Certainty: 3 Mortal injury of Ioannes II when hunting. He camped in a broad ravine under the Crows' Nests mountains. From there he went hunting and killed a boar with his spear. But the impact was such that he could not stop his hand being forced against poisoned arrows in his quiver. One pierced his fingers, the poison got into his bloodstream and would affect his vital organs and eventually kill him. At the time, however, he made light of it, staunching the blood and pus with a piece of leather. That evening he ate and slept well, but the next day the wound began to swell and throb painfully. His doctors replaced the dressing and used new ointments, but to no avail; so they tried surgery. Lancing the wound brought no relief, but the swelling spread to his hand, wrist and arm, making him and the doctors desperate. He vetoed a plan to amputate his arm with no certainty of saving him. He lay in agony, ignoring disputes over treatment. On Easter Sunday after communion and on Monday the tent was left open for petitioners, at the suggestion of Ioannes Axouch, and the banquet was distributed to everyone; as it rained heavily, the emperor's bed was moved to a dry spot while he pondered the succession, finding bad omens in the Oracles of Leo the Wise. A monk from Pamphylia was asked to hold a vigil
Certainty: 3 Deathbed speech of Ioannes II, bequeathing the throne to Manuel (I). On his deathbed he called a meeting of relations, friends and office-holders, presented Manuel to them, and made a speech, first accepting that God had frustrated his ambitions in Syria, on the Euphrates, the Tigris and in Palestine. He had lost (he claimed) none of what he had inherited from Alexios I, and hoped to have ruled well - as others would decide; he had lived mainly in tents in the open air, fighting in east and west. With God's aid he had twice broken new ground in expeditions to Syria and won new conquests; his successor should serve just as unselfishly, using the great powers of the imperial office for God and his people, not for himself. Primogeniture (as in his own accession) was one way of choosing between the siblings Isaakios and Manuel; but it was not an automatic rule (see Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David). To overturn primogeniture by choosing Manuel over Isaakios he needed reasons, something more than sentiment: both had many skills and virtues, but the crucial difference was that Isaakios was irascible while Manuel had the meekness of David. Manuel had been supported by prophecies and omens, and was really the only choice, since the elders, Alexios and Andronikos, had died, and Isaakios was inadequate. The final argument was Manuel's brave charge at Neokaisareia. William of Tyre speaks of the contrary pressure of Ioannes Axouch for Isaakios: Axouch dismissed claims that Manuel's leadership was needed to get the army home. William speaks of support for Manuel among other leaders, especially the Latins
Certainty: 2 Accession of Manuel I Komnenos. When Ioannes II indicated his preference with a long speech, the assembled elite in Cilicia and the army at once accepted Manuel. Ioannes crowned him and he wept as he accepted the symbols of rule and put on imperial costume. The ceremony at Mopsuestia was stage-managed by the megas domestikos, Ioannes Axouch, to try to discourage other candidates - especially those married into the Komnenian family - and their supporters. Manuel was acclaimed and allegiance to him pledged by each aristocrat in turn, with his retainers. He was to reign for 37 years, 5 months and 23 days. He at once sent Axouch and Basileios Tzintziloukes to manage affairs in the capital
Certainty: 3 Death of Ioannes II. After recommending Manuel to the assembled elite and the army, gaining their acceptance and crowning him, Ioannes II died some days later in the Pratum Palliorum, near Anabarzos; he was in the twenty-seventh year of his reign. Early epitaphs by Theodoros Prodromos talk of a life spent in luxury but constant, successful warfare, with a full and religious family life, all now reduced to a single tomb. Purple does not preserve you from death. His painful and early death would be ascribed by Godfrey, bishop of Langres during the Second Crusade to his anti-Christian assaults on Antioch
