Constantine XIX Comnenus
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His Imperial Majesty Emperor Constantine XIX was a political enemy of the junior Emperor Demetrius VII Comnenus. He was a grandson of Emperor Demetrius III, and was heavily involved in Pantocratorian politics. His first significant post was as a minister of Emperor Constantine XIII, and because he was a relative latecomer (being appointed in 1588), he didn't have any significant enemies in the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator, and thus rose to prominence under the regency of Empress Irene II.
After the death of Empress Irene II, he entered the service of Emperor Constantine XVI, heading up the young emperor's regency council. This placed him at loggerheads with Emperor Demetrius VII, who was the senior emperor's regent in all but name. The two struggled for power throughout the short life of Emperor Constantine XVI, and when the young emperor died, Constantine narrowly escaped arrest by Demetrius' troops by jumping out a second story window in the palace.
He went into hiding for a number of weeks, until it became apparent that Demetrius' son, the newly crowned Emperor Constantine XVIII, would not be his father's pawn. The fugitive Constantine threw himself at the feet of the senior emperor, offering his services as minister. Instead, Emperor Constantine XVIII made him co-emperor. Constantine XIX's coronation was a tool the senior emperor used to distance himself from his deeply unpopular father.
The rivalry between the two Constantines (on one side) and Demetrius on the other side couldn't continue indefinitely, and eventually the two Constantines felt compelled to ask Demetrius VII to abdicate in order to avert certain civil war. Each knew that Demetrius would decline, and when he did, one of them (probably Constantine XVIII) arranged his assassination by poison.
After his father's murder, Constantine XVIII's unwillingness to share power extended to his co-emperor. There is evidence of a number of conflicting decrees issued by each emperor, which signalled the beginning of the end. On the 7th of September 1602, Emperor Constantine XIX was found dead, apparently a victim of poison. There is little evidence to support the popularly held belief that Emperor Constantine XVIII was the culprit. His eldest son, also named Constantine, became one of Constantine XVIII's ministers, and his other son, Julius, led the Second Pantocratorian Crusade and became Exarch Julius I Comnenus of the Exarchate of New Jerusalem.
Emperors of Pantocratoria
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