Although the Palaiologos family was wealthy and mostly known for serving as civil and military officials under the Komnenian emperors, Alexios's own origins are obscure.
At the same time, the emperor's second daughter Anna, also a widow, was wed to Theodore Laskaris, the future founder of the Empire of Nicaea.
[6][7] In February of the same year, Alexios had been called upon to help with the riots that broke out in Constantinople in protest against the embezzlement of charitable donations by the prison warden John Lagos.
After the rebels had seized control of most of the Great Palace, Alexios was sent by the emperor with troops and boats from the Blachernae to the eastern shore of the city.
[10][11] In February 1201 or 1202, Alexios was injured when the imperial tent collapsed during an earthquake, but in the same summer he led the campaign that subdued the rebellion of governor John Spyridonakes in eastern Macedonia, forcing the latter to flee to Bulgaria.
They had numerous children, the most prominent of whom was Michael VIII Palaiologos, who became emperor of Nicaea in 1259 and restored the Byzantine Empire in 1261, founding the Palaiologan dynasty.