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92-457: Very little is known about his life. Further developing a genre begun by Nicholas Kallikles , he wrote many occasional poems for a widespread circle of patrons at the Byzantine court. Some of the literary pieces attributed to him are unpublished, while still others may be wrongly attributed to him. Even so, there does emerge from these writings the figure of an author in reduced circumstances, with

184-477: A novel in verse, Rhodanthe and Dosikles ( Τὰ κατὰ Ῥοδάνθην καὶ Δοσικλέα ) in 9 books. The Battle of Cats and Mice (Κατομυομαχία) is a parody drama of the classical Greek tragedies , with dramatic roles for the mice. The action takes place off stage, and is related in two speeches by the messenger. A deus ex machina saves the mice from the housecat in the end. He also wrote "Iambic and Dactyllic Quatrains on 293 Biblical Verses". The iambic quatrains are in

276-534: A bid to take the Byzantine throne by force is highly likely. Such a coalition did not materialise, but Isaac seems to have retained strong support in Constantinople. In 1132 John had to return from campaign in haste, when news reached him that conspirators in Constantinople had made an appeal to Isaac to become their ruler. The triumph that John celebrated following his capture of Kastamuni in 1133 can be seen as being

368-526: A blinded claimant to the Hungarian throne, John aroused the suspicion of the Hungarians. The Hungarians, led by Stephen II , then invaded Byzantium's Balkan provinces in 1127, with hostilities lasting until 1129; however, an alternative chronology has been suggested with the Hungarian attack and Byzantine retaliation taking place in 1125 with a renewal of hostilities in 1126. John launched a punitive raid against

460-418: A bridge they were crossing collapsed as they were fleeing from a Byzantine attack. Following this the Hungarians renewed hostilities by attacking Braničevo, which was immediately rebuilt by John. Further Byzantine military successes, Choniates mentions several engagements, resulted in a restoration of peace. The Byzantines were confirmed in their control of Braničevo, Belgrade and Zemun and they also recovered

552-554: A favourable treaty, and then launched a devastating surprise attack upon their fortified camp. The ensuing Battle of Beroia was hard-fought, John was wounded in the leg by an arrow, but by the end of the day the Byzantine army had won a crushing victory. The decisive moment of the battle was when John led the Varangian Guard , largely composed of Englishmen, to assault defensive Pecheneg wagon laager , employing their famous axes to hack their way in. The battle put an effective end to

644-493: A full treasury. Alexios' advice on rulership therefore continued to be available to his son, even after the old emperor's death. The increase in military security and economic stability within Byzantine western Anatolia created by John II's campaigns allowed him to begin the establishment of a formal provincial system in these regions. The theme (province) of Thrakesion was re-established, with its administrative centre at Philadelphia . A new theme, named Mylasa and Melanoudion ,

736-438: A marked inclination towards begging, who was in close touch with the court circles during the reigns of John II Komnenos (1118–1143) and Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180). He was given a prebend by Manuel I, and he ended his life as a monk . Despite the panegyric and conventional treatment, his writings, often produced on some public occasion, provide important information on many aspects of contemporary Byzantine history . There

828-405: A planned pilgrimage to Jerusalem on which he intended to take his army. King Fulk of Jerusalem , fearing that the emperor's presence with overwhelming military force would constrain him to make an act of homage and formally recognise Byzantine suzerainty over his kingdom, begged the emperor to bring only a modest escort. Fulk cited the inability of his largely barren kingdom to support the passage of

920-539: A public affirmation of John's legitimacy as emperor embodied in the celebration of the defeat of external foes. The brothers were briefly reconciled in 1138, and Isaac returned to Constantinople; however, a year later Isaac was exiled to Heraclea Pontica , where he remained for the rest of John's life. In the extensive artwork that Isaac commissioned, he made much of his porphyrogenete status and his relationship with his imperial father, Alexios I, but he made little or no reference to his relationship to his brother John, or to

1012-491: A recognition of his royal title from the Pope in 1139 ( Treaty of Mignano ). Lothair's successor Conrad III was approached in 1140 for a royal German bride for John's youngest son Manuel. Bertha of Sulzbach , Conrad's sister-in-law, was chosen and despatched to Byzantium. At much the same time Roger II applied to John II for an imperial bride for his son, but was unsuccessful. John's penchant for interfering with his wife's family,

