Certainty: 2 Ioannes II attacked Neokaisareia in appalling conditions. Beyond Kinte Ioannes II faced extreme cold and an enemy much more expert than the Romans in the conditions, who inflicted heavy casualties. Horses and beasts of burden suffered terribly, and when they died they were often eaten. He collected surviving warhorses and gave them to experts in heavy cavalry (often Westerners), thus cutting through the Turks and reaching Neokaisareia
Certainty: 2 Ioannes II praised his son, Manuel (I), for bravery but thrashed him for rashness. Battles around Neokaisareia were intense. In one, Manuel (I), unrecognised by his father, led an inspirational charge, making the rest of the army fight beyond their strength. When Ioannes discovered his identity, he praised him fulsomely in public for bravery, but thrashed him hard in private for rashness
Certainty: 3 Dedication of the Temple of the Lord & a synod with the Armenians; Alberic returned to Rome. After the deposition of Radulf of Domfront, Alberic the papal legate returned to Jerusalem, where he spent Easter. Just after Easter, with William the patriarch and the bishops, before all the clergy and many visitors from many areas, he sollemnly dedicated the Temple of the Lord. Also present was Joscelin II, who had come to Jerusalem in state for Easter. Alberic with William then held a synod in the Church of Sion, which was attended by the Armenian katholikos. The differences in doctrine and practice between the Armenian and Roman churches were discussed, and the katholikos promised improvements. Alberic then returned to Rome via Acre
Certainty: 2 Tzetzes asked Nikephoros Serblias for improvement in his housing. Tzetzes wrote to the mystikos Nikephoros Serblias, asking for improvement in his housing conditions. He lived on the second of three floors, with a hay-barn below and a priest with many children and pigs above; he risked fire from below, and rivers of rain mixed with urine from above; he told Nikephoros that a tile and a little cement would at least fix the latter
Certainty: 2 Tzetzes wrote to the bishop of Klokotinitza to quash rumours. Ioannes Tzetzes wrote to Leon, the bishop of Klokotinitza, about a rumour which was circulating that Basileios the didaskalos had been appointed metropolitan of Philippopolis. This was extremely unlikely, but nothing like so unlikely as the other part of the rumour, that Ioannes Tzetzes himself would leave Constantinople and follow him to take up a salaried post. He expressed (ironical?) contentment with his independent life, free of ties as well as money
Certainty: 2 Tzetzes expelled Konstantinos Kotertzes from his lessons, to his father's dismay. Among Tzetzes' pupils, Konstantinos Kotertzes was the laziest, making almost no progress in comparison with the others, despite being given a second chance. Tzetzes had warned Konstantinos' father Theodoretos of this fact, and now repeated it in writing, returning his fee and expelling him from the classes. Theodoretos was devastated, and replied in terms which reminded Tzetzes of high tragedy. He read the letter to his pupils, who were all very affected - even Konstantinos, who at last showed promising signs
Certainty: 2 Ioannes Tzetzes finished a commentary on Lykophron, in the name of Isaakios Tzetzes. Ioannes Tzetzes attributed his commentary on Lykophron to his deceased brother Isaakios Tzetzes. Basileios Achridenos, the patriarchal protonotarios, noticed this and expressed puzzlement. Ioannes replied that out of brotherly love he, like Pheidias, had attributed one of his works to a lesser artist. But neither he nor Pheidias had forgotten their own names (?)
Certainty: 2 Election of Aimery of Limoges as Patriarch of Antioch to replace Radulf of Domfront. Raymond of Poiters had played an influential role with force and money in securing the deposition of Radulf of Domfront. He had been pressured into this role by Pierre Armoin, the castellan of Antioch, who now tried to promote in Radulf's place a relation of his own, Aimery of Limoges, an obscure man whom Radulf had made a deacon in a vain attempt to secure his loyalty. Those who had had Radulf deposed now combined to have Aimery elected
Certainty: 2 Defection to the Turks of the emperor's nephew Ioannes. Ioannes II might have taken Neokaisareia, but for the unexpected pride and unjust anger of his nephew Ioannes, son of his brother Isaakios. When a fierce battle had begun, Ioannes II saw that a distinguished Italian knight had no horse, and told his nephew to provide him with his Arabian steed, knowing he had others. The young man was furious and abusive, challenged the Italian to a duel for the horse, but eventually had to give way, seeing the emperor was angry. He remounted on another horse, charged towards the enemy, but suddenly stopped, reversed his lance, removed his helmet and deserted. He was welcomed as an old acquaintance, and one who would help the Turks. He would later become a Muslim and marry the daughter of Mas'ud of Ikonion
Certainty: 3 Retreat of the Byzantine forces from Neokaisareia. Ioannes II feared that his nephew, after deserting, would reveal to the enemy all about the weakness of his position. He therefore withdrew, his rearguard harried by the Turks. Once they reached the coast, the retreat became easier. He arrived at Constantinople shortly after the end of the year
Certainty: 1 Tzetzes sent two notes correcting errors over books. In the first of two notes on books to his pupil, Alexios, nephew of protovestiarios, he complained that Alexios had sent him Aristotle's Ethics, not Chorikios, as it said on the label. Punning on Chorikios' name, he claimed the label was written by a peasant. In the second note he told Alexios to return Libanius and Lysias to the man who had lent them, as they were of no use to him, and he would build up unnecessary obligations. Tzetzes would see about all his book needs, once Alexios clarified his requirements
Certainty: 2 Theodoros Prodromos was to leave the capital with the metropolitan of Trebizond. Stephanos Skylitzes, metropolitan of Trebizond, was to leave Constantinople for his see, taking Theodoros Prodromos with him. So Theodoros said goodbye in hexameters to the city, Hagia Sophia and the palace; his obvious affection for them was mixed with bitterness, that they gave preference to the ignorant over the learned