Certainty: 2 Ioannes II's body was loaded on shipboard at Mopsuestia & buried splendidly in the Pantokrator. After his accession Manuel I showed filial piety in carrying out in full all the appropriate rites for his father, the deceased emperor, despite the threat posed by his brother Isaakios in Constantinople and the demands of the Antiochenes that he leave. He mourned deeply, loaded Ioannes' body on a ship at Mopsuestia and founded a monastery. When the body arrived in the capital, it would be splendidly buried by the senate in the Pantokrator. After a month Manuel left Cilicia
Certainty: 2 Manuel I discouraged the Antiochenes & marched home through Turkish territory. Manuel I did all that was possible to settle matters with the people of Antioch, then astounded everybody by marching home with boldness and impunity through Turkish territory in upper Phrygia, as if it were his own. He brought the army home safely to the capital
Certainty: 2 Capture of Andronikos (I) Komnenos & Theodoros Dasiotes. During the swift journey home with Manuel I to claim the throne, Manuel's cousin Andronikos (I) and his niece's husband Theodoros Dasiotes were captured whilst hunting, and taken to Mas'ud of Ikonion. At the time Manuel was too obsessed with speed of arrival to take steps to recover them. Soon after, however, he had Andronikos (at least) freed without a ransom. However Dasiotes' wife, Maria, daughter of Manuel's deceased brother Andronikos, was soon to be called a widow
Certainty: 2 Dismay at the death of Ioannes II with the army so far from the capital. There was some panic in Constantinople when it was realised that the emperor had died with the army so far away. However Manuel, by the messengers he sent and the information they provided was able to calm the situation - a good augury for the coming reign. Ioannes Axouch and Basileios Tzintzikoukes played the most important roles
Certainty: 2 Queen Melisende founded & richly endowed a convent for nuns at Bethany . Queen Melisende, as the kingdom of Jerusalem was peaceful, founded a female monastery for the salvation of the souls of her whole family. After exchanging land with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, she built the convent at Bethany. It was fortified, provided with rich lands, precious vessels and fabrics, and an elderly and pious lady as superior. Melisende's foundation was in part motivated by a desire to help her sister Iveta, who had a subordinate position in the convent of St Anne. When the elderly superior soon died, Melisende saw her chance, and chose Iveta to replace her. At the same time she added to the rich endowments, as she would continue to do for the rest of her life
Certainty: 2 Manuel I's agents imprisoned his brother Isaakios & conciliated others. Ioannes Axouch (with Basileios Tzintziloukes) travelled to Constantinople from Mamistra with great speed. There he found Manuel's brother Isaakios still ignorant of events, and imprisoned him by a trick in the Pantokrator monastery. Isaakios soon understood what was happening, and was furious, but powerless. He supported his rights, based on the principle of primogeniture, claiming to be the rightful emperor. But his advantages in age and location, being in the palace with its resources of money and vestments, had been neutralised, though he was still a threat. William of Tyre wrote of secret orders sent to a mystikos, who was able to imprison Isaakios, although in this version he had heard of Ioannes II's death and seized the palace. Manuel also sent decrees condemning some of his own closest adherents for treason, to confuse Isaakios. After dealing with him, Axouch had Manuel acclaimed by the citizens of the capital. He also gave the clergy of Hagia Sophia a chrysobull promising an annual donation of 200 pounds of silver; he was said to be carrying a second chrysobull for the clergy offering 200 pounds of gold, in case the situation was difficult. Axouch decided that silver was enough. He then prepared for Manuel's arrival
Certainty: 2 Kaisar Ioannes Rogerios attempted a coup against Manuel I but was betrayed by his wife. Before Manuel I could reach Constantinople, his sister Maria realised that her husband, the kaisar Ioannes Rogerios Dalassenos, was trying to usurp the throne. He was making plans with Robert, prince of Capua, who had been driven out of Southern Italy by Roger II of Sicily, and was in Constantinople with many adherents. Maria tried to stop them but failed, so she told ManuelÂ's agents, who lured Ioannes to a suburban estate and detained him
Certainty: 0 Eirene the sebastokratorissa was targeted by malicious informers. In the lists of tribulations, Eirene the sebastokratorissa often lists in an early place attacks by informers, sometimes following soon after the death of her husband Andronikos