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1104-510: A substantial army. This lukewarm response resulted in John ;II deciding to postpone his pilgrimage. John descended rapidly on northern Syria, forcing Joscelin II of Edessa to render hostages, including his daughter, as a guarantee of his good behaviour. He then advanced on Antioch demanding that the city and its citadel be surrendered to him. Raymond of Poitiers played for time, putting the proposal to

1196-520: A very learned and cultivated man, and was in possession of a fine library. As a court poet , he was, along with his contemporary Theodore Prodromos , the major exponent of the genre of poetic panegyrics praising the Komnenian system's leading aristocrats: his major themes are their wealth and noble descent. He also dedicated poems to individual artifacts such as icons , and a number of reliquary inscriptions are attributed to him. The date of his death

1288-438: Is a strongly satirical vein in his works, which range from epigrams and dialogues to letters and occasional pieces in both prose and verse . He had a biting sense of humour, and his comments are shrewd and pithy. The literary activity of Theodore Prodromos was vast and versatile, and there survive many of his writings in the literary Byzantine Greek language. Taking example by Heliodorus of Emesa 's Aethiopica , he wrote

1380-687: Is known of the history of John's domestic rule or policies. The Latin historian William of Tyre described John as short and unusually ugly, with eyes, hair and complexion so dark he was known as 'the Moor '. Yet despite his physical appearance, John was known as Kaloïōannēs , "John the Good" or "John the Beautiful"; the epithet referred to his character. Both his parents were unusually pious and John surpassed them. Members of his court were expected to restrict their conversation to serious subjects only. The food served at

1472-571: Is not all that surprising, as it is already found in the writings of Michael Glykas . However, many scholars think that neither the monastic satire (C) nor the satire on the writer (E) can be reconciled with the life of Theodore Prodromos. Others suggest that Hilarion was Theodore's son, ascribing the wrong authorship references in the manuscripts to the later copyists . However, no evidence has been found to support this hypothesis. Nicholas Kallikles Nicholas Kallikles ( Greek : Νικόλαος Καλλικλῆς , romanized :  Nikólaos Kalliklēs )

1564-496: Is only a parallel of the poem C. The poem E describes a Byzantine writer. The manuscripts signify that the author of these poems is a Prodromos, Theodore Prodromos etc. with further variations. One manuscript of the monastic satire (C) signifies that the author is Hilarion (Ptocho)prodromos, and this name is found again in the poem D. This name has always been identified with the famous novelist, poet and writer Theodore Prodromos, who wrote in purist Byzantine Greek. The bilingualism

1656-644: Is recorded as having tried hard to persuade the dying emperor that Isaac was the better candidate to succeed, was instrumental in ensuring that Manuel's assumption of power was free from any overt opposition. Historian John Birkenmeier argued that John's reign was the most successful of the Komnenian period. In The Development of the Komnenian Army 1081–1180, he stresses the wisdom of John's approach to warfare, which focused on sieges rather than risking pitched battles. Birkenmeier argues that John's strategy of launching annual campaigns with limited, realistic objectives

1748-423: Is unknown. His latest known composition is an epitaph for John II, which was composed before the emperor's actual death, probably circa 1142. John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( Greek : Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός , romanized :  Iōannēs ho Komnēnos ; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as " John the Beautiful " or " John

1840-604: The sebastokrator Isaac ). Adrian had become a monk, adopting the monastic name John, and had accompanied the emperor on his campaigns of 1138. Soon afterwards, Adrian was appointed Archbishop of Bulgaria as John IV of Ohrid. Bulgaria was an autocephalous see and required a prestigious man as archbishop. Though he fought a number of notable pitched battles, the military strategy of John II relied on taking and holding fortified settlements in order to construct defensible frontiers. John personally conducted approximately twenty five sieges during his reign. In 1119–1121 John defeated

1932-660: The Battle of Lake Pousgouse . Also, though it was relatively easy to extract submission and admissions of vassalage from the Anatolian Turks, Serbs and Crusader States of the Levant, converting these relationships into concrete gains for the security of the Empire had proven elusive. These problems were left for his gifted and mercurial son, Manuel, to attempt to solve. John II Komnenos married Princess Piroska of Hungary (renamed Irene),

