John Tzelepes Komnenos

Who is John Tzelepes Komnenos?

John Tzelepes Komnenos was the son of Isaac Komnenos.

Starting about 1130 John and his father, who was a brother of Emperor John II Komnenos, plotted to overthrow his uncle the emperor. They made various plans and alliances with the Danishmend leader and other Turks who held parts of Asia Minor. In 1138 John and his father had a reconciliation with the Emperor, and received a full pardon.

In 1139 John accompanied the emperor on his campaign in Asia Minor. In 1140 at the siege of Neocaesarea he defected. As Norwich puts it, he did so by "embracing simultaneously the creed of Islam and the daughter of the Seljuk Sultan Mesud I."

John Komnenos' by-name, Tzelepes, is believed to be a Greek rendering of the Turkish honorific Çelebi, a term indicating noble birth or "gentlemanly conduct."

The Ottoman Sultans, notably Mehemet II, claimed descent from John Komnenos.