Certainty: 3 Manuel I entered Constantinople. As Manuel I reached the Asiatic shore opposite the capital, Axouch and the husbands of Manuel's sisters took a solemn oath at Chrysopolis, then conveyed him with the army across to the capital, where he dawned like the incarnation of Emmanuel on earth. He was enthusiastically welcomed, both as Ioannes II's heir but also as a young man wise beyond his years, a good and venturesome fighter, tall and handsome with an attractive smile, if slightly stooping and rather swarthy. As he reached the palace, his horse neighed, made elaborate circlings and then passed unhesitatingly through the gate only open to emperors - seen as a good omen by those interested in such things. Leon Stypes, the patriarch, had died before Manuel reached Constantinople, so he had to be replaced before the new emperor could be crowned
Certainty: 2 Later epitaph for Ioannes II recording the succession of Manuel I. An epitaph was written by Theodoros Prodromos after Manuel I was securely on the throne. Manuel is recorded as Ioannes' choice for the throne, and as having shown a son's reverence for his father's remains, natural in one who shared so many of his father's virtues
Certainty: 2 Manuel I was conciliatory both to Isaakios (his uncle) & Isaakios (his brother). Isaakios Komnenos, the brother of Ioannes II and Manuel's uncle, had earlier been exiled for plotting to gain the throne, and had now been imprisoned by Manuel's agents for still planning revolution. When Manuel reached the capital, he recalled and pardoned him, asking his forgiveness, The other Isaakios, Manuel's brother, was summoned from imprisonment in the Pantokrator and embraced in a brotherly way. Against all expectations, despite his unpredictable and irascible temper, he was reconciled to Manuel and they pledged fraternal good will. Manuel gave a donative to the army and dismissed it, and also offered two gold pieces to every household in the capital
Certainty: 2 Manuel I appointed Michael Kourkouas as patriarch, & was crowned by him. Manuel consulted widely among the imperial family, the senate and the high clergy on the choice of a new patriarch to replace the deceased Leon Stypes. Though there were many good candidates, the almost unanimous first choice for virtue and religious education was Michael Kourkouas from the monastery of Oxeia. When Michael was hesitant in accepting the charge, the Theotokos showed a physical sign of approval by moving her robe. As soon as he was installed, Michael crowned Manuel, anointing his own anointer. Manuel gave the clergy a kentenarion as a donative and offered two kentenaria per year as "second money". The mystic marriage of the patriarch with the church was celebrated by Michael Italikos with an encomium in the form of an epithalamion. There followed many ceremonies, bringing much joy and benefit to the empire
Certainty: 2 Michael Italikos pronounced a basilikos logos for the newly-installed Manuel I. On the accession of Manuel I, he received a basilikos logos from Michael Italikos. He hailed Manuel as a young renewer of the old empire of Byzantium, brilliant and hard to praise. His birth was impeccably imperial, taking place at the moment of Ioannes II's accession, a presage of his own. At the age of twelve, he continued, Manuel had seen a vision of the Theotokos predicting he would be emperor, and other omens. He was trained as a general by Ioannes II in all his campaigns, especially at Neokaisareia, where Manuel had rallied the whole army. The climax of the speech was the narration of the three terrible deaths (Alexios the co-emperor, Andronikos the sebastokrator, Ioannes II himself), which led to the accession of Manuel, then his proclamation in Cilicia and his return with the army to allay the panic which had set in in the capital. He arrived there as a veritable image of God himself
Certainty: 2 Tzetzes wrote to the patriarch Michael on behalf of a flattering supporter of his. By the pen of Ioannes Tzetzes, a flattering supporter of the patriarch Michael Oxeites wrote to him. He began with extreme praise for his generosity and ended with a personal demand for a patriarchal blessing every day of his life