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2024-612: The Danishmendid emirate in Malatya (Melitene) on the upper Euphrates from 1130 to 1135. Thanks to his energetic campaigning, Turkish attempts at expansion in Asia Minor were halted, and John prepared to take the fight to the enemy. In order to restore the region to Byzantine control, he led a series of well planned and executed campaigns against the Turks, one of which resulted in the reconquest of

2116-585: The Ionian Sea . Eventually John was forced to come to terms; the war was costing him more than it was worth, and he was not prepared to transfer funds from the imperial land forces to the navy for the construction of new ships. John re-confirmed the treaty of 1082, in August 1126. John's marriage to the Hungarian princess Piroska involved him in the dynastic struggles of the Kingdom of Hungary . In giving asylum to Álmos,

2208-549: The Principality of Armenian Cilicia , and in 1138 Prince Levon I of Armenia and most of his family were brought as captives to Constantinople. This opened the route to the Principality of Antioch , where Raymond of Poitiers , Prince of Antioch, and Joscelin II , Count of Edessa , recognized themselves as vassals of the emperor in 1137. Even Raymond II , the Count of Tripoli , hastened northwards to pay homage to John, repeating

2300-640: The Seljuq Turks , establishing his control over southwestern Anatolia . However, immediately afterwards, in 1122, John quickly transferred his troops to Europe to counter a Pecheneg invasion across the Danube frontier into Paristrion . These invaders had been auxiliaries of Vladimir Monomakh , the Prince of Kiev . John surrounded the Pechenegs as they burst into Thrace , tricked them into believing that he would grant them

2392-603: The Serbs , who had dangerously aligned themselves with Hungary, many of whom were rounded up and transported to Nicomedia in Asia Minor to serve as military colonists. This was done partly to cow the Serbs into submission (Serbia was, at least nominally, a Byzantine protectorate), and partly to strengthen the Byzantine frontier in the east against the Turks. The Serbs were forced to acknowledge Byzantine suzerainty once again. The Serbian campaign may have taken place between two distinct phases in

2484-400: The vernacular , has passed down to us under the name of " Ptōchopródromos ", however it has still not been established with certainty whether these poems were written by him or by someone who was imitating, or possibly even parodying, the true Theodore Prodromos. An attempt was made at resolving the problem of authorship by putting forward a hypothesis that there had actually been two poets of

2576-631: The Anatolian peninsula. In the southeast, John extended Byzantine control from the Maeander in the west all the way to Cilicia and Tarsus in the east. In an effort to demonstrate the Byzantine ideal of the emperor's role as the leader of the Christian world, John marched into Muslim Syria at the head of the combined forces of Byzantium and the Crusader states ; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed

2668-401: The Byzantine armies. It has been suggested that references to Axouch's possession of the imperial seal early in the reign of John's successor Manuel I meant that he was, in addition to his military duties, the head of the civil administration of the Empire. This was an unofficial position known at the time as the mesazon , and equivalent to a vizier or 'prime-minister.' Such an appointment

2760-626: The East John attempted, like his father, to exploit the differences between the Seljuq Sultan of Iconium and the Danishmendid dynasty controlling the northeastern, inland, parts of Anatolia. In 1134 the Seljuq sultan Masoud provided troops for John's attack on the Danishmend-held city of Kastamuni (reoccupied immediately after the Byzantine conquest of 1133), however, the alliance proved unreliable as

2852-509: The Good " ( Greek : Καλοϊωάννης , romanized :  Kaloïōannēs ), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina and the second emperor to rule during the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire . As he was born to a reigning emperor, he had the status of a porphyrogennetos . John was a pious and dedicated monarch who was determined to undo

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2944-521: The Grand Domestic besieged and recaptured Laodicea in 1119 and took Sozopolis by storm in 1120, re-opening land communication with Attaleia. This route was especially important as it also led to Cilicia and the Crusader states of Syria. Following the end of hostilities with Hungary, John was able to concentrate on Asia Minor during most of his remaining years. He undertook annual campaigns against

3036-519: The Holy City (1142). The reign of John II was taken up with almost constant warfare and, unlike his father who delighted in active participation in theological and doctrinal disputes, John appears to have been content to leave ecclesiastical matters to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the church hierarchy. Only when religion impinged directly on imperial policy, as in relations with

