View source for Manuel I Komnenos

{{short description|Byzantine emperor from 1143 to 1180}}
{{redirect|Manuel Komnenos}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Manuel I Komnenos
| full name    = Manuel Komnenos<br />{{lang|grc|Μανουήλ Κομνηνός}}
| title        = [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans]]
| image        = Manuel I Comnenus.jpg
| caption      = Manuscript miniature, part of double portrait with Empress Maria, [[Vatican Library]]
| succession   = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| reign        = 8 April 1143 – 24 September 1180
| predecessor  = [[John II Komnenos]]
| successor    = [[Alexios II Komnenos]]
| spouses      = [[Bertha of Sulzbach]]<br/>[[Maria of Antioch]]
| house        = [[Komnenian dynasty]]
| issue        = [[Maria Komnene (daughter of Manuel I)|Maria Komnene]]<br/>[[Alexios II Komnenos]]
| father       = [[John II Komnenos]]
| mother       = [[Irene of Hungary]]
| birth_date   = 28 November 1118
| birth_Place  = 
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1180|9|24|1118|11|28|df=y}}
| death_place  = 
| religion     = [[Eastern Orthodox Christian]]
}}

'''Manuel I Komnenos''' ({{langx|el|Μανουήλ Κομνηνός|translit=Manouḗl Komnēnós|translit-std=ISO}}; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] as '''Comnenus''', also called '''Porphyrogenitus''' ({{Langx|el|Πορφυρογέννητος|Porphyrogénnētos|links=no}}; "[[born in the purple]]"), was a [[Byzantine emperor]] of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] and the [[History of the Mediterranean region|Mediterranean]]. His reign saw the last flowering of the [[Komnenian restoration]], during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.

Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the great power of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with [[Pope Adrian IV]] and the resurgent [[Greek East and Latin West|West]]. He invaded the Norman [[Kingdom of Sicily]], although unsuccessfully, being the last Eastern Roman emperor to attempt reconquests in the western [[Mediterranean]]. The passage of the potentially dangerous [[Second Crusade]] through his empire was adroitly managed. Manuel [[#Manuel in Antioch|established a Byzantine protectorate]] over the [[Crusader states]] of [[Outremer]]. Facing [[Muslim]] advances in the [[Holy Land]], he made common cause with the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] and [[Crusader invasions of Egypt|participated in a combined invasion]] of [[Fatimid]] [[Egypt]]. Manuel reshaped the political maps of the [[Balkans]] and the eastern Mediterranean, placing the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and Outremer under Byzantine [[hegemony]] and campaigning aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east.

However, towards the end of his reign, Manuel's achievements in the east were compromised by a serious [[Battle of Myriokephalon|defeat at Myriokephalon]], which in large part resulted from his arrogance in attacking a well-defended [[Seljuk Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk]] position. Although the [[Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir|Byzantines recovered]] and Manuel concluded an advantageous peace with Sultan [[Kilij Arslan II]], Myriokephalon proved to be the final, unsuccessful effort by the empire to recover the interior of [[Anatolia]] from the [[Turkish people|Turks]].

Called ''ho Megas'' ({{lang|grc|ὁ Μέγας}}, translated as "[[the Great]]") by the [[Greeks]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}, Manuel is known to have inspired intense loyalty in those who served him. He also appears as the hero of a history written by his secretary, [[John Kinnamos]], in which every virtue is attributed to him. Manuel, who was influenced by his contact with western Crusaders, enjoyed the reputation of "the most blessed emperor of [[Constantinople]]" in parts of the [[Western Christianity|Latin world]] as well.<ref name="M3">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 3</ref> Some historians have been less enthusiastic about him, however, asserting that the great power he wielded was not his own personal achievement, but that of the [[Komnenos]] dynasty he represented. Further, it has also been argued that since Byzantine imperial power declined catastrophically after Manuel's death, it is only natural to look for the causes of this decline in his reign.<ref name="M3-4">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 3–4</ref>

==Youth==
Manuel Komnenos was born on 28 November 1118{{sfn|Lau|2023|p=64}} in the [[Purple Chamber]] of the [[Great Palace of Constantinople]].{{sfn|Magdalino|1993|p=434}} He was the eighth child and fourth son of [[John II Komnenos]], the newly-crowned [[Byzantine emperor|emperor]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]], and [[Irene of Hungary]].{{sfn|Lau|2023|p=64}} Manuel's eldest brother, [[Alexios Komnenos (co-emperor)|Alexios]], was crowned co-emperor, and [[Niketas Choniates]] narrates that in 1123 John raised Manuel and Manuel's other older brothers, [[Andronikos Komnenos (son of John II)|Andronikos]] and [[Isaac Komnenos (son of John II)|Isaac]], to the rank of ''[[sebastokrator]]es''.{{sfn|Lau|2023|p=123}}

Manuel was raised alongside his cousin [[Andronikos I Komnenos|Andronikos]], with whom he became close.{{sfn|Magdalino|1993|p=197}} He did not receive a formal education,{{sfn|Magdalino|1993|p=468}} and was trained to be a soldier.{{sfn|Magdalino|1993|p=436}} He accompanied his father on military expeditions against the Anatolian Turks. On one occasion he led his personal attendants in a counterattack, which reversed the course of an engagement which was favouring the enemy. This occurred during the unsuccessful Siege of [[Neocaesarea]] (1140), against the [[Danishmendid]] Turks. Manuel favourably impressed his father by his courage and fortitude, John praising him as the 'Saviour of the Romans', though he also criticised his rashness.<ref> Kinnamos, pp. 25-26</ref>

As part of his policy concerning the [[crusader states]], John II groomed Manuel to marry Princess [[Constance of Antioch]]. John hoped that Manuel would become the master of a large domain, consisting of [[Attalia]], [[Cyprus]], [[Cilicia]] and [[Antioch]]. The Antiochenes, though ready to swear fealty to the Byzantine emperor, proved reluctant to accept any real level of Byzantine control.<ref>Magdalino, pp. 39-41</ref> Manuel's eldest brothers, Alexios and Andronikos, died in 1142.{{sfn|Lau|2023|p=261}}

==Accession==
[[Image:BN MS FR 2628 Folio134 Comnenus.png|thumb|Death of John II Komnenos, and crowning of Manuel I Komnenos (from the Manuscript of [[William of Tyre]]'s ''Historia'' and ''Old French Continuation'', painted in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], 13th century, [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]])]]
In 1143 John II lay dying as a result of an infected wound; on his deathbed he chose Manuel as his successor, in preference to his elder surviving brother [[Isaac Komnenos (son of John II)|Isaac]]. John cited Manuel's courage and readiness to take advice, in contrast to Isaac's irascibility and unbending pride, as the reasons for his choice. After John died on 8 April 1143,<ref>[[John Kinnamos]] ({{Circa}} 1118) [[iarchive:bub_gb_CSIAAAAAYAAJ/page/n55/mode/2up|''History'' I.10.]] [[Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae]] '''XIII'''. "Ioannes post diebus moritus... octavo die mensis".</ref>  Manuel was acclaimed emperor by the armies.<ref name="Gib72">Gibbon, ''The decline and fall of the Roman Empire'', 72</ref> Yet his succession was by no means assured: with his father's army in the wilds of [[Cilicia]] far from Constantinople, he recognised that it was vital he should return to the capital as soon as possible. He still had to take care of his father's funeral, and tradition demanded he organise the foundation of a monastery on the spot where his father died. Swiftly, he dispatched the ''[[megas domestikos]]'' [[John Axouch]] ahead of him, with orders to arrest his most dangerous potential rival, his brother Isaac, who was living in the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]] with instant access to the imperial treasure and regalia. Axouch arrived in the capital even before news of the emperor's death had reached it. He quickly secured the loyalty of the city, and when Manuel entered the capital in August 1143, he was [[coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned]] by the new [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarch]], [[Michael II Kourkouas]]. A few days later, with nothing more to fear as his position as emperor was now secure, Manuel ordered the release of Isaac.<ref name="NGS">Gibbon, ''The decline and fall of the Roman Empire'', 72<br/>* J. H. Norwich, ''A short history of Byzantium''<br/>* A. Stone, [http://www.roman-emperors.org/mannycom.htm Manuel I Comnenus]</ref> Then he ordered two golden pieces to be given to every householder in Constantinople and 200 pounds of gold (including 200 silver pieces annually) to be given to the Byzantine Church.<ref name="gold">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 87–88</ref>

The empire that Manuel inherited from his father was in a more stable position than it had been a century earlier. In the late 11th century, the Byzantine Empire had faced marked military and political decline, but this decline had been arrested and largely reversed by the leadership of Manuel's grandfather and father. Nevertheless, the empire continued to face formidable challenges. By 1071, the [[Normans]] of [[Sicily]] had removed southern Italy from the control of the Byzantine emperor. Following the [[Battle of Manzikert]], also in 1071, the Seljuk Turks had done the same with most of [[Anatolia]], retaining control of the central plateau thereafter. And in the [[Levant]], a new force had appeared—the [[Crusader states]]—which presented the Byzantine Empire with new challenges. Now, more than at any time during the preceding centuries, the task facing the emperor was daunting indeed.<ref name="PLBr">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantium|encyclopedia=Papyros-Larousse-Britannica|year=2006}}</ref>

==Second Crusade and Raynald of Châtillon==
{{details|Second Crusade}}

===Prince of Antioch===
[[Image:Map Crusader states 1135-en.svg|thumb|The County of Edessa in the context of the other states of the [[Near East]] in 1135]]
The first test of Manuel's reign came in 1144, when he was faced with a demand by [[Raymond of Poitiers|Raymond]], [[Prince of Antioch]], for the cession of [[Cilicia|Cilician]] territories. However, later that year the crusader [[County of Edessa]] was engulfed by the tide of a resurgent Islamic [[jihad]] under [[Imad al-Din Zengi|Imad ad-Din Zengi]]. Raymond realized that immediate help from the west was out of the question. With his eastern flank now dangerously exposed to this new threat, there seemed little option but for him to prepare for a humiliating visit to Constantinople. Swallowing his pride, he made the journey north to submit to Manuel and ask for protection. He was promised the support that he had requested, and his allegiance to Byzantium was secured.<ref name="M173">J. Cinnamus, ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', 33–35<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 40</ref>

===Expedition against Konya===
In 1146 Manuel assembled his army at the military base [[Lopadion]] and set out on a [[punitive expedition]] against [[Mesud I|Mas'ud]], the Sultan of [[Sultanate of Rum|Rûm]], who had been repeatedly violating the frontiers of the Empire in western [[Anatolia]] and [[Cilicia]].<ref name="Tread640">W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 640</ref> There was no attempt at a systematic conquest of territory, but Manuel's army defeated the Turks at [[Afyonkarahisar|Acroënus]], before capturing and destroying the fortified town of [[Philomelion]], removing its remaining Christian population.<ref name="Tread640"/> The Byzantine forces reached Masud's capital, [[Konya]] (Iconium), and ravaged the area around the city, but could not assault its walls. Among Manuel's motives for mounting this [[Razzia (military)|razzia]] there included a wish to be seen in the West as actively espousing the crusading ideal; [[John Kinnamos|Kinnamos]] also attributed to Manuel a desire to show off his martial prowess to his new bride.<ref>J. Cinnamus, ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', 47<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 42</ref> While on this campaign Manuel received a letter from [[Louis VII of France]] announcing his intention of leading an army to the relief of the crusader states.<ref>Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', p. 42</ref>

===Arrival of the Crusaders===
[[Image:Arrivée des croisés à Constantinople.jpg|thumb|left|Arrival of the Second Crusade before Constantinople, portrayed in Jean Fouquet's painting from around 1455–1460, ''Arrivée des croisés à Constantinople''.]]

