The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180

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Summary: The Comnenian revival: resurgence of Byzantium (1081-1184)
Review: In this magisterial work Professor Magdalino sets the social, economic, religious and military context for the revival of Byzantine fortunes under Emperor Alexios I Comnenos (1081-1118), who began a family dynasty that ruled Byzantium until the murder of his grandson Manuel's successor in 1184. During this time, Byzantium re-established itself as a military power in both East and West, rebuffing the Turks in Asia Minor and fighting the Normans in Greece. Generally this period was one of great change, brought about by increased contact with the West (due to the Crusades, beginning in 1096), and by other, parallel changes in the power dynamic of the Mediterranean. The Comnenian period also saw changes in Byzantine culture, in regards to art, poetry and literature. Overall, it is one of the most fascinating eras of all Byzantine history, and one that Professor Magdalino does justice to in this work.

Magdalino relies on a great many sources, including the famous histories of Anna Comnena (daughter of Alexios) and Niketas Choniates, as well as many more obscure sources, including monastic charters, Venetian accounting records, and verse in the Byzantine vernacular. He follows the contours of the history, beginning with Alexios' desperate attempts to revive the empire after years of financial and military mismanagement, through the sound generalship of his son John, to the gaudy splendor of grandson Manuel, who presided over the greatest period for culture (and, unfortunately for Byzantium, for conspicuous consumption).

Throughout the book Magdalino stresses the importance of 'family' in the Comnenian conception for ensuring loyalty in government, and the increased use of strategic marriage alliances encouraged by Comnenian emperors, especially with Western rulers. The author also gives a great deal of attention to the effect Westerners had on the Byzantines, both in terms of the increased hostility and fear between the two cultures during the Crusades, and in terms of the increasingly aggressive economic policies of the Italian maritime states of Venice and Genoa, and the effect this had on Byzantine commerce and hegemony in the Aegean. Magdalino argues that these were the significant trends, gradual yet severe, which brought about the conquest and economic colonization of Byzantium by the Western powers in 1204.

All in all, this is a very important book in the field of Byzantine Studies, for experts and non-experts alike. The author draws upon a wide range of sources and his own immense knowledge to give as full as has yet appeared a picture of life in the fascinating time of the Comneni. This book, by one of today's foremost British Byzantinists, is a must-read for anyone interested in the period.