Manuel I Komnenos

Manuel I Komnenos was Byzantine emperor from 1143 to 1180. He pursued an ambitious foreign policy and strengthened imperial influence across the eastern Mediterranean.

Battle of Myriokephalon: A 1176 battle in which Seljuk forces ambushed and defeated a Byzantine army in a mountain pass in Anatolia. Its defeat checked Manuel’s attempt to restore Byzantine control over the Seljuk-held interior.
John II Komnenos: Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143 and Manuel I’s father. John chose Manuel as his successor shortly before dying on campaign in 1143.
Maria of Antioch: The wife of Manuel I Komnenos and a princess of the Latin principality of Antioch. Her marriage linked Manuel to Antioch and gave the court a Latin-born empress.
Battle of Manzikert: A 1071 battle in which the Seljuk Turks defeated and captured Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. Manuel’s campaigns sought to recover Anatolian ground lost after this earlier defeat.
Siege of Damietta (1169): A failed joint Byzantine and Crusader siege of the Egyptian port of Damietta in 1169. Manuel supplied a major fleet for an expedition that collapsed amid poor coordination.
Siege of Zara (1171): Manuel I’s 1171 seizure of Venetian property and arrest of Venetians living in the Byzantine Empire. The crackdown was a dramatic effort to curb Venice’s commercial and political influence.
Komnenian restoration: The recovery of Byzantine imperial authority under the Komnenos dynasty from the late eleventh through the twelfth century. Manuel inherited a stronger state built through the reforms and campaigns of his Komnenian predecessors.
Baldwin III of Jerusalem: King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163, who allied with Manuel I during campaigns against Egypt. Their alliance culminated in a joint expedition against the Egyptian port of Damietta in 1169.
Massacre of the Latins: The 1182 killing and expulsion of many Latin residents of Constantinople amid anti-Western unrest. The violence followed tensions worsened by Manuel’s pro-Latin court and foreign connections.
Treaty of Devol: A 1108 agreement that made the ruler of Antioch a Byzantine vassal under specified conditions. The treaty offered a legal precedent for Manuel’s claims of authority over Antioch.

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