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Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantium and the Crusades

Policies of Manuel I and the Second Crusade 

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Page 16

In 1177, the Congress of Venice, which was attended by Frederick, the pope, and the representatives of the victorious Italian communes, confirmed the independence of the latter and reconciled the German sovereign to the pope. In other words, the treaty of Venice put an end to the hostility which had existed between Germany, the Lombard communities, and the papal curia, which Manuel had utilized for his diplomatic combinations. The Congress of Venice was a blow to the Byzantine Empire, equivalent to the defeat inflicted on it by the Sultan of Iconium at Myriocephalon, said Th. Uspensky. Having reconciled the elements in the West which were hostile to Byzantium, the Congress was a prognostic of the coalition which was to conquer Constantinople in 1204 and form the Latin states in the East.

The Congress of 1177 had exceptional significance for Venice, where assembled a brilliant European society headed by the western emperor and the pope. Over ten thousand foreigners came to Venice, and all admired the beauty, wealth, and power of that city. A contemporary historian, addressing the Venetian people, wrote: Oh, how happy you are because such a peace could be made in your country. It will be a permanent glory to your name.

A short time before his death, Manuel succeeded in obtaining his last diplomatic success, namely, marriage of his son and heir Alexius to an eight-year-old daughter of the king of France, Louis VII. The little princess Agnes received in Byzantium the name of Anne. Owing to this marriage, the somewhat strained relations which had been established between Byzantium and France after the Second Crusade seem to have improved. Eustathius of Thessalonica wrote a eulogistic oration on the occasion of the arrival at Megalopolis, i.e. Constantinople, of the imperial bride from France.

Moreover, after the famous letter sent by Manuel to the king of England, Henry II, after the disaster of Myriocephalon, the relations between those two sovereigns became very friendly, and in the last years of Manuel's reign there is some evidence that the Byzantine envoys appeared at Westminster, and an Englishman, Geoffrey de Haie (Galfridus de Haia) was entrusted by Henry II with the entertainment of the Greek ambassadors; the same Geoffrey de Haie was sent in return to Constantinople. Henry II, evidently well informed on Manuel's favorite sports of which hunting was not the least, even sent him a pack of hunting dogs on a vessel sailing from Bremen.

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