Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, Episode 241, Hungary for security.

Last time in the narrative it was 1161 and Manorwheel Comdenos had brought peace to

Byzantium. During the course of his 17 years on the throne, the emperor had made peace

deals with the Normans, the Serbs, the Hungarians, the Venetians, the Turks of Iconium, the Armenians

in Celicia and the leading men of Uttarmyra. You couldn't fault his efforts, he really had

attended to foreign affairs and attempted to find equilibrium with the empire's neighbours.

The question now was what would he do next. It's from this point on that I begin to question

Manorwheel's decision making. I assumed that like his father and grandfather, he would

return to Anatolia to campaign against the Turks. But the emperor largely ignored

them, focusing instead on the Balkans, Italy and Uttarmyra. Since Manorwheel knew infinitely

more about the situation than I do, I owe it to him to attempt to justify his choices.

That will be slightly easier this week than next, but I'll give it my best shot. Today,

Manorwheel will spend the best part of a decade focused on the kingdom of Hungary and the

wider security situation in the Balkans. The emperor was apparently not happy with the

state of affairs that had prevailed for the last century and wanted a more permanent

peace settled in Byzantium's favour.

As you've probably noticed over the course of the last century, both the Serbians and

Hungarians would periodically poke the empire with a stick. This would usually take the

form of raiding imperial territory or capturing border forts which the Romans only lightly

defended. Inevitably, the emperor would have to march across the Balkans to remind them

why this was a bad idea. A peace would be signed and then the cycle would start again,

five, ten or fifteen years later. It was tiresome, but seemed like the price of doing business

...