3128-450: The Levant was in 1137 when he extracted formal homage from the rulers of the Principality of Antioch , County of Edessa and the County of Tripoli . The Byzantine desire to be seen as holding a level of suzerainty over all of the Crusader states was taken seriously, as evidenced by the alarm shown in the Kingdom of Jerusalem when John informed King Fulk of his plan for an armed pilgrimage to

3220-605: The Normans of Sicily. Overall, it is clear that John II Komnenos left the empire a great deal better off than he had found it. By the time of his death substantial territories had been recovered, and the goals of the recovery of control over central Anatolia and the re-establishment of a frontier on the Euphrates seemed achievable. However some Greeks of the interior of Anatolia were becoming increasingly accustomed to Turkish rule and often found it preferable to that of Byzantium, as seen in

3312-550: The Pechenegs as an independent people; many of the captives taken in the conflict were settled as soldier-farmers within the Byzantine frontier. After his accession, John II had refused to confirm his father's 1082 treaty with the Republic of Venice , which had given the Italian republic unique and generous trading rights within the Byzantine Empire. Yet the change in policy was not motivated by financial concerns. An incident involving

3404-535: The Ptochoprodromic writings consists of five laments and begging poems, which are marked as ABCDE. The poem A laments over the poet's garrulous wife and calls for help from emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143). The poem B is addressed to a sebastokrator and begs for charity to improve the menu. The poem C, addressed to emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180), relates a young monk's complaint over scandalous living circumstances in his monastery . The poem D

3496-400: The Seljuq troops abandoned the expedition, decamping during the night. In the Crusader states of the Levant it was generally admitted that the Byzantine claims over Antioch were legally valid, though it was pragmatically viewed that only when the Byzantine emperor was in a position to enforce them militarily were they likely to be recognised in practice. The high point of John's diplomacy in

3588-736: The Vulgar Greek, and the Dactyllic quatrains are in the Homeric Greek. He also wrote two satirical poems, one against a lustful old woman ( Κατὰ φιλοπόρνου γραός ), and the other against an old bearded man ( Κατὰ μακρογενείου γέροντος ). There also survives an astrological poem on the power and meaning of planets . The Verses on the Twelve Months ( Στίχοι εἰς τοὺς δώδεκα μῆνας ) are important for contemporary cultural history . Prodromos also wrote numerous occasional poems and epigrams , often on

3680-477: The absence of both emperors. In 1108, the Treaty of Devol recorded the submission of the defeated Bohemond I of Antioch to " ... the great Emperor Kyr[ios] Alexios Komnenos and of your thrice-loved son, Emperor Kyr John born in the purple". This leaves no doubt as to John's status as co-emperor and heir apparent. John II succeeded his father as ruling basileus in 1118. Despite his earlier coronation as co-emperor,

3772-474: The abuse of a member of the imperial family by Venetians led to a dangerous conflict, especially as Byzantium had depended on Venice for its naval strength. After a Byzantine retaliatory attack on Kerkyra , John exiled the Venetian merchants from Constantinople. But this produced further retaliation, and a Venetian fleet of 72 ships plundered Rhodes , Chios , Samos , Lesbos , Andros and captured Kefalonia in

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3864-517: The accession of John was contested. That Alexios I favoured John to succeed him is made obvious by the elevation of his son to the position of co-emperor. However, Alexios' influential wife, Irene , favoured the Caesar Nikephoros Bryennios , the husband of her eldest child Anna Komnene . Anna, who in infancy had been betrothed to her father's first co-emperor Constantine Doukas , herself harboured obvious aspirations to power and

3956-512: The ancestral home of the Komnenoi at Kastamonu (Kastra Komnenon); he then left a garrison of 2,000 men at Gangra . John quickly earned a formidable reputation as a wall-breaker, taking one stronghold after another from his enemies. Regions that had been lost to the empire since the Battle of Manzikert were recovered and garrisoned. Yet resistance, particularly from the Danishmends of the northeast,

4048-483: The campaign in Syria, his allies Prince Raymond of Antioch and Count Joscelin II of Edessa remained in their camp playing dice and feasting instead of helping to press the siege of the city of Shaizar . The Crusader Princes were suspicious of each other and of John, and neither wanted the other to gain from participating in the campaign. Raymond also wanted to hold on to Antioch, which he had agreed to hand over to John if

