The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180 [Paperback]

Paul Magdalino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0521526531 | ISBN-13: 978-0521526531

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...one of the most important recent publications in the field of Byzantine history....Magdalino's achievement consists not only in embarking into new territories, primarily the economic, social and intellectual spheres of human life, but in reconsidering the whole of the Byzantine twelfth century." The Patristic and Byzantine Review

"This study magisterially overrules Choniates' negative verdict on Manuel's achievement, and it will enlighten all students of empire." Jonathan Shepard, International History Review

Book Description

This book is the first recent study of the complex and brilliant reign of Manuel I (1143-1180) which marked the high point of the revival of the Byzantine empire in the age of the Crusades. The emperor re-evaluated in the light of modern scholarship.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (July 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521526531
• ISBN-13: 978-0521526531
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,602,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Comnenian revival: resurgence of Byzantium (1081-1184), April 6, 2001

By 

Christopher Deliso (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180 (Hardcover)

In this magisterial work Professor Magdalino sets the social, economic, religious and military context for the revival of Byzantine fortunes under Emperor Alexios I Comnenos (1081-1118), who began a family dynasty that ruled Byzantium until the murder of his grandson Manuel's successor in 1184. During this time, Byzantium re-established itself as a military power in both East and West, rebuffing the Turks in Asia Minor and fighting the Normans in Greece. Generally this period was one of great change, brought about by increased contact with the West (due to the Crusades, beginning in 1096), and by other, parallel changes in the power dynamic of the Mediterranean. The Comnenian period also saw changes in Byzantine culture, in regards to art, poetry and literature. Overall, it is one of the most fascinating eras of all Byzantine history, and one that Professor Magdalino does justice to in this work.

Magdalino relies on a great many sources, including the famous histories of Anna Comnena (daughter of Alexios) and Niketas Choniates, as well as many more obscure sources, including monastic charters, Venetian accounting records, and verse in the Byzantine vernacular. He follows the contours of the history, beginning with Alexios' desperate attempts to revive the empire after years of financial and military mismanagement, through the sound generalship of his son John, to the gaudy splendor of grandson Manuel, who presided over the greatest period for culture (and, unfortunately for Byzantium, for conspicuous consumption).

Throughout the book Magdalino stresses the importance of 'family' in the Comnenian conception for ensuring loyalty in government, and the increased use of strategic marriage alliances encouraged by Comnenian emperors, especially with Western rulers. The author also gives a great deal of attention to the effect Westerners had on the Byzantines, both in terms of the increased hostility and fear between the two cultures during the Crusades, and in terms of the increasingly aggressive economic policies of the Italian maritime states of Venice and Genoa, and the effect this had on Byzantine commerce and hegemony in the Aegean. Magdalino argues that these were the significant trends, gradual yet severe, which brought about the conquest and economic colonization of Byzantium by the Western powers in 1204.

All in all, this is a very important book in the field of Byzantine Studies, for experts and non-experts alike. The author draws upon a wide range of sources and his own immense knowledge to give as full as has yet appeared a picture of life in the fascinating time of the Comneni. This book, by one of today's foremost British Byzantinists, is a must-read for anyone interested in the period.