Editing Manuel I Komnenos (section)

{{short description|Byzantine emperor from 1143 to 1180}}
{{redirect|Manuel Komnenos}}
{{Featured article}}
{{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]], 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>