ALEXIUS V., eastern Roman emperor, was proclaimed emperor on
the 5th of February 1204, during the siege of Constantinople
by the Latins (Fourth Crusade). His name was Alexius Ducas
Murtzuphlos, and he was a connexion of the imperial house
of the Angell. His elevation was the result of a revolution
in the city against Isaac II. and Alexius IV. He conducted
the defence with great bravery till it became hopeless
(April 12), whereupon he fled. He would then have made
common cause with Alexius III. against the Latins, but was
blinded by that ex-monarch and fell into the hands of the
crusaders, who put him to death by casting him from the top
of the Pillar of Theodosius as the murderer of Alexius IV.
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