4140-403: The campaign was successful in capturing Aleppo , Shaizar , Homs , and Hama . Latin and Muslim sources describe John's energy and personal courage in prosecuting the siege. The city was taken, but the citadel defied assault. The Emir of Shaizar offered to pay a large indemnity, become John's vassal, and pay yearly tribute. John had lost all confidence in his allies, and a Muslim army under Zengi

4232-417: The campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by the evasiveness of his Crusader allies and their reluctance to fight alongside his forces. Under John, the empire's population recovered to about 10 million people. The quarter-century of John II's reign is less well recorded by contemporary or near-contemporary writers than the reigns of either his father, Alexios I , or his son, Manuel I . In particular little

4324-551: The city directed at John and the local Greek community. John had little choice but to leave Syria with his ambitions only partially realised. In early 1142 John campaigned against the Seljuqs of Iconium to secure his lines of communication through Attalia ( Antalya ). During this campaign his eldest son and co-emperor Alexios died of a fever. Having secured his route, John embarked on a new expedition into Syria determined to reduce Antioch to direct imperial rule. This expedition included

4416-522: The city of Neocaesarea , in 1140. The Byzantines were defeated by the conditions rather than by the Turks: the weather was very bad, large numbers of the army's horses died, and provisions became scarce. In the Levant, the emperor sought to reinforce Byzantine claims to suzerainty over the Crusader States and to assert his rights over Antioch. In 1137 he conquered Tarsus , Adana , and Mopsuestia from

4508-708: The course of the quarter-century of his reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the west, decisively defeated the Pechenegs , Hungarians and Serbs in the Balkans , and personally led numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor . John's campaigns fundamentally changed the balance of power in the east, forcing the Turks onto the defensive; they also led to the recapture of many towns, fortresses and cities across

4600-497: The damage his empire had suffered following the Battle of Manzikert , half a century earlier. John has been assessed as the greatest of the Komnenian emperors. This view became entrenched due to its espousal by George Ostrogorsky in his influential book, History of the Byzantine State , where John is described as a ruler who, "... combined clever prudence with purposeful energy ... and [was] high principled beyond his day." In

4692-423: The emperor's table was very frugal and John lectured courtiers who lived in excessive luxury. His speech was dignified, but he engaged in repartee on occasion. All accounts agree that he was a faithful husband to his wife, an unusual trait in a medieval ruler. Despite his personal austerity, John had a high conception of the imperial role and would appear in full ceremonial splendour when this was advantageous. John

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4784-415: The governance of the empire. In the reign of Alexios I sebastokratores had wielded considerable power and Isaac would have had an expectation of a similar level of authority being devolved on himself. This thwarted ambition is probably what disillusioned Isaac with his brother's rule. Isaac aimed at replacing his brother as emperor. In 1130 John became aware of a plot involving Isaac and other magnates as he

4876-490: The holy baptism in the holy church of Hagia Sophia by the Patriarch. He was named John and his father then crowned him with a diadem". At a young age he was associated with his father as co-emperor, sometime between 1 September and early November, 1092. The first act in the name of both emperors was issued on 15 November 1092. The occasion of John's elevation was celebrated by a special issue of coins with his parents depicted on

4968-460: The homage that his predecessor had given John's father in 1109. There then followed a joint campaign as John led the armies of Byzantium, Antioch, and Edessa against Muslim Syria. Aleppo proved too strong to attack during an attempted siege , but the fortresses of Balat, Biza'a , Athareb , Maarat al-Numan , and Kafartab were taken by assault. Although John fought hard for the Christian cause in

5060-452: The imperial family and its connections, John's court and government had many similarities to that of his father, not least in its serious tone and piety. Indeed, an extant collection of political advice couched in poetic form, called the Mousai , are attributed to Alexios I. The Mousai are addressed directly to John II and exhort him, amongst other things, to maintain justice during his reign and

5152-540: The less active occupation of historian. However, Nikephoros remained on good terms with his brother-in-law. One of the very few records of John's own words concerns the plot against him; he says that after ascending the throne, God "destroyed the cunning plots of my visible and invisible enemies and rescued me from every trap subjecting all my enemies under my feet". To safeguard his own succession, John crowned his young son Alexios as co-emperor around September 1119. The family intrigues that challenged his succession to

5244-399: The manners of his age. Descriptions of him and his actions indicate that he had great self-control and personal courage, and was an excellent strategist and general. John was born on 13 September 1087, the third child and first son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and his wife Irene Doukaina. Joannes Zonaras describes John's birth, "And then a son was born to the emperor, who was honoured with