Manuel was prevented from capitalising on his conquests by events in the Balkans that urgently required his presence. In 1147 he granted a passage through his dominions to two armies of the Second Crusade under [[Conrad III of Germany]] and [[Louis VII of France]]. At this time, there were still members of the Byzantine court who remembered the passage of the [[First Crusade]], a defining event in the collective memory of the age that had fascinated Manuel's aunt, [[Anna Komnene]].<ref name="AC333">A. Komnene, ''The Alexiad'', 333</ref>

Many Byzantines feared the Crusade, a view endorsed by the numerous acts of vandalism and theft practised by the unruly armies as they marched through Byzantine territory. Byzantine troops followed the Crusaders, attempting to police their behaviour, and further troops were assembled in Constantinople, ready to defend the capital against any acts of aggression. This cautious approach was well advised, but still the numerous incidents of covert and open hostility between the Franks and the Greeks on their line of march, for which it seems both sides were to blame, precipitated conflict between Manuel and his guests. Manuel took the precaution—which his grandfather had not taken—of making repairs to the [[Walls of Constantinople|city walls]], and he pressed the two kings for guarantees concerning the security of his territories. Conrad's army was the first to enter the Byzantine territory in the summer of 1147, and it figures more prominently in the Byzantine sources, which imply that it was the more troublesome of the two.{{Cref|a}} Indeed, the contemporary Byzantine historian [[Kinnamos]] describes a full-scale [[Battle of Constantinople (1147)|clash]] between a Byzantine force and part of Conrad's army, outside the walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines defeated the Germans and, in Byzantine eyes, this reverse caused Conrad to agree to have his army speedily ferried across to [[Üsküdar|Damalis]] on the Asian shore of the Bosphoros.<ref>Kinnamos, pp. 65–67</ref><ref>Birkenmeier, p. 110</ref>

After 1147, however, the relations between the two leaders became friendlier. By 1148 Manuel had seen the wisdom of securing an alliance with Conrad, whose sister-in-law [[Bertha of Sulzbach]] he had earlier married; he actually persuaded the German king to renew their alliance against [[Roger II of Sicily]].<ref name="M621">P. Magdalino, ''The Byzantine Empire'', 621</ref> Unfortunately for the Byzantine emperor, Conrad died in 1152, and despite repeated attempts, Manuel could not reach an agreement with his successor, [[Frederick Barbarossa]].{{Cref|b}}

===Cyprus invaded===
[[Image:Image-Manuel-Pope.jpg|thumb|right|Letter by Manuel I Komnenos to [[Pope Eugene III]] on the issue of the crusades ([[Constantinople]], 1146, [[Vatican Secret Archives]]): with this document, the Emperor answers a previous papal letter asking [[Louis VII of France]] to free the [[Holy Land]] and reconquer [[Edessa]]. Manuel answers that he is willing to receive the French army and to support it, but he complains about receiving the letter from an envoy of the [[King of France]] and not from an ambassador sent by the Pope.<ref name="Vat">
[http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1146.htm Letter by the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202070010/http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1146.htm |date=2 February 2007 }}, Vatican Secret Archives.
</ref>]]

Manuel's attention was again drawn to Antioch in 1156, when [[Raynald of Châtillon]], the new Prince of Antioch, claimed that the Byzantine emperor had reneged on his promise to pay him a sum of money and vowed to attack the Byzantine province of [[Cyprus]].<ref name="R238">P. P. Read, ''The Templars'', 238</ref> Raynald arrested the governor of the island, John Komnenos, who was a nephew of Manuel, and the general Michael Branas.<ref name="R239">P. P. Read, ''The Templars'', 239</ref> The Latin historian [[William of Tyre]] deplored this act of war against fellow Christians and described the atrocities committed by Raynald's men in considerable detail.<ref>William of Tyre, ''Historia'', XVIII, [http://thelatinlibrary.com/williamtyre/18.html#10 10]</ref> Having ransacked the island and plundered all its wealth, Raynald's army mutilated the survivors before forcing them to buy back their flocks at exorbitant prices with what little they had left. Thus enriched with enough booty to make Antioch wealthy for years, the invaders boarded their ships and set sail for home.<ref>[[Carole Hillenbrand|C. Hillenbrand]], ''The Imprisonment of Raynald of Châtillon'', 80<br/>* T. F. Madden, ''The New Concise History of the Crusades'', 65</ref> Raynald also sent some of the mutilated hostages to Constantinople as a vivid demonstration of his disobedience and his contempt for the Byzantine emperor.<ref name="R239"/>

Manuel responded to this outrage in a characteristically energetic way. In the winter of 1158–59, he marched to Cilicia at the head of a huge army; the speed of his advance (Manuel had hurried on ahead of the main army with 500 cavalry) was such that he managed to surprise the [[Armenians|Armenian]] [[Thoros II, Prince of Armenia|Thoros of Cilicia]], who had participated in the attack on Cyprus.<ref name="M67">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 67</ref> Thoros fled into the mountains, and Cilicia swiftly fell to Manuel.<ref>Jeffreys, Elizabeth; Jeffreys, Michael (2015) "A Constantinopolitan Poet Views Frankish Antioch". In: Chrissis, Nikolaos G.; Kedar, Benjamin Z.; Phillips, Jonathan (eds.) ''Crusades'', Ashgate, {{ISBN|978-1-472-46841-3}}, vol. 14, p. 53</ref>

===Manuel in Antioch===
Meanwhile, news of the advance of the [[Byzantine army (Komnenian era)|Byzantine army]] soon reached Antioch. Raynald knew that he had no hope of defeating the emperor, and in addition knew that he could not expect any aid from King [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem]]. Baldwin did not approve of Raynald's attack on Cyprus, and in any case had already made an agreement with Manuel. Thus isolated and abandoned by his allies, Raynald decided that abject submission was his only hope. He appeared dressed in a sack with a rope tied around his neck, and begged for forgiveness. Manuel at first ignored the prostrate Raynald, chatting with his courtiers; William of Tyre commented that this ignominious scene continued for so long that all present were "disgusted" by it.<ref>B. Hamilton, ''William of Tyre and the Byzantine Empire'', 226<br/>* William of Tyre, ''Historia'', XVIII, [http://thelatinlibrary.com/williamtyre/18.html#23 23]</ref> Eventually, Manuel forgave Raynald on condition that he would become a vassal of the Empire, effectively surrendering the independence of Antioch to Byzantium.<ref name="Stone"/> Coming before Manuel as a supplicant Raynald limited the emperor's options for punishment, and by submitting to Byzantium, the increasing pressure on Antioch from Baldwin III was relieved.{{sfn|Buck|2015|p=109-15}} 

[[File:Principality of Antioch under byzantine protection.png|thumb|left|Antioch under Byzantine protection (1159–1180){{sfn|Muir|1963|p=16}}{{sfn|Angold|1997|loc=map 3}}]]

Peace having been restored, a grand ceremonial procession was staged on 12 April 1159 for the triumphant entry of the Byzantine army into the city, with Manuel riding through the streets on horseback, while the Prince of Antioch and the [[King of Jerusalem]] followed on foot. Manuel dispensed justice to the citizens and presided over games and tournaments for the crowd. In May, at the head of a united Christian army, he started on the road to Edessa, but he abandoned the campaign when he secured the release by [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Nur ad-Din]], the ruler of [[Syria]], of 6,000 Christian prisoners captured in various battles since the second Crusade.<ref name=Norwich>Z. N. Brooke, ''A History of Europe, from 911 to 1198'', 482<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 67<br/>* J. H. Norwich, ''A short history of Byzantium''</ref> Despite the glorious end of the expedition, modern scholars argue that Manuel ultimately achieved much less than he had desired in terms of imperial restoration.{{Cref|c}}

Upon hearing rumours of conspiracies, Manuel headed back to Constantinople at a rush. He attempted to negotiate passage through the Sultanate of Rum but this was denied by Kilij Arslan II. Manuel proceeded anyway and when the army was nearly back in Byzantine territory near Kotyaion, the army was attacked by Seljuk forces. Manuel's passage through Seljuk territory started the 1159-1160 Seljuk-Byzantine war, and may have been intended to force the relatively new sultan into a client relationship with the empire.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|p=47-66}}

==Italian campaign==

===Roger II of Sicily===
[[File:Southern Italy 1112.svg|thumb|Southern Italy in 1112, at the time of Roger II's coming of age, showing the major states and cities. The border of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] in 1154, at the time of Roger's death, is shown by a thicker black line encircling most of southern Italy.]]

In 1147 Manuel was faced with war by [[Roger II of Sicily]], whose fleet had captured the Byzantine island of [[Corfu]] and plundered [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] and [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]]. However, despite being distracted by a [[Cuman]] attack in the Balkans, in 1148 Manuel enlisted the alliance of [[Conrad III of Germany]], and the help of the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]], who quickly defeated Roger with their powerful fleet. In 1149, Manuel recovered Corfu and prepared to take the offensive against the Normans, while Roger II sent [[George of Antioch]] with a fleet of 40 ships to pillage Constantinople's suburbs.<ref name="Nor">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 98 and 103</ref> Manuel had already agreed with Conrad on a joint invasion and partition of southern Italy and Sicily. The renewal of the German alliance remained the principal orientation of Manuel's foreign policy for the rest of his reign, despite the gradual divergence of interests between the two empires after Conrad's death.<ref name="M621"/>

Roger died in February 1154 and was succeeded by [[William I of Sicily|William I]], who faced widespread rebellions against his rule in [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] and [[Apulia]], leading to the presence of Apulian refugees at the Byzantine court. Conrad's successor, [[Frederick Barbarossa]], launched a campaign against the Normans, but his expedition stalled. These developments encouraged Manuel to take advantage of the multiple instabilities on the [[Italian peninsula]].<ref name="D122">J. Duggan, ''The Pope and the Princes'', 122</ref> He sent [[Michael Palaiologos (general)|Michael Palaiologos]] and [[John Doukas (megas hetaireiarches)|John Doukas]], both of whom held the high imperial rank of ''[[sebastos]]'', with Byzantine troops, ten ships and large quantities of gold to invade Apulia in 1155.<ref>J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 114<br/>* J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 112</ref> The two generals were instructed to enlist the support of Frederick, but he declined because his demoralised army longed to get back north of the Alps as soon as possible.{{Cref|b}} Nevertheless, with the help of disaffected local barons, including Count [[Robert II of Bassunvilla|Robert of Loritello]], Manuel's expedition achieved astonishingly rapid progress as the whole of [[southern Italy]] rose up in rebellion against the Sicilian Crown and the untried William I.<ref name="M621"/> There followed a string of spectacular successes as numerous strongholds yielded either to force or the lure of gold.<ref name=Norwich/>

===Papal-Byzantine alliance===
The city of [[Bari]], which had been the capital of the Byzantine [[Catapanate of Italy]] for centuries before the arrival of the Normans, opened its gates to the Emperor's army, and the overjoyed citizens tore down the Norman citadel. After the fall of Bari, the cities of [[Trani, Apulia|Trani]], [[Giovinazzo]], [[Andria]], [[Taranto]] and [[Brindisi]] were also captured. William arrived with his army, including 2,000 knights, but was heavily defeated.<ref name="N112-113">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 112–113</ref>

