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
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
Komnenian restoration
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The Komnenian restoration is the term used by historians to describe the military, financial, and territorial recovery of the Byzantine Empire under the Komnenian dynasty, from the accession of Alexio
Manuel I Komnenos
…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 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…
The Byzantine Empire before the First Crusade