5336-472: The monastery and obtained the imperial signet ring from his father. He then assembled his armed followers and rode to the Great Palace , gathering the support of the citizenry on the way. The palace guard at first refused to admit John without clear proof of his father's wishes, however, the mob surrounding the new emperor simply forced an entry. In the palace John was acclaimed emperor. Irene, taken by surprise,

5428-703: The monastery as being in the form of a heroon ; this emulates the older mausolea of Constantine and Justinian in the Church of the Holy Apostles . Very active persecution of the followers of the Paulician and Bogomil heresies characterised the last few years of the reign of Alexios I. No records from the reign of John mention such persecution, though countermeasures against heresy by the Byzantine Church remained in force. A permanent synod in Constantinople investigated

5520-415: The most important and influential architectural constructions of Middle Byzantine Constantinople. Attached to the monastery was a hospital, of 5 wards, open to people of all social classes. The hospital was staffed by trained layman doctors rather than monks. The central of the three churches was the Komnenian funerary chapel, dedicated to St. Michael. It had twin domes, and is described in the typikon of

5612-443: The night following his son's decisive move to take power. John refused to attend his father's funeral, despite the pleas of his mother, because he feared a counter-coup. However, in the space of a few days, his position seemed secure. Within a year of his accession, however, John II uncovered a conspiracy to overthrow him which implicated his mother and sister. Anna's husband Nikephoros had little sympathy with her ambitions, and it

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5704-460: The occasion of some public event of historical significance, or for the purpose of begging for something; a few religious poems and treatises on the topics of theology , philosophy and grammar ; dialogues written in the style of Lucian of Samosata ; a hagiography of Saint Meletios the Younger ; occasional speeches, epistles and many other writings. One collection of four poems, written in

5796-587: The papacy and the possible union of the Greek and Latin churches, did John take an active part. He organised a number of disputations between Greek and Latin theologians. John, alongside his wife who shared in his religious and charitable works, is known to have undertaken church building on a considerable scale, including construction of the Monastery of Christ Pantokrator ( Zeyrek Mosque ) in Constantinople. This monastery, with its three churches, has been described as one of

5888-583: The primary sources. John's final action as emperor was to choose Manuel , the younger of his surviving sons, to be his successor. John is recorded as citing two main reasons for choosing Manuel over his older brother Isaac : Isaac's irascibility, and the courage that Manuel had shown on campaign at Neocaesarea . Another theory alleges that the reason for this choice was the AIMA prophecy , which foretold that John's successor should be one whose name began with an "M". Fittingly, John's close friend John Axouch, although he

5980-524: The region of Sirmium (called Frangochorion in Choniates), which had been Hungarian since the 1060s. The Hungarian pretender Álmos died in 1129, removing the major source of friction. Early in John's reign the Turks were pressing forward against the Byzantine frontier in western Asia Minor. In 1119, the Seljuqs had cut the land route to the city of Attaleia on the southern coast of Anatolia. John II and Axouch

6072-682: The regions along the Sangarios River , striking their means of subsistence by driving off their herds. He then marched for the final time against the Danishmend Turks , his army proceeding along the southern coast of the Black Sea through Bithynia and Paphlagonia . The breakaway Byzantine regime of Constantine Gabras in Trebizond was ended, and the region of Chaldia brought back under direct imperial control. John then besieged but failed to take

6164-439: The rest of his reign. John appointed a number of his father's former officials to senior administrative posts, men such as Eustathios Kamytzes , Michaelitzes Styppeiotes and George Dekanos . These were men who had been politically eclipsed during the ascendancy exercised by John's mother in the later years of the reign of Alexios I. A number of 'new men' were raised to prominence by John II, these included Gregory Taronites who

6256-529: The reverse and John crowned by Christ on the obverse. Alexios I arranged a dynastic marriage for John. In 1104 or early 1105 John was married to the Hungarian princess Piroska , daughter of King Ladislaus I of Hungary . She was given the Greek name Irene, meaning 'peace', in Byzantium. This marriage sealed a political alliance, which would strengthen Byzantium's position in the Balkans and Adriatic. In 1106 Alexios I