Encouraged by the success, Manuel dreamed of the restoration of the Roman Empire, at the cost of union between the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] and the [[Catholic Church]], a prospect which would frequently be offered to the Pope during negotiations and plans for alliance.<ref name="Vas7">[[Alexander Vasiliev (historian)|A. A. Vasiliev]], ''History of the Byzantine Empire'', [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P1A.HTM VII]</ref> If there was ever a chance of reuniting the eastern and western churches, and coming to reconciliation with the Pope permanently, this was probably the most favourable moment. The [[Papacy]] was never on good terms with the Normans, except when under duress by the threat of direct military action. Having the "civilised" Byzantines on its southern border was infinitely preferable to the Papacy than having to constantly deal with the troublesome Normans of Sicily. It was in the interest of [[Pope Adrian IV]] to reach a deal if at all possible, since doing so would greatly increase his own influence over the entire Orthodox Christian population. Manuel offered a large sum of money to the Pope for the provision of troops, with the request that the Pope grant the Byzantine emperor lordship of three maritime cities in return for assistance in expelling William from Sicily. Manuel also promised to pay 5,000 pounds of gold to the Pope and the [[Papal Curia|Curia]].<ref name="W18-2">William of Tyre, ''Historia'', XVIII, [http://thelatinlibrary.com/williamtyre/18.html#2 2]</ref> Negotiations were hurriedly carried out, and an alliance was formed between Manuel and Hadrian.<ref name="D122"/>

{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | "Alexios Komnenos and Doukas ... had become captive to the Normans' lord [and] again ruined matters. For as they had already pledged to the Sicilians many things not then desired by the emperor, they robbed the Romans of very great and noble achievements. [They] ... very likely deprived the Roman of the cities too soon."
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | '''''John Cinnamus'''''<ref>J. Cinnamus, ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', 172</ref>
|}

At this point, just as the war seemed decided in his favour, events turned against Manuel. Byzantine commander Michael Palaiologos alienated allies with his attitude, stalling the campaign as Count [[Robert III of Loritello]] refused to speak to him. Although the two were reconciled, the campaign had lost some of its momentum: Michael was soon recalled to Constantinople, and his loss was a major blow to the campaign. The turning point was the [[Battle of Brindisi (1156)|Battle of Brindisi]], where the Normans launched a major counter-attack by both land and sea. At the approach of the enemy, the mercenaries that had been hired with Manuel's gold demanded huge increases in their pay. When this was refused, they deserted. Even the local barons started to melt away, and soon John Doukas was left hopelessly outnumbered. The arrival of [[Alexios Komnenos Bryennios]] with some ships failed to retrieve the Byzantine position.{{Cref|d}} The naval battle was decided in favour of the Normans, while John Doukas and Alexios Bryennios (along with four Byzantine ships) were captured.<ref name="B115">J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 115<br/>* J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 115</ref> Manuel then sent [[Alexios Axouch]] to [[Ancona]] to raise another army, but by this time William had already retaken all of the Byzantine conquests in Apulia. The defeat at Brindisi put an end to the restored Byzantine reign in Italy; in 1158 the Byzantine army left Italy and never returned again.<ref>J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 115–116<br/>* A. A. Vasiliev, ''History of the Byzantine Empire'', [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P1A.HTM VII]</ref> Both [[Nicetas Choniates]] and Kinnamos, the major Byzantine historians of this period, agree, however, that the peace terms Axouch secured from William allowed Manuel to extricate himself from the war with dignity, despite a devastating raid by a Norman fleet of 164 ships (carrying 10,000 men) on [[Euboea]] and [[Almyros|Almira]] in 1156.<ref name="M61J">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 116<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 61</ref>

===Failure of the Church union===
[[File:Adrian IV, servus servorum dei (cropped).png|thumb|left|upright|[[Pope Adrian IV]], who negotiated with Manuel against the Norman king [[William I of Sicily]]]]

During the Italian campaign, and afterwards, during the struggle of the Papal Curia with Frederick, Manuel tried to sway the popes with hints of a possible union between the Eastern and Western churches. Although in 1155 [[Pope Adrian IV]] had expressed his eagerness to prompt the reunion of the churches,{{Cref|e}} hopes for a lasting Papal-Byzantine alliance came up against insuperable problems. Adrian IV and his successors demanded recognition of their religious authority over all Christians everywhere and sought superiority over the Byzantine emperor; they were not at all willing to fall into a state of dependence from one emperor to the other.<ref name="Vas7"/> Manuel, on the other hand, wanted an official recognition of his secular authority over both East and West.<ref>J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 114</ref> Such conditions would not be accepted by either side. Even if a pro-western emperor such as Manuel agreed, the Greek citizens of the empire would have rejected outright any union of this sort, as they did almost three hundred years later when the Orthodox and Catholic churches were briefly united under the pope. In spite of his friendliness towards the Roman Church and his cordial relations with all the popes, Manuel was never honoured with the title of ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'' by the popes. And although he twice sent embassies to [[Pope Alexander III]] (in 1167 and 1169) offering to reunite the Greek and Latin churches, Alexander refused, under pretext of the troubles that would follow union.<ref name="AGB">Abbé Guettée, ''The Papacy'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20040322110754/http://www.geocities.com/trvalentine/orthodox/guettee10.html Chapter VII]<br/>* J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 114</ref>

The final results of the Italian campaign were limited in terms of the advantages gained by the Empire. The city of Ancona became a Byzantine base in Italy, accepting Manuel as sovereign. The Normans of Sicily had been damaged and now came to terms with the Empire, ensuring peace for the rest of Manuel's reign. The Empire's ability to get involved in Italian affairs had been demonstrated. However, given the enormous quantities of gold which had been lavished on the project, it also demonstrated the limits of what money and diplomacy alone could achieve. The expense of Manuel's involvement in Italy must have cost the treasury a great deal (probably more than 2.16 million ''hyperpyra'' or 30,000 pounds of gold), and yet it produced only limited solid gains.<ref name="B116">J. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 116</ref><ref name="Tread643">W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 643</ref>

===Byzantine policy in Italy after 1158===
[[Image:B alexander III2.jpg|thumb|Frederick Barbarossa submits to the authority of Pope Alexander III after his defeat at the [[Battle of Legnano]] ([[fresco]] in the Palazzo Pubblico in [[Siena]], by [[Spinello Aretino]]).]]

After 1158, under the new conditions, the aims of the Byzantine policy changed. Manuel now decided to oppose the objective of the [[Hohenstaufen]] dynasty to directly annex Italy, which Frederick believed should acknowledge his power. When the war between [[Frederick Barbarossa]] and the northern [[Italian commune]]s started, Manuel actively supported the [[Lombard League]] with money subsidies, agents, and, occasionally, troops.<ref name="ReferenceA">Rogers, Clifford J, ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: Vol. 1.'', 290</ref> The walls of [[Milan]], demolished by the Germans, were restored with Manuel's aid.<ref name="MV84">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 84<br/>* A. A. Vasiliev, ''History of the Byzantine Empire'', [http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0832/_P1A.HTM VII]</ref> Ancona remained important as a centre of Byzantine influence in Italy. The Anconitans made a voluntary submission to Manuel, and the Byzantines maintained representatives in the city.<ref>Abulafia, D. (1984) ''Ancona, Byzantium and the Adriatic, 1155–1173'', Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 52, pp. 195–216, 211</ref> Frederick's defeat at the [[Battle of Legnano]], on 29 May 1176, seemed rather to improve Manuel's position in Italy. According to Kinnamos, [[Cremona]], [[Pavia]] and a number of other "[[Liguria]]n" cities went over to Manuel;<ref name="M84">J. Cinnamus, ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', 231<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 84</ref> his relations were also particularly favourable in regard to [[Genoa]] and [[Pisa]], but not to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. In March 1171 Manuel had suddenly broken with Venice, ordering all 20,000 Venetians on imperial territory to be arrested and their property confiscated.<ref name="MV93">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 93</ref> Venice, incensed, [[Byzantine–Venetian war of 1171|sent a fleet of 120 ships]] against Byzantium. Due to an epidemic, and pursued by 150 Byzantine ships, the fleet was forced to return without great success.<ref name="Nor4">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall'', 131</ref> In all probability, friendly relations between Byzantium and Venice were not restored in Manuel's lifetime.<ref name="Vas7"/>

==Balkan frontier==
On his northern frontier Manuel expended considerable effort to preserve the conquests made by [[Basil II]] over one hundred years earlier and maintained, sometimes tenuously, ever since. Due to distraction from his neighbours on the [[Balkans|Balkan frontier]], Manuel was kept from his main objective, the subjugation of the Normans of Sicily. Relations had been good with the [[Serbs]] and [[Hungarians]] since 1129, so the Serb rebellion came as a shock. The Serbs of [[Grand Principality of Serbia|Rascia]], being so induced by Roger II of Sicily, invaded Byzantine territory in 1149.<ref name="Stone"/>

[[Image:Hyperpyron-Manuel I-sb1965.jpg|thumb|A ''[[hyperpyron]]'', a Byzantine gold coin, issued by Manuel. One side of the coin (left image) depicts Christ. The other side depicts Manuel (right image).]]

Manuel forced the rebellious Serbs, and their leader, Uroš II, to vassalage (1150–1152).<ref name="CSxxiii">Curta, ''Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages'', xxiii</ref> He then made repeated attacks upon the Hungarians with a view to annexing their territory along the [[Sava]]. In the wars of 1151–1153 and 1163–1168 Manuel led his troops into Hungary and a spectacular raid deep into enemy territory yielded substantial war booty. In 1167, Manuel sent 15,000 men under the command of [[Andronikos Kontostephanos]] against the Hungarians,<ref>J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 241</ref> scoring a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Sirmium]] and enabling the Empire to conclude a very advantageous peace with the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] by which [[Syrmia]], [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]] and [[Dalmatia]] were ceded. By 1168 nearly the whole of the eastern Adriatic coast lay in Manuel's hands.<ref name="JWS372">J. W. Sedlar, ''East Central Europe in the Middle Ages'', 372</ref>

Efforts were also made towards a diplomatic annexation of Hungary. The Hungarian heir [[Béla III of Hungary|Béla]], younger brother of the Hungarian king [[Stephen III of Hungary|Stephen III]], was sent to Constantinople to be educated in the emperor's court. Manuel intended the youth to marry his daughter, [[Maria Komnene (daughter of Manuel I)|Maria]], and to make him his heir, thus securing the union of Hungary with the Empire. At court Béla assumed the name Alexius and received the title of ''[[Despotism|despot]]'', which had previously been applied only to the emperor himself. However, two unforeseen dynastic events drastically altered the situation. In 1169, Manuel's young wife gave birth to a son, thus depriving Béla of his status as heir of the Byzantine throne (although Manuel would not renounce the Croatian lands he had taken from Hungary). Then, in 1172, Stephen died childless, and Béla went home to take his throne. Before leaving Constantinople, he swore a solemn oath to Manuel that he would always "keep in mind the interests of the emperor and of the Romans". Béla III kept his word: as long as Manuel lived, he made no attempt to retrieve his Croatian inheritance, which he only afterwards reincorporated into Hungary.<ref name="JWS372"/>

