Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 235,

Sundered by Gold.

Last time we looked at the consequences of the second crusade on imperial policy.

The passage of huge Latin armies through the Balkans had been worrying enough for Manoel Comdenos,

but the appearance of a Norman fleet in the Aegean, sacking Byzantine towns, was an existential threat.

The Latins were clearly powerful enough to take Constantinople, something which had never before been the case.

Manoel responded by realigning his priorities.

The pursuit of Antioch would have to take a back seat to shutting down the Normans of Sicily.

The fledgling kingdom of Roger II was too strong and too distant to be wiped out by the Byzantines alone,

but perhaps with German assistance its wings could be properly clipped.

As we heard last episode, Manoel's plans for Italy were delayed for several years because of conflicts with Serbia and Hungary.

The Emperor couldn't send troops across the Adriatic while the Balkans were in turmoil, but he could send diplomats.

So while Manoel put out fires on the Danube, imperial agents armed with cash were dispatched to Ancona.

Ancona is a port city on the east coast of Italy, but it's a long way from Apulia.

It's much closer to Ravenna than to Bari, but it was the nearest friendly harbor the Byzantines could access.

The two leaders of this embassy were John Duques and Michael Palielochos, both were descendants of major figures from Alexius' court and were trusted by Manoel.

They were given a large sum of money and ordered to spread it around to those who might be interested in rebelling against the new Norman King.

You might think that the Venetians would have been helpful during this time, but they weren't.

Although the merchants of Venice wanted to shut Norman shipping down, they didn't really want the Romans to return to Apulia.

If the empire gained control of both coasts of the Adriatic, they might become less dependent on Venetian aid.

So Duques and Palielochos were on their own and began to make inquiries amongst the many noblemen of central and southern Italy.

Plenty of people were interested, but no one was biting yet.

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