Andronikos Doukas, son of the Caesar John…

Andronikos Doukas, son of the Caesar John Doukas and Eirene Pegonitissa, is a nephew of the late Emperor Constantine X Doukas.

Andronikos himself is a first cousin of Michael VII Doukas.

In 1071.

Andronikos had commanded a section of the imperial army in the campaign of Romanos IV Diogenes against the Seljuq Turks of Alp Arslan.

Commanding the rearguard of the army during the Battle of Manzikert, Andronikos had announced that the emperor had been cut down and deserted from the battlefield.

He is widely blamed for causing the crushing defeat of the imperial forces and the subsequent capture of Romanos IV by the enemy.

After Romanos had been released by Alp Arslan, Andronikos and his brother Constantine had been sent outin 1072 by Michael VII and their father the Caesar John to intercept him.

They had defeated Romanos and hunted him down in Cilicia.

It was Andronikos who had finally obtains Romanos' surrender and conducted him towards Constantinople, having stipulated that the life of the Emperor will be spared if he resigns the purple and retired into a monastery.

Romanos had agreed, and this agreement had been ratified at Constantinople.

However, John Doukas had reneged on the agreement and had sent men to have Romanos cruelly blinded on June 29, 1072, before sending him into exile to the Monastery of the Transfiguration in the Sea of Marmara.

In spite of his former hatred for the deposed emperor, Andronikos is said to have opposed his blinding.

Without medical assistance, his wound becomes infected, and he soon endures a painfully lingering death.

The final insult is delivered a few days before his death, when Romanos receives a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes.

He finally dies in misery on August 4, 1072, praying for the forgiveness of his sins.

His wife Eudokia is permitted to honor his remains with a magnificent funeral.