==Relations with Kievan Rus' (Russia)==
Manuel Komnenos attempted to draw the Russian principalities into his net of diplomacy directed against Hungary, and to a lesser extent Norman Sicily. This polarised the Russian princes into pro- and anti-Byzantine camps. In the late 1140s three princes were competing for primacy in Russia: prince [[Iziaslav II of Kiev]] was related to [[Géza II of Hungary]] and was hostile to Byzantium; Prince [[Yuri Dolgoruki]] of [[Suzdal]] was Manuel's ally (''symmachos''), and [[Volodymyrko Volodarovych|Vladimirko]] of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] ([[Principality of Halych]]) is described as Manuel's vassal (''hypospondos''). Galicia was situated on the northern and north-eastern borders of Hungary and, therefore, was of great strategic importance in the Byzantine-Hungarian conflicts. Following the deaths of both Iziaslav and Vladimirko, the situation became reversed; when Yuri of Suzdal, Manuel's ally, took over [[Kiev]] and [[Yaroslav Osmomysl|Yaroslav]], the new ruler of Galicia, adopted a pro-Hungarian stance.<ref>D. Obolensky, ''The Byzantine Commonwealth'', 299–300.</ref>

In 1164–65 Manuel's cousin [[Andronikos I Komnenos|Andronikos]], the future emperor, escaped from captivity in Byzantium and fled to the court of Yaroslav in Galicia. This situation, holding out the alarming prospect of Andronikos making a bid for Manuel's throne sponsored by both Galicia and Hungary, spurred the Byzantines into an unprecedented flurry of diplomacy. Manuel pardoned Andronikos and persuaded him to return to Constantinople in 1165. A mission to Kiev, then ruled by Prince [[Rostislav I of Kiev|Rostislav]], resulted in a favourable treaty and a pledge to supply the Empire with auxiliary troops; Yaroslav of Galicia was also persuaded to renounce his Hungarian connections and return fully into the imperial fold. As late as 1200 the princes of Galicia were providing invaluable services against the enemies of the Empire, at that time the [[Cumans]].<ref>D. Obolensky, ''The Byzantine Commonwealth'', 300–302.</ref>

The restoration of relations with Galicia had an immediate benefit for Manuel when, in 1166, he dispatched two armies to attack the eastern provinces of Hungary in a vast pincer movement. One army crossed the [[Walachian Plain]] and entered Hungary through the Transylvanian Alps ([[Southern Carpathians]]), while the other army made a wide circuit to Galicia and, with Galician aid, crossed the [[Carpathian Mountains]]. Since the Hungarians had most of their forces concentrated on the [[Sirmium]] and [[Belgrade]] frontier, they were caught off guard by the Byzantine invasion; this resulted in the Hungarian province of [[Transylvania]] being thoroughly ravaged by the Byzantine armies.<ref>M. Angold, ''The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204'', 177.</ref>

==Invasion of Egypt==

===Alliance with the Kingdom of Jerusalem===
[[File:Maria Comnena and Amalric I of Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|left|The marriage of Amalric I of Jerusalem and Maria Comnena at [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in 1167 (from a manuscript of [[William of Tyre]]'s ''Historia'', painted in Paris c. 1295 – 1300, ''Bibliothèque Municipale'', [[Épinal]]).]]

Control of Egypt was a decades-old dream of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and its king [[Amalric of Jerusalem|Amalric I]] needed all the military and financial support he could get for his planned campaign.<ref name="M73">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 73</ref> Amalric also realised that if he were to pursue his ambitions in Egypt, he might have to leave Antioch to the hegemony of Manuel, who had paid 100,000 [[dinar]]s for the release of [[Bohemond III]].<ref>J. Harris, ''Byzantium and The Crusades'', 107</ref><ref name="MR73">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 73<br/>* J. G. Rowe, ''Alexander III and the Jerusalem Crusade'', 117</ref> In 1165, he sent envoys to the Byzantine court to negotiate a marriage alliance (Manuel had already married Amalric's cousin [[Maria of Antioch]] in 1161).<ref name="M74">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 74</ref> After a long interval of two years, Amalric married Manuel's grandniece [[Maria Komnene, Queen consort of Jerusalem|Maria Komnene]] in 1167, and "swore all that his brother Baldwin had sworn before."{{Cref|f}} A formal alliance was negotiated in 1168, whereby the two rulers arranged for a conquest and partition of Egypt, with Manuel taking the coastal area, and Amalric the interior. In the autumn of 1169 Manuel sent a joint expedition with Amalric to Egypt: a Byzantine army and a naval force of 20 large [[warship]]s, 150 [[galley]]s, and 60 [[Horse transports in the Middle Ages|transports]], under the command of the ''[[megas doux]]'' Andronikos Kontostephanos, joined forces with Amalric at [[Ascalon]].<ref name="M74"/><ref name="fleet">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 158</ref> William of Tyre, who negotiated the alliance, was impressed in particular by the large transport ships that were used to transport the cavalry forces of the army.<ref name=William>William of Tyre, ''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea''</ref>

Although such a long-range attack on a state far from the centre of the Empire may seem extraordinary (the last time the Empire had attempted anything on this scale was the failed invasion of Sicily over one hundred and twenty years earlier), it can be explained in terms of Manuel's foreign policy, which was to use the Latins to ensure the survival of the Empire. This focus on the bigger picture of the eastern Mediterranean and even further afield thus led Manuel to intervene in Egypt: it was believed that in the context of the wider struggle between the crusader states and the [[Islam]]ic powers of the east, control of Egypt would be the deciding factor. It had become clear that the ailing [[Fatimid]] [[Caliphate]] of Egypt held the key to the fate of the crusader states. If Egypt came out of its isolation and joined forces with the Muslims under Nur ad-Din, the crusader cause was in trouble.<ref name="M73"/>

A successful invasion of Egypt would have several further advantages for the Byzantine Empire. Egypt was a rich province, and in the days of the Roman Empire it had supplied much of the grain for Constantinople before it was lost to the [[Arabs]] in the 7th century. The revenues that the Empire could have expected to gain from the conquest of Egypt would have been considerable, even if these would have to be shared with the Crusaders. Furthermore, Manuel may have wanted to encourage Amalric's plans, not only to deflect the ambitions of the Latins away from Antioch, but also to create new opportunities for joint military ventures that would keep the King of Jerusalem in his debt, and would also allow the Empire to share in territorial gains.<ref name="M73"/>

===Failure of the expedition===
[[Image:BN MS FR 2628 Folio205 Amalric and Manuel.png|thumb|Manuel and the envoys of Amalric – arrival of the crusaders in [[Pelusium]] (from the Manuscript of [[William of Tyre]]'s ''Historia'' and ''Old French Continuation'', painted in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], 13th century, [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]).]]

The joined forces of Manuel and Amalric laid siege to [[Damietta]] on 27 October 1169, but the siege was unsuccessful due to the failure of the Crusaders and the Byzantines to co-operate fully.<ref name="R84-86">R. Rogers, ''Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century'', 84–86</ref> According to Byzantine forces, Amalric, not wanting to share the profits of victory, dragged out the operation until the emperor's men ran short of provisions and were particularly affected by famine; Amalric then launched an assault, which he promptly aborted by negotiating a truce with the defenders. On the other hand, William of Tyre remarked that the Greeks were not entirely blameless.<ref>William of Tyre, ''Historia'', XX [http://thelatinlibrary.com/williamtyre/20.html#15 15–17]</ref> Whatever the truth of the allegations of both sides, when the rains came, both the Latin army and the Byzantine fleet returned home, although half of the Byzantine fleet was lost in a sudden storm.<ref name="TM68">T. F. Madden, ''The New Concise History of the Crusades'', 68</ref>

Despite the bad feelings generated at Damietta, Amalric still refused to abandon his dream of conquering Egypt, and he continued to seek good relations with the Byzantines in the hopes of another joined attack, which never took place.<ref name="TM68-69">T. F. Madden, ''The New Concise History of the Crusades'', 68–69</ref> In 1171 Amalric came to Constantinople in person, after Egypt had fallen to [[Saladin]]. Manuel was thus able to organise a grand ceremonial reception which both honoured Amalric and underlined his dependence: for the rest of Amalric's reign, Jerusalem was a Byzantine satellite, and Manuel was able to act as a protector of the Holy Places, exerting a growing influence in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.<ref name="MM75">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 75<br/>* H. E. Mayer, ''The Latin East'', 657</ref> In 1177, a fleet of 150 ships was sent by Manuel I to invade Egypt, but returned home after appearing off Acre due to the refusal of Count [[Philip I, Count of Flanders|Philip of Flanders]] and many important nobles of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]] to help.<ref>J. Harris, ''Byzantium and The Crusades'', 109</ref>

==Kilij Arslan II and the Seljuk Turks==
{{Details|Battle of Myriokephalon}}
[[File:Crusades surprised by turks.jpg|thumb|left|This image by [[Gustave Doré]] shows the Turkish ambush at the pass of Myriokephalon. This ambush destroyed Manuel's hope of capturing Konya]]
Manuel’s father John II Komnenos had kept the [[Sultanate of Rum]] in check and within the Byzantine orbit, although the sultan Mas’ud had become increasingly assertive in the second half of the 1130s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lau |first1=Maximilian C.G. |title=Emperor John II Komnenos: Rebuilding New Rome 1118-1143 |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |pages=92-98, 127-34, 177-86, 248-55}}</ref> Manuel had engaged in a punitive expedition against Konya in 1146 to secure his position as John's successor among the aristocrats and army.{{sfn|Magdalino|1993|p=448-50}} The accession of [[Kilij Arslan II]] to the sultanate in 1156 did not technically change the state of Seljuk submission to the empire, although in practice the new sultan was untried and had yet to come to any agreement with Manuel. Conflict came in 1159. In 1158 Manuel had gone to Antioch. In spring 1159, news of conspiracies in the capital reached the emperor and he decided he had to return. Manuel either had to traverse mountainous [[Isauria]] to get back, or pass through the Sultanate. Manuel sought permission to bring his army back via the faster route through Turkish territory, but Kilij Arslan denied it.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|p=49-51}} Manuel’s army made the march anyway, intending to accomplish two goals at once: re-assert nominal lordship over the sultanate, and return to Constantinople via the faster, easier route. The Turks were taken by surprise, but by the time the army reached the border area around [[Kütahya|Kotyaion]], they were prepared and attacked Manuel’s column.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|p=51-52}} The scale of the attack is impossible to determine, but it was at least significant enough that Manuel felt the need to avenge it. Kilij Arslan dispatched ambassadors to make peace but Manuel rebuffed them and personally led two raids against the Sultanate.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|p=52-53}} The sultan then escalated the conflict by sacking Laodikeia, a key communications hub in the upper Maender valley. Manuel prepared a major campaign to take Konya, and John Kontostephanos was dispatched to raise troops from Cilicia and a nominal contingent from the crusader states. Kontostephanos led these troops against the Sultanate from the south and won a victory. Preferring to leave a compliant Sultanate on the plateau rather than administer it directly, Manuel called off the campaign against Konya and in either 1160 or 1161 Kilij Arslan came to Constantinople to do homage and secure the peace.{{sfn|McMahon|2025|p=53-57}}
Kilij Arslan II used the peace with Byzantium, and the power vacuum caused by the death in 1174 of [[Nur ad-Din Zangi]] the ruler of Syria, to expel the [[Danishmends]] from their Anatolian emirates. When the Seljuk sultan refused to cede some of the territory he had taken from the Danishmends to the Byzantines, as he was obliged to do as part of his treaty obligations, Manuel decided that it was time to deal with the Turks once and for all.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Magdalino, pp. 78 and 95–96</ref><ref name="P140">K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Db, 140</ref> Therefore, he assembled the full imperial army and marched against the Seljuk capital, [[Iconium]] ([[Konya]]).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Manuel's strategy was to prepare the advanced bases of [[Dorylaeum]] and [[Keçiborlu|Sublaeum]], and then to use them to strike as quickly as possible at Iconium.<ref name="JB128">J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 128</ref>

