Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantium and the Crusades

Policies of Manuel I and the Second Crusade 

Page 7

External policy of Manuel after the Second Crusade. During the crusade Manuel had already taken serious measures for the war against Roger, upon whom he wished to take vengeance for the treacherous incursion upon the islands of the Adriatic and Greece and for his continued occupation of Corfu. Venice, which, as before, watched the growing power of the Normans with some apprehension, willingly consented to support the Byzantine enterprise with her fleet and received for that aid new commercial privileges in the Empire; besides the quarters and landing places (scalas) in Constantinople which had been allotted to the Venetians by the former trade treaties, some new places and one more landing place (scala) were assigned to them. While those negotiations were going on, the Emperor was energetically preparing for the war against the western dragon, a new Amalek, the dragon of the island (i.e. Sicily) who was about to eject the flame of his anger higher than the craters of Etna, as the contemporary sources characterized Roger. Manuel's plans were not confined to driving the enemy out of Byzantine territory; the Emperor hoped later on to transfer hostilities into Italy and to attempt to restore the former Byzantine power there.

He was temporarily diverted from his enterprise when his preparations were almost complete by the Cumans (Polovtzi), who crossed the Danube and invaded the Byzantine territory; but he succeeded in rapidly routing them. Then supported by the Venetian vessels, Manuel took possession of Corfu.

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