Anna's brother, John II Komnenos, took the throne in 1188. Anna then tried to remove her brother from the throne, and her husband refused to help her. Anna was caught. She then gave up her property and retired to a convent. While she lived there, Anna wrote her book, "The Alexiad". This is about the Byzantine Empire. The 15 books of "The Alexiad" were written in Greek. Her book is still important because Anna had access to the royal archives and had an inside view of politics.