Yet Manuel's army of 35,000 men was large and unwieldy—according to a letter that Manuel sent to King [[Henry II of England]], the advancing column was {{Convert|10|mi|spell=in}} long.<ref>Birkenmeier, p. 132.</ref> Manuel marched against Iconium via [[Laodicea on the Lycus|Laodicea]], [[Chonae]], Lampe, [[Celaenae]], Choma and [[Antioch of Pisidia|Antioch]]. Just outside the entrance to the pass at Myriokephalon, Manuel was met by Turkish ambassadors, who offered peace on generous terms. Most of Manuel's generals and experienced courtiers urged him to accept the offer. The younger and more aggressive members of the court urged Manuel to attack, however, and he took their advice and continued his advance.<ref name=Norwich/>

Manuel made serious tactical errors, such as failing to properly scout out the route ahead.<ref name="JBr176">J. Bradbury, ''Medieval Warfare'', 176</ref> These failings caused him to lead his forces straight into a classic ambush. On 17 September 1176 Manuel was checked by Seljuk Sultan Kilij Arslan II at the Battle of Myriokephalon (in highlands near the Tzibritze pass), in which his army was ambushed while marching through the narrow mountain pass.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="MN102">D. MacGillivray Nicol, ''Byzantium and Venice'', 102</ref> The Byzantines were hemmed in by the narrowness of the pass, which allowed the Seljuks to concentrate their attacks on part of the Byzantine army, especially the baggage and siege train, without the rest being able to intervene.<ref>Haldon 2001, pp. 142–143</ref> The army's siege equipment was quickly destroyed, and Manuel was forced to withdraw—without [[siege engine]]s, the conquest of Iconium was impossible. According to Byzantine sources, Manuel lost his nerve both during and after the battle, fluctuating between extremes of self-delusion and self-abasement;<ref name="M98">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 98</ref> according to William of Tyre, he was never the same again.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillenbrand |first1=Carole |title=Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert |date=2007 |publisher=Edinburgh UP |page=154 |isbn=9780748631155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=leqqBgAAQBAJ&dq=William+of+Tyre++manuel+I+was+never+the+same+again+after+turkish+ambush&pg=PA154 |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>

The terms by which Kilij Arslan II allowed Manuel and his army to leave were that he should remove his frontier forts and garrisons at Dorylaeum and Sublaeum. Since the Sultan had already failed to keep his side of the earlier treaty of 1162, however, Manuel only ordered the fortifications of Sublaeum to be dismantled, but not the fortifications of Dorylaeum.<ref name="Treadgold649">W. Treadgold, ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society'', 649</ref> Nevertheless, defeat at Myriokephalon was an embarrassment for both Manuel personally and also for his empire. The Komnenian emperors had worked hard since the Battle of Manzikert, over a century earlier, to restore the reputation of the empire. Yet because of his overconfidence, Manuel had demonstrated to the world that Byzantium still could not decisively defeat the Seljuks, despite the advances made during the past century. In Western opinion, Myriokephalon cut Manuel down to a humbler size: not that of Emperor of the Romans but that of King of the Greeks.<ref name="MN102"/>

The defeat at Myriokephalon has often been depicted as a catastrophe in which the entire Byzantine army was destroyed. Manuel himself compared the defeat to Manzikert; it seemed to him that the Byzantine defeat at Myriokephalon complemented the destruction at Manzikert. In reality, although a defeat, it was not particularly costly and did not significantly diminish the fighting ability of the Byzantine army.<ref name="MN102"/> Most of the casualties were borne by the right wing, largely composed of allied troops commanded by Baldwin of Antioch, and also by the baggage train, which was the main target of the Turkish ambush.<ref name="JBP">J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 128<br/>* K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Db, 141</ref>

The limited losses inflicted on native Byzantine troops were quickly recovered, and in the following year Manuel's forces defeated a force of "picked Turks".<ref name="JB128"/> [[John Komnenos Vatatzes]], who was sent by the Emperor to repel the Turkish invasion, not only brought troops from the capital but also was able to gather an army along the way. Vatatzes caught the Turks in an ambush as they were crossing the [[Büyük Menderes River|Meander River]]; the subsequent [[Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir]] effectively destroyed them as a fighting force. This is an indication that the Byzantine army remained strong and that the defensive program of western [[Asia Minor]] was still successful.<ref name="JB196">J. W. Birkenmeier, ''The Development of the Komnenian Army'', 196</ref> After the victory on the Meander, Manuel himself advanced with a small army to drive the Turks from [[Banaz|Panasium]], south of [[Cotyaeum]].<ref name="Treadgold649"/>

In 1178, however, a Byzantine army retreated after encountering a Turkish force at [[Hereke|Charax]], allowing the Turks to capture many livestock.<ref name="Stone"/> The city of [[Bithynium|Claudiopolis]] in [[Bithynia]] was [[Siege of Claudiopolis|besieged]] by the Turks in 1179, forcing Manuel to lead a small cavalry force to save the city, and then, even as late as 1180, the Byzantines succeeded in scoring a victory over the Turks.<ref name="Stone">A. Stone (2007) [http://www.roman-emperors.org/mannycom.htm Manuel I Comnenus]. ''[[De Imperatoribus Romanis|DIR]]''</ref>

The continuous warfare had a serious effect upon Manuel's vitality; he declined in health and in 1180 succumbed to a slow fever. Furthermore, like Manzikert, the balance between the two powers began to gradually shift—Manuel never again attacked the Turks, and after his death they began to move further west, deeper into Byzantine territory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beihammer |first1=Alexander |title=Chapter 6: Patterns of Turkish Migration and Expansion in Byzantine Asia Minor in the 11th and 12th Centuries |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004425613/BP000008.xml |date=23 April 2020 |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/9789004425613_007 |isbn=9789004425613 |s2cid=218994025 |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>

==Doctrinal controversies (1156–1180)==
[[Image:Johnchrysostom.jpg|thumb|A Byzantine [[mosaic]] of [[John Chrysostom]] from the [[Hagia Sophia]] (9th/10th century). The controversy of 1156–57 concerned the interpretation of John's liturgy for the [[Eucharist]], "Thou art He who offers and is offered and receives."]]

Three major theological controversies occurred during Manuel's reign. In 1156–1157 the question was raised whether [[Christ]] had offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world to the [[God the Father|Father]] and to the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] only, or also to the [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]] (i.e., to Himself).<ref name="K265-266">J. H. Kurtz, ''History of the Christian Church to the Restoration'', 265–266</ref> In the end a [[synod]] held at Constantinople in 1157 declared the doctrine of a single sacrifice to the Holy Trinity, producing a formula: "The precious blood of the Only Begotten was offered not only to the Father but also to the Son and the Holy Ghost, the one Godhead", despite the dissent of Patriarch of Antioch-elect [[Soterichos Panteugenos]], who was subsequently dismissed.<ref>Pavel Cheremukhin, "The Council of Constantinople, 1157, and Nicholas, Bishop of Methone".  "At the beginning of Mai's presentation of the acts of the Council, both opinions on the main issue – subsequently recognized as heretical and Orthodox – are formulated as follows: "In the reign of Manuel Komnenos, the doctrine expressed in the words: "Thou art the Offeror, the Offered, and the One Who receives" was widely discussed. Some (The heretical party) claimed that the Sacrifice of the Cross was offered to one Father and Spirit, but by no means to the sacrificing Word Itself, saying that if the latter is allowed, then the One Son of God will be completely divided into two persons, which division was introduced by the empty-mouthed Nestorius.” Others (The Orthodox), in agreement with the words of the mentioned prayer, claimed that "the offering was also to the Son Himself, i.e., to the One and Indivisible Being of the Beginningless Trinity."" https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Istorija_Tserkvi/konstantinopolskij-sobor-1157-goda-i-nikolaj-episkop-mefonskij/</ref><ref>Stone, D. (1909, reprinted 2006), pp. 163–164</ref><ref name="Stone"/>

Ten years later, a controversy arose as to whether the saying of Christ, "My Father is greater than I", referred to his divine nature, to his human nature, or to the union of the two.<ref name="K265-266"/> Demetrius of Lampe, a Byzantine diplomat recently returned from the West, ridiculed the way the verse was interpreted there, that Christ was inferior to his father in his humanity but equal in his divinity. Manuel, on the other hand, perhaps with an eye on the project for Church union, found that the formula made sense, and prevailed over a majority in a synod convened on 2 March 1166 to decide the issue, where he had the support of the patriarch [[Luke Chrysoberges]]<ref name="Stone"/> and later Patriarch [[Michael III of Constantinople|Michael III]].<ref>P. Magdalino, p. 279.</ref> Those who refused to submit to the synod's decisions had their property confiscated or were exiled.{{Cref|g}} The political dimensions of this controversy are apparent from the fact that a leading dissenter from the Emperor's doctrine was his nephew Alexios Kontostephanos.<ref name="M217">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 217</ref>

A third controversy sprung up in 1180, when Manuel objected to the formula of solemn [[abjuration]], which was exacted from Muslim converts. One of the more striking [[anathema]]s of this abjuration was that directed against the deity worshipped by [[Muhammad]] and his followers:<ref name="Hanson55">G. L. Hanson, ''Manuel I Komnenos and the "God of Muhammad"'', 55</ref>

{{quote | And before all, I anathematize the God of Muhammad about whom he [Muhammad] says, "He is God alone, God made of solid, hammer-beaten metal; He begets not and is not begotten, nor is there like unto Him any one."}}

The emperor ordered the deletion of this anathema from the Church's catechetical texts, a measure that provoked vehement opposition from both the patriarch and bishops.<ref name="Hanson55"/>

==Chivalric narrations==
Manuel is representative of a new kind of Byzantine ruler who was influenced by his contact with western Crusaders. He arranged [[jousting]] matches, even participating in them, an unusual and discomforting sight for the Byzantines. Endowed with a fine physique, Manuel has been the subject of exaggeration in the Byzantine sources of his era, where he is presented as a man of great personal courage. According to the story of his exploits, which appear as a model or a copy of the romances of [[chivalry]], such was his strength and exercise in arms that Raymond of Antioch was incapable of wielding his lance and buckler. In a famous tournament, he is said to have entered the lists on a fiery [[courser (horse)|courser]], and to have overturned two of the stoutest Italian knights. In one day, he is said to have slain forty Turks with his own hand, and in a battle against the Hungarians he allegedly snatched a banner, and was the first, almost alone, who passed a bridge that separated his army from the enemy. On another occasion, he is said to have cut his way through a squadron of five hundred Turks, without receiving a wound; he had previously posted an ambuscade in a wood and was accompanied only by his brother and Axouch.<ref>Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', 73<br/>* K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Db, 121</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Manuel1 Marie.jpg|thumb|Manuscript miniature of Maria of Antioch with Manuel I Komnenos, [[Vatican Library]], Rome]]

Manuel had two wives. His first marriage, in 1146, was to [[Bertha of Sulzbach]], a sister-in-law of Conrad III of Germany. She died in 1160.<ref>McMahon 2025, p.58-59</ref>  Children:
# [[Maria Komnene (daughter of Manuel I)|Maria Komnene]] (1152{{sfn|Garland|Stone}}–1182), wife of [[Renier of Montferrat]].
# Anna Komnene{{sfn|Garland|Stone}} (1154–1158).