Certainty: 1 Tzetzes tried to find employment for his protegé the priest Leon. Ioannes Tzetzes wrote two letters, trying to get a job at Xeros, near Apros (Thrace), for Leon the priest, brother of a good friend of his. He claimed that Alexios, nephew of the protovestiarios, who was working as a tax collector in the area, had promised him a position, and he sent Leon (with the letter) to fill it. The second recommendation reported rumours that Alexios liked employing priests local to the area. He should therefore choose Leon, either for that reason or out of affection for Tzetzes
Certainty: 1 Tzetzes tried again to have the teacher Stephanos return a tetradion to him. Tzetzes was waiting for a teacher named Stephanos to return a tetradion to him. At first he had been silent for months, but then was promised a swift return. But again weeks had passed in inaction, and he now raised the issue again, calling for an honest reply
Certainty: 1 Tzetzes demanded a letter from his friend Theodosios Autoreianos. Theodosios Autoreianos had left the capital long before, but had sent no letters to Tzetzes, who thought he was a good friend. Tzetzes censured him, demanding that he write at once, and sent good wishes from all those with him
Certainty: 1 Tzetes unwillingly wrote a letter in high Attic for a friend. A friend of Tzetzes asked him to write for him an application in high Attic. Tzetzes attacked this genre of writing, as being for those with nothing better to do; but out of friendship he wrote a text to which his friend could add content in an introduction
Certainty: 2 Roger II again asked for a Byzantine bride for his son, bribed the Byzantine ambassador, but failed. Roger II had earlier asked Ioannes II for a Byzantine bride for one of his sons, but Ioannes' death had intervened. He now repeated the request to Manuel I, and Manuel sent Basileios Xeros as an envoy to discuss the question. Roger bribed Xeros to make concessions, inclusing framing a proposed pact in a form that gave equal status to the two rulers. This apparent success was turned to failure when Manuel ignored the pact. Xeros died on the way home to Constantinople before he could be punished. Roger built a fleet to exact revenge
Certainty: 2 King Fulk died on an excursion near Acre, when he carelessly chased a hare which had been started. When Fulk and Melisende were staying in Acre, the latter desired one day to go on an excursion to a place where there were spring, to break the boredom. Fulk accompanied her, but the company started a hare, and he began to chase it. He rode carelessly, was thrown from his horse and mortally injured. His attendants rushed to his aid, but found him unconscious. Melisende lamented loudly and bitterly for her husband. He was carried to Jerusalem, where he died some three days later, having not regained consciousness after his fall. He was buried by William the patriarch in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, among the other kings. The funeral was an impressive and well-attended ceremony. Fulk left two under-age sons, Baldwin III (thirteen) and Amalric (I) (seven), under the guidance of Melisende
Certainty: 2 Foundation of monastery of Nea Mone Areias by bishop Leon of Nauplion & Argos. Leon, bishop of Nauplion and Argos built the monastery of Nea Mone (Areias) during the reign of Manuel I and the patriarchate of Nikolaos IV Mouzalon [there survive a memorandum of foundation (1143), an undated typikon and an inscription on the building (1149); the Kleinchroniken entry is confused]
Certainty: 3 Accession of Baldwin III, who reigned together with his mother Melisende. Baldwin III succeeded to the kingdom, after the death of Fulk, as a boy of thirteen, reigning together with his mother Melisende. He had one brother Amalric, who was seven (and would rule after him, as he died childless); Baldwin reigned for twenty years. He was anointed, consecrated and crowned by William the patriarch in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Christmas day, in the presence of all the barons and bishops of the kingdom. His mother Melisende was crowned with him
Certainty: 0 Toros of Armenia escaped from Constantinople & returned to Cilicia. Toros II had been in prison in Constantinople, after being captured by Ioannes II. At a date which it is hard to determine, he escaped back to Cilicia and attempted to raise a revolt
Certainty: 0 Murhaf, son of Usama, invited to visit the west. Usama made friends with a Frankish knight of Fulk of Jerusalem, who had made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was now returning to his western home. His friend offered to take Usama's son Murhaf with him to further his knightly education. Usama had to find a polite excuse to avoid sending him