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John II Komnenos or Comnenus was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good", 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 the damage his empire had suffered following the Battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.
The Battle of Myriokephalon was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in the mountains west of Iconium (Konya) in southwestern Turkey on 17 September 1176. The battle was a strategic reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass.
The Battle of Sirmium, Battle of Semlin or Battle of Zemun was fought on July 8, 1167 between the Byzantine Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Byzantines achieved a decisive victory, forcing the Hungarians to sue for peace on Byzantine terms. The battle consolidated Byzantine control of the western Balkans.
The Battle of Beroia was fought in 1122 between the Pechenegs and the Byzantine Empire under Emperor John II Komnenos in what is now Bulgaria. The Byzantine army won the battle, resulting in the disappearance of the Pechenegs as a distinct, independent people.
Manuel Komnenos Maurozomes was a Byzantine nobleman who in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade tried to found an independent principality in Phrygia. His daughter, named Dawlat Raziya Khatun, was married to the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I, and he eventually became governor (emir) of part of the region under Seljuk control; he was an influential figure in the Seljuk court until his death.
John Axouch or Axouchos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Ἀξούχ or Ἀξοῦχος, romanized: Iōánnēs Axoûchos,, also transliterated as Axuch, was the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos, and during the early part of the reign of his son Manuel I Komnenos. He may also have served as the de facto chief of the civil administration of the Byzantine Empire.
The Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir saw the almost complete destruction by the Byzantines of a large Seljuq Turk army. The Seljuq army had been raiding Byzantine territory in the Maeander Valley in Anatolia, and had sacked a number of cities. The Byzantine force ambushed the Turks at a river crossing.
Alexios Komnenos, latinised as Alexius Comnenus, and sometimes called Alexios the Younger, was the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos and his wife Eirene of Hungary. He was crowned co-emperor in 1119, at 13 of age, but predeceased his father in 1142. He was an elder brother of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and had a twin sister, Maria Komnene.
The sack of Thessalonica in 1185 by Normans of the Kingdom of Sicily was one of the worst disasters to befall the Byzantine Empire in the 12th century.
The Battle of Haram or Chramon was fought between the forces of King Stephen II of Hungary and Emperor John II Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire in the year 1128, or possibly earlier – in 1125, in what is now Serbia, and resulted in a major defeat for the Hungarians. The site of the battle was near the confluence of the Karaš/Caraș and the Danube, between Banatska Palanka and Baziaș, on the modern border between Serbia and Romania.
The siege of Shaizar took place from April 28 to May 21, 1138. The allied forces of the Byzantine Empire, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa invaded Muslim Syria. Having been repulsed from their main objective, the city of Aleppo, the combined Christian armies took a number of fortified settlements by assault and finally besieged Shaizar, the capital of the Munqidhite Emirate. The siege captured the city, but failed to take the citadel; it resulted in the Emir of Shaizar paying an indemnity and becoming the vassal of the Byzantine emperor. The forces of Zengi, the greatest Muslim prince of the region, skirmished with the allied army but it was too strong for them to risk battle. The campaign underlined the limited nature of Byzantine suzerainty over the northern Crusader states and the lack of common purpose between the Latin princes and the Byzantine emperor.
Basil Vatatzes was a Byzantine military commander, and likely the father of the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes.
Michael Aspietes was a distinguished Byzantine general serving under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
The Battle of Constantinople in 1147 was a large-scale clash between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the German crusaders of the Second Crusade, led by Conrad III of Germany, fought on the outskirts of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos was deeply concerned by the presence of a large and unruly army in the immediate vicinity of his capital and of the unfriendly attitude of its leaders. A similarly sized French crusader army was also approaching Constantinople, and the possibility of the two armies combining at the city was viewed with great alarm by Manuel. Following earlier armed clashes with the crusaders, and perceived insults from Conrad, Manuel arrayed some of his forces outside the walls of Constantinople. Part of the German army then attacked and was defeated; according to British historian Michael Angold, they suffered heavy losses. Following this defeat the crusaders agreed to be quickly ferried across the Bosporus to Asia Minor.
Uluabat, in the Byzantine period Lopadion, Latinized as Lopadium, is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Karacabey, Bursa Province, Turkey. Its population is 478 (2022). It is the site on the ancient town Miletouteichos.
A Byzantine–Hungarian War was fought between Byzantine and Hungarian forces on the Danube between 1127 and 1129. Byzantine primary sources, Cinnamus and Choniates, give little detail about this campaign; no dates are specified, and what they do say differs considerably.
Theodore Vatatzes or Batatzes was an aristocrat and military commander in the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos.
Constantine Komnenos Angelos was a Byzantine aristocrat and military commander, and the older brother of the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. He was blinded by the usurper Andronikos I Komnenos, and raised to sebastokrator by his brother Isaac upon the latter's accession to the throne in 1185.
The siege of Claudiopolis was a Byzantine victory over a Seljuq Turk army in February–March 1179.
The siege of Sozopolis saw the Byzantine conquest of the Seljuk Turk-held town of Sozopolis in 1120, improving Byzantine communications with the city of Attaleia.
References
- Brand, Charles M., ed. (1976). Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, by John Kinnamos. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04080-6.
- Magoulias, Harry J., ed. (1984). O City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniatēs. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-1764-8.