Manuel's second marriage was to [[Maria of Antioch]] (nicknamed ''Xene''), a daughter of [[Raymond of Poitiers|Raymond]] and [[Constance of Antioch]], in 1161 or 1162.<ref>McMahon 2025, p.59-63</ref>  By this marriage, Manuel had one son:
# [[Alexios II Komnenos]], who succeeded as emperor in 1180.<ref name="V155">K. Varzos, ''Genealogy of the Komnenian Dynasty'', 155</ref>

Manuel had several illegitimate children:

By Theodora Vatatzina:
# [[Alexios Komnenos (illegitimate son of Manuel I)|Alexios Komnenos]] (born in the early 1160s), who was recognised as the emperor's son, and indeed received a title (''sebastokrator''). He was briefly married to Eirene Komnene, illegitimate daughter of [[Andronikos I Komnenos]], in 1183–1184, and was then blinded by his father-in-law. He lived until at least 1191 and was known personally to Choniates.<ref name="K102">Každan-Epstein, ''Change in Byzantine Culture'', 102</ref>

By Maria Taronitissa, the wife of [[John Doukas Komnenos]]:
# Alexios Komnenos, a ''[[pinkernes]]'' ("cupbearer"), who fled Constantinople in 1184 and was a figurehead of the Norman invasion and the [[Sack of Thessalonica (1185)|siege of Thessalonica]] in 1185.

By other lovers:
# A daughter whose name is unknown. She was born around 1150 and married Theodore Maurozomes before 1170. Her son was [[Manuel Maurozomes]], whose daughter married [[Kaykhusraw I]], the Seljuk [[Sultanate of Rûm]], and her descendants ruled the sultanate from 1220 to 1246.<ref>C. M. Brand, ''The Turkish Element in Byzantium'', 12<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 98</ref>
# A daughter whose name is unknown, born around 1155. She was the maternal grandmother of the author [[Demetrios Tornikes]].<ref name="V157">K. Varzos, ''Genealogy of the Komnenian Dynasty'', 157a</ref>

==Assessments==

===Foreign and military affairs===
As a young man, Manuel had been determined to restore by force of arms the predominance of the Byzantine Empire in the Mediterranean countries. By the time he died in 1180, 37 years had passed since that momentous day in 1143 when, amid the wilds of Cilicia, his father had proclaimed him emperor. These years had seen Manuel involved in conflict with his neighbours on all sides. Manuel's father and grandfather before him had worked patiently to undo the damage done by the battle of Manzikert and its aftermath. Thanks to their efforts, the empire Manuel inherited was stronger and better organised than at any time for a century. While it is clear that Manuel used these assets to the full, it is not so clear how much he added to them, and there is room for doubt as to whether he used them to best effect.<ref name="M3"/>

{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | "The most singular feature in the character of Manuel is the contrast and vicissitude of labour and sloth, of hardiness and effeminacy. In war he seemed ignorant of peace, in peace he appeared incapable of war."
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Edward Gibbon'''''<ref name="G74"/>
|}

Manuel had proven himself to be an energetic emperor who saw possibilities everywhere, and whose optimistic outlook had shaped his approach to foreign policy. However, in spite of his military prowess Manuel achieved but a slight degree of his object of restoring the Byzantine Empire. Retrospectively, some commentators have criticised some of Manuel's aims as unrealistic, in particular citing the expeditions he sent to Egypt as proof of dreams of grandeur on an unattainable scale. His greatest military campaign, his grand expedition against the Turkish [[Sultanate]] of Iconium, ended in humiliating defeat, and his greatest diplomatic effort apparently collapsed, when Pope Alexander III became reconciled to the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa at the [[Peace of Venice]]. Historian Mark C. Bartusis argues that Manuel (and his father as well) tried to rebuild a national army, but his reforms were adequate for neither his ambitions nor his needs; the defeat at Myriokephalon underscored the fundamental weakness of his policies.<ref name="B5-6">M. Bartusis, ''The Late Byzantine Army'', 5–6</ref> According to [[Edward Gibbon]], Manuel's victories were not productive of any permanent or useful conquest.<ref name="G74">Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', p. 74.</ref>

His advisors on western church affairs included the Pisan scholar [[Hugh Eteriano]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hamilton |first1=Bernard |title="The Latin Empire and Western Contacts in Asia" in Contact and Conflict in Frankish Greece and the Aegean |date=2014 |publisher=Ashgate |page=220 |isbn=9781409439264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGF9BAAAQBAJ&dq=manuel+I+advisers+Pisan+scholar+Hugh+Eteriano&pg=PA220 |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>

===Internal affairs===
Choniates criticised Manuel for raising taxes and pointed to Manuel's reign as a period of excess; according to Choniates, the money thus raised was spent lavishly at the cost of his citizens. Whether one reads the Greek [[encomium|encomiastic]] sources, or the Latin and oriental sources, the impression is consistent with Choniates' picture of an emperor who spent lavishly in all available ways, rarely economising in one sector in order to develop another.<ref name="P121">K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Db, 134</ref> Manuel spared no expense on the army, the navy, diplomacy, ceremonial, palace-building, the Komnenian family, and other seekers of patronage. A significant amount of this expenditure was pure financial loss to the Empire, like the subsidies poured into Italy and the crusader states, and the sums spent on the failed expeditions of 1155–1156, 1169 and 1176.<ref name=Niketas1>N. Choniates, ''O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates'', 96–97<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 173</ref>

The problems this created were counterbalanced to some extent by his successes, particularly in the Balkans; Manuel extended the frontiers of his Empire in the Balkan region, ensuring security for the whole of Greece and [[Bulgaria]]. Had he been more successful in all his ventures, he would have controlled not only the most productive farmland around the Eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, but also the entire trading facilities of the area. Even if he did not achieve his ambitious goals, his wars against Hungary ([[Byzantine–Hungarian War (1149–1155)|1149–1155]], [[Byzantine–Hungarian War (1162–1167)|1162–1167]]) brought him control of the Dalmatian coast, the rich agricultural region of Sirmium, and the Danube trade route from Hungary to the [[Black Sea]]. His Balkan expeditions are said to have taken great booty in slaves and livestock;<ref name="M174">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 174</ref> Kinnamos was impressed by the amount of arms taken from the Hungarian dead after the battle of 1167.<ref>J. Cinnamus, ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', 274</ref> And even if Manuel's wars against the Turks probably realised a net loss, his commanders took livestock and captives on at least two occasions.<ref name="M174"/>

This allowed the Western provinces to flourish in an economic revival that had begun in the time of his grandfather Alexios I and continued till the close of the century. Indeed, it has been argued that Byzantium in the 12th century was richer and more prosperous than at any time since the [[Sasanian Empire|Persian]] invasion during the reign of [[Heraclius|Herakleios]], some five hundred years earlier. There is good evidence from this period of new construction and new churches, even in remote areas, strongly suggesting that wealth was widespread.<ref name=Angold>M. Angold, ''The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204''</ref> Trade was also flourishing; it has been estimated that the population of Constantinople, the biggest commercial centre of the Empire, was between half a million and one million during Manuel's reign, making it by far the largest city in Europe. A major source of Manuel's wealth was the ''kommerkion'', a customs duty levied at Constantinople on all imports and exports.<ref name="kom">J. Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades'', 25</ref> The ''kommerkion'' was stated to have collected 20,000 ''hyperpyra'' each day.<ref name="kom2">J. Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades'', 26</ref>

Furthermore, Constantinople was undergoing expansion. The cosmopolitan character of the city was being reinforced by the arrival of Italian merchants and Crusaders en route to the Holy Land. The Venetians, the [[Genoa|Genoese]], and others opened up the ports of the Aegean to commerce, shipping goods from the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer and Fatimid Egypt to the west and trading with Byzantium via Constantinople.<ref name="Day">G. W. Day, ''Manuel and the Genoese'', 289–290</ref> These maritime traders stimulated demand in the towns and cities of [[Byzantine Greece|Greece]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], and the Greek Islands, generating new sources of wealth in a predominantly [[agrarian economy]].<ref name="M143-144">P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 143–144</ref> [[Thessaloniki|Thessalonica]], the second city of the Empire, hosted a famous summer fair that attracted traders from across the Balkans and even further afield to its bustling market stalls. In [[Byzantine Corinth|Corinth]], silk production fuelled a thriving economy. All this is a testament to the success of the Komnenian Emperors in securing a ''Pax Byzantina'' in these heartland territories.<ref name=Angold/>

===Legacy===
[[Image:The Byzantine Empire, c.1180.svg|thumb|350px|Map of the Byzantine Empire under Manuel, c. 1180{{sfn|Muir|1963|pp=16, 18}}{{sfn|Angold|1997|loc=map 3}}]]

To the [[rhetor]]s of his court, Manuel was the "divine emperor". A generation after his death, Choniates referred to him as "the most blessed among emperors", and a century later John Stavrakios described him as "great in fine deeds". [[John Phokas]], a soldier who fought in Manuel's army, characterised him some years later as the "world saving" and glorious emperor.<ref name="DH">J. Harris, ''Byzantium and the Crusades''<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 3</ref> Manuel would be remembered in France, Italy, and the Crusader states as the most powerful sovereign in the world.<ref name="Stone"/> A Genoese analyst noted that with the passing of "Lord Manuel of divine memory, the most blessed emperor of Constantinople ... all Christendom incurred great ruin and detriment."<ref name="DM">G. W. Day, ''Manuel and the Genoese'', 289–290<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 3</ref> William of Tyre called Manuel "a wise and discreet prince of great magnificence, worthy of praise in every respect", "a great-souled man of incomparable energy", whose "memory will ever be held in benediction." Manuel was further extolled by [[Robert of Clari]] as "a right worthy man, [...] and richest of all the Christians who ever were, and the most bountiful."<ref name=RoC>Robert of Clari, "Account of the Fourth Crusade", [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/clari1.htm 18] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050213114657/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/clari1.htm |date=13 February 2005 }}</ref>