6348-468: The rulers of Hungary, was problematic. The welcome accorded to ousted claimants of the Hungarian throne in Constantinople was seen by the Byzantines as a useful insurance policy and source of political leverage. However, the Hungarians treated this interference as a fighting matter. A Hungarian alliance with the Serbs produced serious consequences for continued Byzantine dominance in the western Balkans. In

6440-434: The same name. The evidence was found in one verse among the Ptochoprodromic writings, where the author praises the "famous writer, harmonious swallow" , who was his "friend and predecessor" . However, in distinguishing which poems belong to whom of the two poets, one comes across the unsurpassable obstacles. It was also suggested, without much evidence, that one Prodromos died in 1152, and the other in 1166. The basic part of

6532-404: The throne probably contributed to John's approach to rulership, which was to appoint men from outside the imperial family to high office. This was a radical departure from the methods of his father, who had used the imperial family and its many connections to fill almost all senior administrative and military posts. John Axouch was John II's closest adviser and was his only intimate friend. Axouch

6624-474: The throne. During Alexios' final illness both wife and daughter exploited his physical weakness to apply pressure on him in support of their agenda for the succession. Alexios endured these constant demands without formally changing his intended successor. As Alexios lay dying in the monastery of the Mangana on 15 August 1118, John, relying on trusted relatives, especially his brother Isaac Komnenos , gained entry into

6716-529: The title of sebastokrator that he had received from him. The central tenet of the foreign policy of John II in the West was to maintain an alliance with the German emperors ( Holy Roman Empire ). This was necessary to limit the threat posed by the Normans of southern Italy to Byzantine territory in the Balkans. This threat became especially acute after Roger II of Sicily made himself supreme in southern Italy and assumed

6808-490: The title of king. Emperor Lothair III had Byzantine backing, including a large financial subsidy, for his invasion of Norman territory in 1136, which reached as far south as Bari . Pope Innocent II , with the Church's possessions in Italy under threat by Roger II, who supported Antipope Anacletus II , was also party to the alliance of Lothair and John II. However, this alliance proved unable to resist Roger, who extracted by force

6900-579: The vote of the Antiochene general assembly. With the season well advanced John decided to take his army into winter quarters in Cilicia, proposing to renew his attack on Antioch the following year. Having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John amused himself by hunting wild boar on Mount Taurus in Cilicia , where he accidentally cut himself on the hand with a poisoned arrow . John initially ignored

6992-502: The war against Hungary. The Hungarians attacked Belgrade , Nish and Sofia ; John, who was near Philippopolis in Thrace, counterattacked, supported by a naval flotilla operating on the Danube . After a challenging campaign, the details of which are obscure, the emperor managed to defeat the Hungarians and their Serbian allies at the fortress of Haram or Chramon, which is the modern Nova Palanka ; many Hungarian troops were killed when

7084-432: The wound and it became infected. He died a number of days after the accident, on 8 April 1143, probably of septicaemia . It has been suggested that John was assassinated by a conspiracy within the units of his army of Latin origins who were unhappy at fighting their co-religionists of Antioch, and who wanted to place his pro-western son Manuel on the throne. However, there is very little overt support for this hypothesis in

7176-492: The writings of a deceased monk named Constantine Chrysomallos which had been circulating in certain monasteries. These works were ordered to be burnt by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Leo Styppes , in May 1140, on the grounds that they incorporated elements of Bogomil belief and practices. One of the few members of the imperial family to be placed in an important position by John was his cousin, Adrian Komnenos (son of John's uncle

7268-519: Was a Turk captured as a child at the Siege of Nicaea , who had been given as a gift to John's father. Emperor Alexios had thought him a good companion for his son, and so he had been brought up alongside the prince in the imperial household. Axouch was immediately appointed Grand Domestic (in Greek: μέγας δομέστικος, megas domestikos ), upon the accession of John II. The Grand Domestic was the commander in chief of

7360-484: Was a more sensible one than that followed by his son Manuel I . According to this view, John's campaigns benefited the Byzantine Empire because they protected the empire's heartland, which lacked reliable borders, while gradually extending its territory in Asia Minor. The Turks were forced onto the defensive, while John kept his diplomatic situation relatively simple by allying with the Holy Roman Emperor against

7452-544: Was a prominent Greek physician and a leading court poet active in the Byzantine court in Constantinople during the reigns of Alexios I Komnenos ( r.  1081–1118 ) and John II Komnenos ( r.  1118–1143 ). Very little is known about Kallikles's life. What information we have comes from a short mention in the Alexiad of Anna Komnene , his correspondence with Theophylact of Ohrid and his own poems. He

7544-489: Was a well-known physician at the imperial court already before 1108. In 1118, he was one of the doctors attending Alexios I during his final illness. According to the Alexiad (XV.11.3), Kallikles was the only one to discern the gravity of the emperor's situation and to suggest the use of purgatives . As his colleagues were opposed to this, his advice was not followed. From his correspondence with Theophylact, Kallikles appears as

7636-499: Was appointed protovestiarios , Manuel Anemas and Theodore Vatatzes , the latter two also became his sons-in-law. John's marriage policy, of bringing new families into the imperial orbit, may have been directed towards lessening the influence of certain prominent aristocratic clans, such as the Doukas, Diogenes and Melissenos families, some of which had produced emperors themselves in the past. Despite his move away from close reliance on

7728-467: Was approaching to try to relieve the city, therefore the emperor reluctantly accepted the offer. The emperor was distracted by a Seljuq raid on Cilicia and developments in the west, where he was pursuing a German alliance directed against the threat posed by the Normans of Sicily . Joscelin and Raymond conspired to delay the promised handover of Antioch's citadel to the emperor, stirring up popular unrest in

7820-515: Was campaigning against the Serbs , most probably accompanied by his son John. At this time John's wife was heavily pregnant, she was with her husband on campaign, giving birth to twins, Alexios and Maria, in Balabista , Macedonia. The question arises as to why the birth was not in Constantinople. It is reasonably supposed that John did not wish to leave his unsupported wife under the control of his mother, who would have had authority in Constantinople in

7912-477: Was created to the south of Thrakesion. The younger brother of John II, Isaac , had been of essential support during the accession crisis. However, despite being given the highest of court titles, that of sebastokrator , Isaac later became estranged from his brother and became an active conspirator. With trusted advisors of his own choosing, such as John Axouch, and later the support of his son and co-emperor, Alexios, John II offered no meaningful role to Isaac in

8004-485: Was famed for his piety and his remarkably mild and just reign. He is considered an exceptional example of a moral ruler, at a time when cruelty was the norm. He is reputed never to have condemned anyone to death or mutilation. Charity was dispensed lavishly. For this reason, he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius . By the example of his personal morality and piety he effected a notable improvement in

8096-423: Was his lack of support which doomed the conspiracy. Anna was stripped of her property, which was offered to the emperor's friend John Axouch . Axouch wisely declined and his influence ensured that Anna's property was eventually returned to her and that John II and his sister became reconciled, at least to a degree. Irene retired to a monastery and Anna seems to have been effectively removed from public life, taking up

8188-576: Was leaving to campaign against the Turks. When John tried to seize Isaac, the latter escaped and fled to the Danishmend emir Ghazi , who received him, and later sent him to the breakaway Byzantine regime of the Gabrades in Trebizond . Isaac then became the guest of Masoud , the Seljuk Sultan of Rum , and subsequently of Leo , the Prince of Cilician Armenia. That Isaac was seeking aid from these princes in

8280-413: Was remarkable, and a radical departure from the nepotism that had characterised the reign of Alexios I. The imperial family harboured some degree of resentment at this decision, which was reinforced by the fact that they were required to make obeisance to John Axouch whenever they met him. John's unwillingness to allow his family to influence his government to any great extent was to remain constant for

8372-406: Was strong, and the difficult nature of holding the new conquests is illustrated by the fact that Kastamonu was recaptured by the Turks even as John was in Constantinople celebrating its return to Byzantine rule. John persevered, however, and Kastamonu soon changed hands once more. In the spring of 1139, the emperor campaigned with success against Turks, probably nomadic Turkomans, who were raiding

8464-595: Was unable either to persuade her son to step down, or to induce Nikephoros to contend for the throne. However, this account of events, in particular the involvement of John's sister, in any palace coup attempt during the days around Alexios' death, has been disputed in a recent biography of Anna. The weight of historical opinion remains that Anna tried at least twice to usurp her brother's throne, resulting in her eventual perennial 'house arrest'. Anna later complained that John and his successor, her nephew Emperor Manuel, kept her isolated from society for 30 years. Alexios died

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