BYZANTINE, Manuel I, 1143 - 1180, AV Hyperpyron, Sear 1556

A brave general but even more skillful diplomat and statesman. Impregnated with the idea of a universal Empire with passion for theological debate he was also perhaps the only chivalrous Emperor-Knight of Byzantine. He is a representitive of a new kind of Byzantine rulers that were influenced by the contact with the western crusaders. The customs kept in his court were not inspired by the traditional Byzantine opulence. He loved western customs and arranged jousting matches, even participating in them, an unusual and discomforting sight for the Byzantines.

Having distinguished himself in his father's war against the Seljuk Turks, he was nominated emperor in preference to his elder surviving brother. Endowed with a fine physique and great personal courage, he devoted himself whole-heartedly to a military career. He endeavoured to restore by force of arms the predominance of the Byzantine Empire in the Mediterranean countries, and so was involved in conflict with his neighbours on all sides.

Second Crusade
In 1144 he brought back Raymond of Antioch to his allegiance, and in the following year drove the Seljuk Turks out of Isauria. In 1147 he granted a passage through his dominions to two armies of the Second Crusade under Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France; but the numerous outbreaks of overt or secret hostility between the Franks and the Greeks on their line of march, for which both sides were to blame, nearly precipitated a conflict between Manuel and his guests.