A telling reminder of the influence that Manuel held in the Crusader states in particular can still be seen in the [[Church of the Nativity|church of the Holy Nativity]] in [[Bethlehem]]. In the 1160s the nave was redecorated with mosaics showing the councils of the church.<ref>B. Zeitler, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3046063 Cross-cultural interpretations]</ref> Manuel was one of the patrons of the work. On the south wall, an inscription in Greek reads: "the present work was finished by Ephraim the monk, painter and mosaicist, in the reign of the great emperor Manuel Porphyrogennetos Komnenos and in the time of the great [[king of Jerusalem]], [[Amalric of Jerusalem|Amalric]]." That Manuel's name was placed first was a symbolic, public recognition of Manuel's overlordship as leader of the Christian world. Manuel's role as protector of the Orthodox Christians and Christian holy places in general is also evident in his successful attempts to secure rights over the Holy Land. Manuel participated in the building and decorating of many of the basilicas and Greek monasteries in the Holy Land, including the church of the [[Holy Sepulchre]] in Jerusalem, where thanks to his efforts the Byzantine clergy were allowed to perform the Greek liturgy each day. All this reinforced his position as overlord of the Crusader states, with his hegemony over Antioch and Jerusalem secured by agreement with [[Raynald of Châtillon|Raynald]], [[Prince of Antioch]], and Amalric, King of Jerusalem respectively. Manuel was also the last Byzantine emperor who, thanks to his military and diplomatic success in the [[Balkans]], could call himself "ruler of [[Dalmatia]], [[Bosnia]], [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]], [[Bulgaria]] and [[Hungary]]".<ref name="S372-373">J. W. Sedlar, ''East Central Europe in the Middle Ages'', 372–373</ref>
[[File:Manuel I Komnenos (Vat.gr.1851 folio 2v).jpg|thumb|Manuel I Komnenos sitting next to his son Alexios II.]]
Manuel died on 24 September 1180,<ref name=":1">Schreiner, Peter (1975). [[iarchive:kleinchroniken1/page/n74/mode/1up|''Die byzantinischen Kleinchroniken'' '''1'''.]] [[Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae]] '''XII'''(1). p. 146. ''Chronik'' 14, 80, 4: "[[Greek numerals|κδ']] [24] τού σεπτεμβρίου μηνός, τής [[Greek numerals|ιδ']] [14] [[Indiction|ίνδικτίώvoς]], [[Byzantine calendar|ςχπθ']] [6689] έτους".</ref> having just celebrated the betrothal of his son Alexios II to the daughter of the king of France.<ref name="M194">P. Magdalino, ''The Medieval Empire'', 194</ref> He was laid to rest alongside his father in the [[Pantokrator Monastery]] in Constantinople.<ref>Melvani, N., (2018) 'The tombs of the Palaiologan emperors', ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'', 42 (2) pp.237-260</ref> Thanks to the diplomacy and campaigning of Alexios, John and Manuel, the empire was a great power, economically prosperous, and secure on its frontiers; but there were serious problems as well. Internally, the Byzantine court required a strong leader to hold it together, and after Manuel's death stability was seriously endangered from within. Some of the foreign enemies of the Empire were lurking on the flanks, waiting for a chance to attack, in particular the Turks in Anatolia, whom Manuel had ultimately failed to defeat, and the Normans in Sicily, who had already tried but failed to invade the Empire on several occasions. Even the Venetians, the single most important western ally of Byzantium, were on bad terms with the empire at Manuel's death in 1180. Given this situation, it would have taken a strong emperor to secure the Empire against the foreign threats it now faced, and to rebuild the depleted imperial treasury. But Manuel's son was a minor, and his unpopular [[regency]] government was overthrown in a violent ''[[coup d'état]]''. This troubled succession weakened the dynastic continuity and solidarity on which the strength of the Byzantine state had come to rely.<ref name="M194" />

==Genealogy==
{{chart top|Manuel's paternal ancestors and collateral family (selective genealogy){{sfn|Magdalino|1993|loc=Genealogical charts 2, 3, and 4}}}}
{{family tree/start|align=center}}
{{tree chart |border=0| | | | | | | | | |John|y|Anna|John=[[John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools)|John Komnenos]]|Anna=[[Anna Dalassene]]}}
{{tree chart |border=0| | | | | | | | | | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart |border=0| | | | | | | | | | | |Alexios|y|Irene|Alexios='''[[Alexios I Komnenos]]'''|Irene=[[Irene Doukaina]]}}
{{tree chart |border=0| |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|.||}}
{{tree chart |border=0|Anna| | | | | |John|y|Irene| | | | | |Isaac|John='''[[John II Komnenos]]'''|Irene=[[Irene of Hungary]]|Anna=[[Anna Komnene]]|Isaac=[[Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)|Isaac Komnenos]]}}
{{tree chart |border=0| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |!|}}
{{tree chart |border=0|Alexios| |Andronikos| |Isaac| |Eudokia| |Manuel| |Andronikos1|Isaac=[[Isaac Komnenos (son of John II)|Isaac Komnenos]]|Manuel='''Manuel I Komnenos'''|Alexios=[[Alexios Komnenos (co-emperor)|Alexios Komnenos]]|Andronikos=[[Andronikos Komnenos (son of John II)|Andronikos]]|Eudokia=Eudokia Komnene|Andronikos1='''[[Andronikos I Komnenos]]'''}}
{{tree chart |border=0| |!| | | |:| | | |!| | | |!|}}
{{tree chart |border=0|Maria1| | | | | |Theodora2| |Theodora3|John=[[John Doukas Komnenos]]|Maria1=Maria Komnene<br>m. [[Alexios Axouch]]|Theodora1=[[Theodora Komnene, Duchess of Austria|Theodora Komnene]]<br>m. [[Henry II of Austria]]
|Alexios=[[Alexios Komnenos (protosebastos)|Alexios]]
|Maria2=Maria Komnene<br>m. [[John Kantakouzenos (sebastos)|John Kantakouzenos]]
|Irene=Irene Komnene
|Anna=Anna Komnene<br>m. [[Constantine Makrodoukas]]
|Maria3=[[Maria_Komnene,_Queen_of_Hungary|Maria Komnene]]<br>m. [[Stephen IV of Hungary]]
|Theodora2=[[Theodora_Komnene,_Queen_of_Jerusalem|Theodora Komnene]]<br>m. [[Baldwin III of Jerusalem]]
|Theodora3=[[Theodora Komnene (daughter of Theodore Vatatzes)|Theodora Komnene]]}}
{{tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
{{Cnote|a|The mood that prevailed before the end of 1147 is best conveyed by a verse [[encomium]] to Manuel (one of the poems included in a list transmitted under the name of Theodore Prodromos in ''Codex Marcianus graecus XI.22'' known as ''[[Manganeios Prodromos]]''), which was probably an imperial commission, and must have been written shortly after the Germans had crossed the [[Bosporus]]. Here Conrad is accused of wanting to take Constantinople by force, and to install a Latin patriarch (''Manganeios Prodromos'', no 20.1).<ref name="M49">Jeffreys-Jeffreys, ''The "Wild Beast from the West"'', 102<br/>* P. Magdalino, ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 49</ref>}}
{{Cnote|b|According to [[Paul Magdalino]], one of Manuel's primary goals was a partition of Italy with the German empire, in which Byzantium would get the [[Adriatic coast]]. His unilateral pursuit, however, antagonized the new German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, whose own plans for imperial restoration ruled out any partnership with Byzantium. Manuel was thus obliged to treat Frederick as his main enemy, and to form a web of relationships with other western powers, including the papacy, his old enemy, the Norman kingdom, Hungary, several magnates and cities throughout Italy, and, above all, the crusader states.<ref name="M194"/>}}
{{Cnote|c|Magdalino underscores that, whereas John had removed the Rupenid princes from power in Cilicia twenty years earlier, Manuel allowed Toros to hold most of his strongholds he had taken, and effectively restored only the coastal area to imperial rule. From Raynald, Manuel secured recognition of imperial suzerainty over Antioch, with the promise to hand over the citadel, to instal a [[Patriarch of Antioch|patriarch]] sent from Constantinople (not actually implemented until 1165–66), and to provide troops for the emperor's service, but nothing seems to have been said about the reversion of Antioch to direct imperial rule. According to Magdalino, this suggests that Manuel had dropped this demand on which both his grandfather and father insisted.<ref name="M67"/> For his part, historian [[Zachary Nugent Brooke]] believes that the victory of Christianity against Nur ad-Din was made impossible, since both Greeks and Latins were concerned primarily with their own interests. He characterises the policy of Manuel as "short-sighted", because "he lost a splendid opportunity of recovering the former possessions of the Empire, and by his departure threw away most of the actual fruits of his expedition".<ref name="Br482">Z. N. Brooke, ''A History of Europe, from 911 to 1198'', 482</ref> According to [[Piers Paul Read]], Manuel's deal with Nur ad-Din was for the Latins another expression of Greeks' [[perfidy]].<ref name="R239"/>}}
{{Cnote|d|Alexios had been ordered to bring soldiers, but he merely brought his empty ships to Brindisi.<ref name="B115"/>}}
{{Cnote|e|In 1155 Hadrian sent legates to Manuel, with a letter for Basil, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, in which he exhorted that bishop to procure the reünion of the churches. Basil answered that there was no division between the Greeks and Latins, since they held the same faith and offered the same sacrifice. "As for the causes of scandal, weak in themselves, that have separated us from each other", he added, "your Holiness can cause them to cease, by your own extended authority and the help of the Emperor of the West."<ref name="AVII">Abbé Guettée, ''The Papacy'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20040322110754/http://www.geocities.com/trvalentine/orthodox/guettee10.html Chapter VII]</ref>}}
{{Cnote|f|This probably meant that Amalric repeated Baldwin's assurances regarding the status of Antioch as an imperial fief.<ref name="M74"/>}}
{{Cnote|g|According to Michael Angold, after the controversy of 1166 Manuel took his responsibilities very seriously, and tightened his grip over the church. 1166 was also the year in which Manuel first referred in his legislation to his role as the disciplinarian of the church (''epistemonarkhes'').<ref name="An99">M. Angold, ''Church and Society under the Komneni'', 99</ref>}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{O City of Byzantium}}
* [[John Cinnamus|Cinammus, John]], ''Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus'', trans. Charles M. Brand. [[Columbia University Press]], 1976.
* {{cite book | last=Komnene (Comnena)| first=Anna|author2=Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter |authorlink=Anna Komnene | title=The Alexiad of Anna Comnena translated by Edgar Robert Ashton Sewter| publisher=Penguin Classics | year=1969 | isbn=0-14-044215-4 | chapter=XLVIII: The First Crusade}}
* [[Robert of Clari]] (c. 1208). ''Account of the Fourth Crusade''.
* [[William of Tyre]], ''Historia Rerum in Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum'' (''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea''), translated by E. A. Babock and A. C. Krey (Columbia University Press, 1943). See the original text in the Latin library.
{{refend}}