Certainty: 0 Donation of properties by Maria Komnene Tzousmene to Xeropotamou. Maria Komnene Tzousmene, daughter of Ioannes II, granted to Xeropotamou properties in the region of Hierissos, to pay for for her commemoration and for the salvation of her soul
Certainty: 1 Theodoros Prodromos was ill with a severe sickness (smallpox?). Theodoros Prodromos was afflicted with a very serious illness, the symptoms of which are described with more or less precision in several of his works, reminding some modern experts of smallpox. It is plain that it reduced his quality of life for a considerable (though indeterminate) period - months, perhaps even years. He described some hot iron treatment he received to Eirene the sebastokratorissa: the treatment was more painful than the disease. He apologised to Stephanos Meles, logothetes of the dromos, and to the epi tou kanikleiou, for not keeping appointments, with brief lists of symptoms and profound wishes that his torment would end. Finally he devoted two substantial poems to his sickness, showing poetic versatility by writing in hexameters, which do not, however, make it easy to work out what was wrong with him
Certainty: 0 Usama on Frankish women. Salim, a bathkeeper at Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, was once approached by a Frankish customer to have his pubic hair shaved. The Frank was very pleased with the result, and soon brought another customer for the same service - his wife. Majd al-Din Abu Salama Murshid, Usama's father, once noticed a pretty young girl among a group of Frankish prisoners he had captured. He cleaned her up a little and sent her as a gift to his friend, Shihab al-Din Malik b. Salim, Lord of Qal'at Ja'bar. Malik liked her and she became his concubine, bearing him a son, Badran. After Malik's death Badran became his successor, ruling under his mother's influence. Despite being the real power behind Badran's throne, she showed her Frankish race by escaping to Saruj and marrying a Frankish shoemaker. Usama once was in Tiberias during a Frankish feast and saw a race between two old women with a pig for a prize. He once saw a Frankish woman in a bathhouse (for men) at Tyre; her father had brought her with him to wash her hair
Certainty: 0 Usama on Frankish medicine. The lord of al-Munaytira wrote to 'Izz al-Din Abu l-'Asakir Sultan asking him to send him a physician, so as to cure some sick people. Sultan sent a Christian doctor from Shayzar named Thabit. He went to al-Munaytira, but returned after only ten days, saying he had been unable to help. His first patient was a Frankish knight with an abscess on his leg. He had applied a poultice, and it improved, but a Frankish doctor had ridiculed this treatment; instead of treating the abscess, he cut off the leg, leading to the knight's death. Next came an imbecile Frankish woman, whom Thabit cured by putting her on a diet to replace her previous food of garlic and mustard, which had led to the imbecility. But the same Frankish doctor shaved off her hair while allowing her to revert to her previous diet, so the imbecility returned. Then he incised her skull with a razor, peeled off the skin and rubbed it with salt, causing instant death. Thabit's medicine was useless. But Frankish medicine did have its successes: king Fulk had a villainous treasurer, a knight named Bernard, who had a nasty wound on his leg from a horse's kick, open in fourteen places. This was cured by a Frankish doctor who removed all ointments from it and washed it with vinegar. Abu l-Fath, an artisan from Shayzar, was once in Antioch on business with his son, who suffered badly from scrofula. A man from Antioch taught him an effective remedy, on condition that he did not ask for money to use it on others. The remedy, involving glasswort, olive oil, vinegar, burnt lead and ghee butter, was tried out by Usama, who guaranteed that it worked. Wiiliam of Bures, on a journey from Acre to Tiberias, told Usama and Mu'in al-Din Anar of a priest who, instead of laying on hands to cure a man, blocked his nose with wax to save him suffering
Certainty: 1 Usama often visited Fulk I & the kingdom of Jerusalem. Usama used frequently to visit Fulk I of Jerusalem, during Fulk's truce with Jamal al-Din Muhammad, the Atabeg of Damascus. There was a family connection, because Fulk's father-in-law, Baldwin II, had an obligation towards Usama's father Murshid. Sometimes Usama was accompanied by Mu'in al-Din Anar, vizier of Damascus. Usama and Anar once saw a Genoese man at Acre with a falcon and a bitch newly brought from the west, for hunting cranes. Anar asked Fulk for the pair as a present, and Fulk complied, but the falcon died shortly afterwards without hunting again. Another time Usama was offered a leopard for sale at Haifa: he refused it, but was impressed with the way its Frankish owner had trained it. In Jerusalem, whenever he entered the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Templars there, who were his friends, evacuated the adjoining little mosque, which had been turned into a church, to let him pray. On one visit he was repeatedly interrupted in the little mosque by a very rude Frank, who tried to persuade him to pray facing the east. Anar, in the Dome of the Rock, was asked by a Frank whether he wanted to see God as a child; when he answered in the affirmative, he was shown a picture of the Virgin and Child. Rainier of Brus, the lord of Banyas, had stolen flocks of sheep from the Arabs in a time of truce. At Usama's request, Fulk had Rainier tried before six or seven knights of his court. He was fined for the offence. On visits to Acre, Usama would often ransom prisoners, and once he wanted to ransom many from William Jiba (?). As he did not have enough money with him, he went back to Damascus for more, then returned, only to find that the captives had escaped. He could only ransom one female prisoner. Usama once was in Tiberias during a Frankish feast and saw a race between two old women with a pig for a prize. He once saw a Frankish woman in a bathhouse (for men) at Tyre; her father had brought her with him to wash her hair