Manuel Komnenos
1145 – ? · Generation XXXI
Manuel Komnenos was the eldest son of the emperor Andronikos I and the ancestor of the Grand Komnenoi who ruled the Empire of Trebizond. Born in 1145, a great-grandson of Alexios I, he received the rank of sebastos from his uncle, the emperor Manuel I. His mother’s identity is unknown. In 1164 he helped his father escape from prison in the Great Palace, and he is probably the envoy who about 1165 won over the Russian princes of Kiev and Volhynia for Manuel I. In 1167 he escorted Maria Komnene to Tyre for her wedding to King Amalric of Jerusalem.
After Manuel I died in 1180 he married the Georgian princess Rusudan, a daughter of King George III. He opposed the regency of the empress Maria of Antioch and was imprisoned, until he was freed in April 1182 as his father closed in on the capital. But he set himself against his father’s persecution of the aristocracy and refused to approve or oversee the execution of Maria of Antioch, so when Andronikos took the crown in 1183 it was Manuel’s younger brother John who became co-emperor, and Manuel was made sebastokrator.
When Isaac II Angelos overthrew Andronikos in 1185, Manuel was blinded too, although, as the historian Choniates wrote, everyone knew he had not shared his father’s crimes. His later fate is unknown. In 1204 his sons Alexios and David established the Empire of Trebizond, and his descendants ruled it until it fell in 1461.
Place in the family
- Manuel Komnenos was a great-grandson of Alexios I Komnenos.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Isaac Komnenos → Andronikos I Komnenos → Manuel Komnenos.
Parents
- Andronikos I Komnenos (1118 – 1185)
Siblings
- John Komnenos (1159 – 1185)
Sources
- Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I) · Wikipedia
- Andronikos I Komnenos · Wikipedia