Alexios II Komnenos
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Alexios II Komnenos, Latinized Alexius II Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He ascended to the throne as a minor. For the duration of his short reign, the imperial power was de facto
Alexios II with his father Manuel I Komnenos and mother Maria of Antioch, depicted in an illuminated manuscript, ca. 1179.
Manuel I Komnenos
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Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnen
Alexios II Komnenos
…of his short reign, the imperial power was de facto held by regents. Born in the purple at Constantinople, Alexios was the long-awaited son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (who gave him a name that began with the letter alpha as a fulfillment of the AIMA prophecy) and Maria of Antioch. In 1171 he was crowned co-emperor…
Manuscript miniature, part of double portrait with Empress Maria, Vatican Library
Arrival of the Second Crusade before Constantinople, portrayed in Jean Fouquet's painting from c. 1455–1460.
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.
Miniature of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos ca. 1179, Vatican Library