The Komnenian restoration is the term used by historians to describe the military, financial and territorial recovery of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire under the Komnenian dynasty, from the accession of Alexios I Komnenos in 1081, to the death of Manuel I Komnenos in 1180. The Komnenian restoration is also closely linked to the establishment of the Komnenian army. Although "Byzantine" came to be a common term to refer to the later Eastern Roman Empire, which had its capital at the "New Rome" founded by Constantine on the site of ancient Byzantium, and later known as Constantinople, it is important to remember that the inhabitants and rulers of this empire called themselves "Romans" and referred to their state as the "Roman Empire" (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, Basileia Rhōmaiōn)[1] or "Romania" (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía).
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The Battle of Dyrrhachium (near present-day Durrës in Albania) took place on October 18, 1081, between the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Alexius I, and the Normans of Southern Italy under Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria. The battle was fought outside the city of Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital of Illyria, and ended in a Norman victory.
Following the Norman conquest of Byzantine Italy and Saracen Sicily, the Byzantine Emperor, Michael VII, betrothed his son to Robert Guiscard's daughter. When Michael was deposed, Robert took this as an excuse to invade the Byzantine Empire in 1081. His army laid siege to Dyrrhachium, but his fleet was defeated by the Venetians. On 18 October, the Normans engaged a Byzantine army under Alexius I Comnenus outside Dyrrhachium. The battle began with the Byzantine right wing routing the Norman left wing, which broke and fled. Varangian mercenaries joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Normans, but became separated from the main force and were massacred. Norman knights in the centre attacked the Byzantine centre and routed it, causing the Byzantines to run away.
After this victory, the Normans took Dyrrhachium in February 1082 and advanced inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert was then forced to leave Greece to deal with an attack on his ally, the Pope, by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. Robert left his son Bohemond in charge of the army in Greece. Bohemond was initially successful, defeating Alexius in several battles, but was defeated by Alexius outside Larissa. Forced to retreat to Italy, