Manuele I Comneno e la crociata: uno strumento di egemonia imperiale?

Historiography has often read in battle of Miriocephalus (1176), in which the Seljuks of Rûm severely defeated the Byzantine army, a sort of “Byzantine crusade”. The analysis of the surviving documentation would seem to reveal how it was Manuel I Comnenus who presented the battle in this way. In particular, a valuable source in this regard is the letter of Alexander III of 1176, addressed to France, which contains an account of the actions taken against the Turks by the emperor, followed by the incitement to carry the cross and march to the East in support of the advance of the basileus. The author’s purpose is to understand the reasons why Manuel I presented his expedition to the West in that way, highlighting the red threads of his politics and his attempt to restore Byzantine imperial power over the ecumene.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.