History of the Crusades. Episode 48 the decline of Byzantium.

Hello again.

Last week we looked at the year 1180, in which Sabilla married and Emperor Manuel died.

This week we will examine the ramifications of Manuel's death for the Byzantine Empire. Now, upon his death, Manuel's 11-year-old son became

the new emperor. We've seen what happened in the Muslim world when the strong leader Nura-Din died, leaving his young son to rule.

And we've seen what happened in the kingdom of Jerusalem when the strong ruler King of Marrick died, leaving his young son to rule.

Well, the chaos and discord which arose in those two situations pales in comparison to what occurred in the Byzantine

Empire when young Emperor Alexius II took the purple. Now as was mentioned last week because of the trust he

placed in the prediction of the court astrologers who told him that he would

rule for another 14 years, Manuel hadn't done a lot of planning for his son's succession. The 11-year-old Emperor Alexius II was diplomatically described by John Julius Norwich in his book by

Zantium The Decline and Fall as, and I quote, an unimpressive child end of quote the young emperor's

contemporaries however were not so kind describing him as vain and full of pride

yet so lacking in ability and insight that he was incapable of performing the simplest tasks.

He was also fast developing a reputation for viciousness.

Luckily, he wasn't required to rule on his own.

Following an age-old imperial tradition, his mother, Mary of Antioch, was installed as regent, to rule on his behalf until he came of age.

As you can tell from her name Mary was a Latin Christian from the

crusader states and was in fact the first Latin Christian to rule the Byzantine

Empire.

The citizens of Constantinople had been disquietened by Emperor Manuel's Western leanings, and

now to their great consternation they had a Western ruler.

Their concerns were heightened when Empress Mary appointed a man confusingly named Alexius Komninus as her advisor.

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