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The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180

A study of twelfth-century Byzantine government, society and culture through the reign of Manuel I.

Paul Magdalino (Author)

9780521526531, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 July 2002

584 pages, 3 b/w illus. 4 tables
23 x 15.5 x 3.7 cm, 0.926 kg

'… well-documented and scholarly … full of new ideas and new interpretations which will be seized upon by Western medievalists as well as Byzantinists'. D. M. Nicol, The Times Literary Supplement

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 eighty years, re-evaluates 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.

Introduction: Problems and sources
1. The Comnenian empire between east and west
2. Constantinople and the provinces
3. The Comnenian system
4. Government
5. The guardians of Orthodoxy
6. The emperor and his image
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Asian history [HBJF]

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