign occupied the
years 1185-1204, between the fall of Andronicus and the conquest of
Constantinople by the Crusaders, were the two most feeble and despicable
creatures who ever occupied the imperial throne. Euphrosyne, the empress
of Alexius, however, was a woman of strong personality, though of
licentious ways, and, as the last of the Byzantine empresses before the
fall of Constantinople, she exhibited the strength as well as the
weakness of that long line of self-asserting princesses whom we have
been considering.

Owing to the idle disposition of her worthless husband, Euphrosyne
assisted in conducting the business of the Empire; and so masterful was
she that no minister dared take any step without her approval. Gibbon
considers that there was no greater indication of the degradation of
society at this time than that the proudest nobles of the Empire,
members of the celebrated families of Comnenus, Ducas, Palaeologus, and
Cantacuzenus, contended for the honor of carrying Euphrosyne on her
litter at public ceremonies. Her influence over the nobility was due to
her beauty, her talents and her aptitude for business. But her
inordinate vanity, reckless extravagance, and flagrant licentiousness
brought great scandal upon the Empire even in those vicious times, and
frequently led to violent quarrels with Alexius. Finally, the jealousy
of the emperor at her lice