Reign of Manuel I Komnenos
For 37 years Manuel I, grandson of Alexios I, pursued ambitions on every frontier of Byzantium: he let the Second Crusade through his lands, invaded Norman Italy, made the prince of Antioch, Hungary and Serbia acknowledge his overlordship and joined the Kingdom of Jerusalem in an attack on Egypt. His defeat at Myriokephalon (1176) ended his hopes in Anatolia, and historians still debate how much his costly policies strengthened the empire.
- Date
- 8 April 1143 – 24 September 1180exact date · duration: ≈ 37 yearsDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Constantinopletoday: Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Balkans and Anatolia (11th–12th c.)
- Also known as
- Siege of Damietta (1169); Battle of Sirmium; Битва при Сирмии; Arrest of the Venetians (1171)
John II, dying in Cilicia of a wound from a hunting accident, chose Manuel as his successor; after John's death on 8 April 1143 the army acclaimed him, and in mid-August he entered Constantinople and was crowned by the new patriarch, Michael II Kourkouas. In 1147 the armies of the Second Crusade passed through the empire — the Germans pillaging as they went — and Manuel made a truce with the Turks, while Roger II of Sicily seized Corfu and plundered Thebes and Corinth. Manuel recovered Corfu in 1149 and in 1155 carried the war into Italy, where Bari opened its gates to his army; but after a defeat at Brindisi in 1156 the Byzantines left Italy in 1158, never to return.
Manuel was more successful in the East and in the Balkans. Prince Raynald of Châtillon submitted to him in a humiliating ceremony, and on 12 April 1159 the emperor rode in triumph through Antioch. In 1167 his army defeated the Hungarians at Sirmium, and the peace gave Byzantium Syrmia, Bosnia and Dalmatia; the Hungarian heir Béla was brought up at Manuel's court. In 1172 the Serbian grand župan Stefan Nemanja had to beg his pardon. King Amalric of Jerusalem married Manuel's grandniece Maria, and in 1169 a Byzantine fleet joined him against Egypt, but the siege of Damietta, begun on 27 October, failed. On 12 March 1171 Manuel ordered the arrest of all Venetians in the empire and the confiscation of their goods. In 1176 his campaign against Konya ended in defeat at Myriokephalon.
Manuel died on 24 September 1180, soon after betrothing his young son Alexios II to a daughter of the king of France; the unpopular regency that followed was overthrown in a violent coup. Historians disagree over his reign: Paul Magdalino observes that Manuel used the assets he inherited to the full, but "it is not so clear how much he added to them". His Italian ventures alone probably cost the treasury more than 2.16 million hyperpyra (some 30,000 pounds of gold) for limited gains (J. Birkenmeier, W. Treadgold).
Connections
Includes
- Battle of Myriokephalon17 September 1176 · Balkans and Anatolia
Related events
- Alexios I's chrysobull for VeniceMay 1082 · Balkans and Anatoliain March 1171 Manuel had the Venetians, privileged since Alexios I's chrysobull, arrested and their goods seized
- Reign of Alexios I Komnenos: the Komnenian restoration begins4 April 1081 – 15 August 1118 · Balkans and AnatoliaManuel continued the Komnenian restoration begun by his grandfather Alexios I
- Second Crusade31 March 1146 – 1149 · Western and Central Europein 1147 the armies of Conrad III and Louis VII passed through Manuel's empire
- Stefan Nemanja unites Serbiabetween 1166 and 1168 – 1196 · Balkans and Anatoliain 1172 Stefan Nemanja had to submit to Manuel
Same participants
- Anna Komnene writes the Alexiadc. 1148 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Same place
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- Theodosian Code15 February 438 · Balkans and Anatolia
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- Nika riots13–18 January 532 · Balkans and Anatolia
