Manuel I Komnenos

Lore & Background

Manuel Komnenos was born on 28 November 1118 in the Purple Chamber of the Great Palace of Constantinople, making him a Porphyrogenitus. He was the eighth child and fourth son of John II Komnenos and Irene of Hungary. Raised alongside his cousin Andronikos, Manuel did not receive a formal education and was trained as a soldier. He accompanied his father on military expeditions against the Anatolian Turks, and during the unsuccessful Siege of Neocaesarea in 1140 he led a counterattack that reversed an engagement, earning praise from his father as the 'Saviour of the Romans'.

Reader's Guide

Manuel I Komnenos reigned at a crucial turning point for Byzantium, pursuing an energetic foreign policy that included alliances with Pope Adrian IV and the West, an unsuccessful invasion of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, and the adroit management of the Second Crusade through his empire. He established a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader states of Outremer and participated in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. However, his achievements in the east were compromised by a serious defeat at Myriokephalon, which proved to be the final unsuccessful effort by the empire to recover the interior of Anatolia from the Turks. Some historians assert that the great power he wielded was not his own personal achievement but that of the Komnenos dynasty, and that the causes of the catastrophic decline after his death may be found in his reign.

Did You Know?

• Manuel was the last Eastern Roman emperor to attempt reconquests in the western Mediterranean.
• He was known to have inspired intense loyalty in those who served him.
• His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration.
• He was the hero of a history written by his secretary, John Kinnamos.