===Secondary sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFAngold1997|CITEREFCurta2006}}
* {{cite book | last=Abbé Guettée | title=The Papacy: Its Historic Origin and Primitive Relations with the Eastern Churches | year=1866 | url=http://www.geocities.com/trvalentine/orthodox/essays.html | chapter=Chapter VII | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027125538/http://www.geocities.com/trvalentine/orthodox/essays.html | archive-date=27 October 2009 }}
* {{cite book | author=Angold, Michael|authorlink=Michael Angold| title=Church and Society in Byzantium Under the Comneni, 1081–1261 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1995 | isbn= 0-521-26432-4|chapter=Church and Politics under Manuel I Komnenos}}
* {{The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History|edition=Second}}
* {{cite book | last=Birkenmeier | first=John W. | title=The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081–1180 | publisher=Brill Academic Publishersf | year=2002 | isbn=90-04-11710-5 | chapter=The Campaigns of Manuel I Komnenos}}
* {{cite book | last=Bradbury | first=Jim | authorlink=Jim Bradbury | title=The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare | publisher=Read Country Books | year=2006 | isbn=1-84664-983-8 | chapter=Military events}}
* {{cite journal| last=Brand|first=Charles M. |year =1989 | title = The Turkish Element in Byzantium, Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries | journal = Dumbarton Oaks Papers | volume =43 | pages =1–25 | doi = 10.2307/1291603| publisher=Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University| jstor=1291603 }}
* {{cite book | last=Brooke | first=Zachary Nugent | title=A History of Europe, from 911 to 1198 | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=2004 | isbn=0-415-22126-9 | chapter=East and West: 1155–1198}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Buck |first1=Andrew |title=Between Byzantium and Jerusalem? The principality of Antioch, Renaud of Châtillon, and the penance of Mamistra in 1158 |journal=Mediterranean Historical Review |date=2015 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=107-124 |doi=10.1080/09518967.2015.1117203}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Byzantium|encyclopedia=Papyros-Larousse-Britannica (Volume XIII)|year=2006 | isbn=960-8322-84-7|language=el}}
*{{citation |last=Comnena |first=Anna |author-link=Anna Comnena |title=The Alexiad |translator-first=E. R. A. |translator-last=Sewter |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1969 |isbn=9780141904542 | orig-year={{circa}} 1148 |ref={{SfnRef|Sewter|1969}} |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GW6AHTxajKUC}}
* {{Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250 | chapter=Chronology}}
* {{cite journal| last=Day|first=Gerald. W. |date=June 1977 | title = Manuel and the Genoese: A Reappraisal of Byzantine Commercial Policy in the Late Twelfth Century | journal = The Journal of Economic History | volume =37 | issue =2 | pages =289–301| doi = 10.1017/S0022050700096947 |s2cid=155065665 }}
* {{cite book | last=Duggan | first=Anne J.| title=Adrian IV, the English Pope, 1154–1159: Studies and Texts edited by Brenda Bolton and Anne J. Duggan | publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. | year=2003 | isbn=0-7546-0708-9 | chapter=The Pope and the Princes}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
 |title         = Bertha-Irene of Sulzbach, first wife of Manuel I Comnenus
 |author1-last  = Garland
 |author1-first = Lynda
 |author-link   = Lynda Garland
 |author2-last  = Stone
 |author2-first = Andrew
 |url           = http://www.roman-emperors.org/bertha.htm
 |encyclopedia  = Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
 |access-date   = 5 February 2007
|archive-date  = 3 September 2017
|archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20170903033450/http://www.roman-emperors.org/bertha.htm
 |url-status    = dead
}}
* {{cite book | last=Gibbon | first=Edward|authorlink= Edward Gibbon| title=The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume III) | publisher=Penguin Classics | year= 1995| isbn=0-14-043395-3 | chapter=XLVIII: The Decline and Fall}}
* {{citation |last=Haldon |first=John |year=2001 |title=The Byzantine Wars |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=0-7524-1777-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Hamilton | first=Bernard| title=Porphyrogenita: : Essays on the History and Literature of Byzantium and the Latin East in Honor of Julian Chrysostomides'', edited by Charalambos Dendrinos, Jonathan Harris, Eirene Harvalia-Crook and Judith Herrin''| publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.| year=2003 | isbn=0-7546-3696-8 | chapter=William of Tyre and the Byzantine Empire}}
* {{cite book | last=Hanson | first=Graig L.| title=Medieval Christian Perceptions of Islam: A Book of Essays edited by John Tolan| publisher=Routledge | year=2003 | isbn=0-415-92892-3 | chapter=Manuel I Komnenos and the "God of Muhammad": A Study in Byzantine Ecclesiastical Politics}}
* Harris, Jonathan, ''Byzantium and the Crusades'', Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-78093-767-0}}
* Harris, Jonathan and Tolstoy, Dmitri, 'Alexander III and Byzantium', in ''Alexander III (1159–81: The Art of Survival'', ed. P. Clarke and A. Duggan, Ashgate, 2012, pp.&nbsp;301–13. {{ISBN|978 07546 6288 4}}
* {{cite book | last=Harris | first=Jonathan |title=Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-5467-0 |language=en}}
* {{cite book | last=Heath | first=Ian| title=Byzantine Armies 1118–1461 AD (Illustrated by Angus McBride) | publisher=Osprey Publishing| year=1995 | isbn=1-85532-347-8}}
* {{cite book | last=Hillenbrand | first=Carole| title=Texts, Documents, and Artefacts: Islamic Studies in Honour of D. S. (Donald Sidney) Richards edited by Chase F. Robinson | publisher=Brill Academic Publishers| year=2003 | isbn=90-04-10865-3 | chapter=The Imprisonment of Raynald of Châtillon}}
* {{cite book | last=Jeffreys | first=Elizabeth | author2=Jeffreys Michael | title=The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World | editor1=Angeliki E. Laiou | editor1-link=Angeliki Laiou | editor2=Roy Parviz Mottahedeh | editor2-link=Roy Mottahedeh | publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection | year=2001 | isbn=0-88402-277-3 | chapter=The "Wild Beast from the West": Immediate Literary Reactions in Byzantium to the Second Crusade | chapter-url=http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/crusades-from-the-perspective-of-byzantium-and-the-muslim-world/cr08.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510103216/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/crusades-from-the-perspective-of-byzantium-and-the-muslim-world/cr08.pdf | archive-date=10 May 2017 }}
* {{cite book | last=Každan | first=Alexander P.|author2=Epstein, Ann Wharton | title=Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries| publisher=University of California Press| year=1990 | isbn=0-520-06962-5 | chapter=Popular and Aristocratic Popular Trends}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Kristó |first1=Gyula |last2=Makk |first2=Ferenc |year=1996 |title=Az Árpád-ház uralkodói ''[=Rulers of the House of Árpád]''|publisher=I.P.C. Könyvek | isbn=963-7930-97-3|language=hu}}
* {{cite book | last=Kurtz | first=Johann Heinrich | title=History of the Christian Church to the Reformation | url=https://archive.org/details/historychristia00kurtgoog | publisher=T. & T. Clark | year=1860 | chapter=Dogmatic Controversies, 12th and 14th Centuries | isbn=0-548-06187-4 }}
* {{cite web
 | title = Letter by the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos To Pope Eugene III on the Issue of the Crusades
 | work = [[Vatican Secret Archives]]
 | url = http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1146.htm
 | access-date = 5 February 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202070010/http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1146.htm
 | archive-date = 2 February 2007
}}
* {{cite book | last=Madden | first=Thomas F. | authorlink=Thomas F. Madden | title=The New Concise History of the Crusades | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | year=2005 | isbn=0-7425-3822-2 | chapter=The Decline of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade | url=https://archive.org/details/newconcisehistor00madd }}
* {{New Cambridge Medieval History | volume = 4b | last=Magdalino | first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Magdalino| |chapter=The Byzantine Empire (1118–1204)|pages=611–643| chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521414111.024}}
* {{cite book | last=Magdalino | first=Paul| title=The Oxford History of Byzantium |editor= Cyril A. Mango | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2002 | isbn=0-19-814098-3 |chapter=The Medieval Empire (780–1204)}}
* {{cite book | last=Magdalino | first=Paul | author-link=Paul Magdalino | title=The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180 | location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2002| orig-date=1993 | isbn=0-521-52653-1 |ref={{sfnref|Magdalino|1993}} }}
* {{New Cambridge Medieval History | volume = 4b | last=Mayer | first=Hans |chapter=The Latin East, 1098–1205 | pages = 644–674 | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521414111.025}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McMahon |first1=Lucas |title=Manuel I Komnenos’ policy towards the Sultanate of Rum and John Kontostephanos’ embassies to Jerusalem, 1159–61 |journal=Crusades |date=2025 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=47-66 |doi=10.1080/14765276.2024.2405810}}
* {{cite book|first=Ramsay|last=Muir|author-link=Ramsay Muir|title=Muir's Historical Atlas|edition=6|year=1963|publisher=George Philip & Son|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalatlasa00muir/page/n7/mode/2up}}
* {{Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations | chapter=The Parting of the Ways}}
* {{cite book | author=Norwich, John Julius |authorlink=John Julius Norwich| title=A Short History of Byzantium | publisher=Penguin | year=1998 | isbn=0-14-025960-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Norwich| first=John J. | title=Byzantium: The Decline and Fall | publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. | year=1995 | isbn=0-679-41650-1 }}
* {{cite book | last=Obolensky| first=Dimitri| title=The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe 500–1453 | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson | year=1971 | location=London | isbn=1-84212-019-0}}
* {{cite book|first1=Constantine|last1=Paparrigopoulos|author1-link=Constantine Paparrigopoulos|last2=Karolidis|first2=Pavlos|author2-link=Pavlos Karolidis|year=1925|title=History of the Hellenic Nation|volume=Db|location=Athens|publisher=Eleftheroudakis|language=el}}.
* {{cite book | last=Read |first=Piers Paul |authorlink=Piers Paul Read | title=The Templars (translated in Greek by G. Kousounelou) | publisher=Enalios | year=2003 | orig-year=1999 | isbn=960-536-143-4}}
* {{cite book | last=Rogers | first=Clifford J. | title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: Vol. 1 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0195334036}}
* {{cite book | last=Rogers |first=Randal |title=Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1997 | isbn=0-19-820689-5|chapter=The Capture of the Palestinian Coast}}
* {{A History of the Byzantine State and Society}}
* {{cite book | last=Sedlar |first=Jean W.| title=East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500 | publisher=University of Washington Press | year=1994 | isbn=0-295-97290-4|chapter=Foreign Affairs}}
* Stone, Darwell, (1909) ''A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist'', Vol. 1, Longmans, Green & Co., London (reprinted Wipf & Stock, Eugene, Oregon, 2006).
* {{cite encyclopedia
 | title = Manuel I Comnenus (A.D. 1143–1180)
 | last = Stone
 | first = Andrew
 | url = http://www.roman-emperors.org/mannycom.htm
 | encyclopedia = Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
 | access-date = 5 February 2007
}}
* {{Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών | volume=A1}}
* {{cite book | last=Vasiliev | first=Alexander Alexandrovich | authorlink=Alexander Vasiliev (historian) | title=History of the Byzantine Empire | year=1928–1935 | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzanti0000vasi | chapter=Byzantium and the Crusades | isbn=0-299-80925-0 }}
* {{cite journal
 | title = Cross-cultural Interpretations of Imagery in the Middle Ages
 | last = Zeitler
 | first = Barbara
 | year = 1994
 | journal = The Art Bulletin
 | jstor = 3046063
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 | volume = 76
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 680–694
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | author=Haldon, John | title=Byzantium – A History | publisher=Tempus | year=2002 | isbn=0-7524-2343-6 }}
* {{cite book | author=Lilie, Ralph-Johannes | title=Byzantium and the Crusader States, 1096–1204 | publisher= Oxford University Press | year=1988 | isbn= 0-19-820407-8}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/manuel_I/t.html Manuel coinage]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Komnenian dynasty]]|28 November|1118|24 September|1180}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[John II Komnenos]]
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Byzantine emperor]]
| years = 1143–1180
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Alexios II Komnenos]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Komnenoi}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komnenos, Manuel 01}}
[[Category:Manuel I Komnenos| ]]
[[Category:1118 births]]
[[Category:1180 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Seljuk wars]]
[[Category:Christians of the Second Crusade]]
[[Category:Komnenos dynasty|Manuel 01]]
[[Category:Sons of Byzantine emperors]]