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- Phocas overthrows Maurice23 November 602 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reign of Heraclius5 October 610 – 11 February 641 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Invention of Greek firec. 672 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Third Council of Constantinople7 November 680 – 16 September 681 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- The Ecloga: law code of Leo III and Constantine Vbetween 726 and 741 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague in Constantinople, 746–747746 – between 747 and 748 · Balkans and Anatolia
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- Leo the Mathematician heads the school of the Magnaurabetween 843 and 866 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- East–West Schism: the excommunications of 105416 July 1054 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Michael Psellos writes the Chronographiac. 1059 – c. 1078 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Massacre of the Latinsbetween April and May 1182 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Toledo School of Translators: Arabic learning in Latin1130s – 1187
- Al-Idrisi completes the ‘Book of Roger’January 1154
- Murder of Thomas Becket29 December 1170
- Second Crusade31 March 1146 – 1149
- Battle of Legnano29 May 1176
+ 1 event
Eastern Europe
- The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is builtbetween 1158 and 1167
- Andrei Bogolyubsky’s coalition sacks Kyivbetween 8 March and 12 March 1169
- First mention of Moscow4 April 1147
Middle East and Egypt
- Nur ad-Din unites Muslim SyriaSeptember 1146 – 15 May 1174
- Saladin ends the Fatimid caliphateSeptember 1171
Africa
- The Norman ‘Kingdom of Africa’1146 – between 21 January and 22 January 1160
- The Almohads: from Ibn Tumart's revolt to the conquest of Marrakesh1121–1147
- Rock-hewn churches of Lalibelac. 1181 – c. 1221
- K2 (Bambandyanalo) and the rise of Mapungubwec. 1000 – c. 1220
- The Almoravids: from a desert reform movement to an empirebetween 1039 and 1046 – 1147
+ 1 event
Central and Northern Asia
- The Oghuz take Sultan Sanjar prisoner1153 – between October and November 1156
- The Ghurids sack Ghaznibetween 1150 and 1151
- The minaret of Jam is raised in Ghorbetween 1174 and 1194
South Asia
- Basava and the sharanas of Kalyana: the Lingayat movement1160s
- Reign of Parakramabahu I in Sri Lanka1153–1186
- Bhaskara II completes the Siddhanta Shiromanibetween 1150 and 1151
- Kalhana writes the Rajataranginibetween 1148 and 1150
East Asia
- Military coup in Goryeo: the generals seize power11 October 1170
- Kim Busik presents the Samguk sagi, the oldest surviving history of Korea4 February 1146
- Treaty of Shaoxing and the execution of Yue Fei17 December 1141 – October 1142
- Genpei War and the rise of the Kamakura shogunate5 May 1180 – 21 August 1192
- Zhu Xi and the Neo-Confucian synthesis1175 – 23 April 1200
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Mpu Sedah begins the Bharatayuddha for Jayabaya of Kediri6 September 1157
- The Chams sack Angkor13 June 1177
- Suryavarman II builds Angkor Watbetween 1113 and 1122 – c. 1150
- Construction of Angkor Thom and the Bayon1181 – c. 1218
North America
- Drought and the end of the Chaco worldc. 1130 – c. 1180
- Classic Mimbres: the painted bowls of the Mogollonc. 1000 – between 1130 and 1150
- Pueblo II: stone pueblos and the Chaco worldc. 900 – c. 1150
Latin America
- Fall of Tulabetween 1140 and 1200
- Chimor: the Chimú kingdom and its capital Chan Chanc. 900 – c. 1470
- Collapse of Tiwanakuc. 1000 – c. 1150
- Tula and the Toltecs: the leading city of central Mexicoc. 900 – c. 1150
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Manuel I Komnenos
- Wikipedia (English): Stefan Nemanja
- Wikipedia (Russian): Мануил I Комнин
- Magdalino P. The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Birkenmeier J. W. The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081–1180. — Leiden: Brill, 2002.
- Treadgold W. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. — Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.
- Choniates N. O City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniatēs / tr. H. J. Magoulias. — Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1984.