The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180

by Paul Magdalino

The reign of Manuel I (1143-1180) marked the high point of the revival of the Byzantine empire under the Comnenian dynasty. It was however followed by a rapid decline, leading to the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. This book, the first devoted to Manuel's reign for over 80 years, reevaluates the emperor and his milieu in the light of recent scholarship. It shows that his foreign policy was a natural response to the Western crusading movement and the expansionism of the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa. It also shows that what he ruled was more than the impoverished rump of a once great empire, or a society whose development had been arrested by a repressive regime. The twelfth century is presented here as a distinctive, creative phase in Byzantine history, when the empire maintained existing traditions and trends while adapting to a changing world.

Genres: History, Medieval, Nonfiction

584 pages, Hardcover

First published May 20, 1993

About the author

"Paul Magdalino FBA (born 10 May 1948) is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews, Professor of Byzantine History at Koç University, Istanbul; and a Fellow of the British Academy.

His research interests include Byzantine history: the society, culture and economy of the Byzantine world from 6th to 13th centuries; the city of Constantinople; prophecy, scientific thought, the formation of Byzantine religious Orthodoxy. He is well known for his monograph on the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), which challenged Niketas Choniates' negative appraisal of the ruler. Magdalino received the 1993 Runciman Award for his work."

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Aleksa · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is 30 years old, it still can be considered a core work for this period of history of Byzantium. Also this is not really a biography of Manuel, but a deep dive into the empire itself, from the foreign politics, to the religious debates, to even literature and poetry produced during this period.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Paul Magdalino demonstrates in this exhaustive examination of the life and culture of Byzantium during the reign of the last competent ruler of the Komnenian dynasty, empires can be fragile, especially if they lack any sense of what they really are. By the time the Komnenians took control of it, Constantine's genius in locating the capital at the confluence of Europe and Asia had turned into a curse, and the Byzantines were ringed by enemies in their former territories: Arabs, Turks, Franks (in the Crusader states), Slavs, the Holy Roman Empire, Venetians and even Normans. The Komnenians, at least the first three, were strong generals, but war may have been the least of their problems. The aristocracy (especially the imperial relatives), had grown fat off its country estates and spent all its time in the capitol lining up to become the next Emperor. The army was composed largely of foreign mercenaries. The urban populace was restive, demanding the kind of theater provided by military triumphs and an imperial pomp that defies the imagination, even if the mechanical tricks reported centuries before by a European visitor -- artificial birds that sang and lions that moved and roared and a throne that elevated to the ceiling -- had probably fallen apart by then. Ceremonies were filled with acclamations and speeches of extravagant praise of the emperor -- Manuel himself was compared to Jesus. The speeches were performance as well, closely tied to patronage. The bureaucrats issued decrees as though they would be obeyed in territory lost for decades. All this for a kingdom reduced to Greece and the coast of Anatolia. Manuel Komnenos inherited this system, and was the perhaps the most open-minded of his family. He was, at least at first, a competent military leader, and he tried hard to alter the world map through diplomacy and even theology -- suggesting, in his role as leader of the Eastern Church, a new doctrine that would allow Muslim converts not to renounce Allah. He intended to accommodate a Sultan who was thought to be considering Christianity. Manuel may have ordered the requisite number of imprisonments and blindings, but he could forgive his enemies as well. But in the end, her failed to keep the Komnenian experiment going. His military acumen gave out in his last campaign, and he was forced to retreat from Anatolia under the protection of a Sultan. He built new throne rooms in an aging city that was falling apart. He tried to weave together western powers through trade and diplomatic marriage, while fending off the Crusaders who were envious of Constantinople's wealth and blamed him for the failure of their Second Crusade. But he did not take care of that most personal of imperial responsibilities in a kingdom of vipers, leaving or designating a competent heir, and that oversight revealed just what a rotten foundation he left behind. The result was tragic: within three years of his death, his wife, daughter and adolescent son, the nominal emperor, had all been murdered. Within five, the last Komnenian emperor was tortured to death by a mob in the Hippodrome. Within a quarter century, Crusaders and Venetians breached the walls that had withstood the fleets of the Arabs and the Rus, and once inside, looted the city of all its real and imagined riches -- the Byzantines were great consumers of Christian relics, and were less than exacting about provenance. In this, as in much else, perhaps all else, they made the most elementary of political mistakes-- they could not tell the lies they told about themselves from the truth of who they were. And, for a kingdom masquerading as an empire, that is a mistake fatal to both ruler and, more importantly, people.

[Eileen Iciek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magisterial work of history of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus. The author, Paul Magdalino, did an incredible job of research in assembling this book. Even the family charts at the start of the book went a long way to helping me understand some of the relationships that had never been particularly clear to me.

Other elements that were enlightening:
- Background information on the reigns of Manuel's father, John II, and grandfather, Alexios I
- Discussion of the empire's finances.
- Organization of government
- The Orthodox church and theology, both in general and of Manuel's
- The impact of the loss at Myriokephalon
- The written evidence of fresco painting in Constantinople during Manuel's reign (all now gone, I believe, with the exception of the Anastasis at Chora)
- The abundant use of the encomium within Byzantine society

There are a few things I would have liked to learn more about (e.g., Manuel's death), but overall there are few histories of Byzantine rulers that I've read that can compare with this.

Highly recommended.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a great job detailing Manuel's reign, alongside key information from his two Komnenian predecessors and their "Komnenian Restoration". Very detailed on foreign policy, government and administration, Orthodoxy's influence etc.

The last 40% (2 chapters) of the book are way too long without much useful information, although the end of the penultimate chapter detailing the "renaissance"-like dynamic within Byzantium was actually good info.

His linkage to the later failures is interesting at the end, arguing the system was too dependent upon Manuel to be sustainable, but also mentioning the unprecedented weakness created by his successor Androniko's campaign of what appears to have been internal destruction.

I really enjoyed it, despite the meh later 40%. Fantastic research and argumentation. He will sometimes make assertions without a super strong evidence base, but it's more discussion than him asserting fact. Overall an 8/10 for me.

[Guðmundur Arnlaugsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Þetta er uppáhalds Býsansbókin mín, af mörgum frábærum.

[Ned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great up to date secondary source for his life and times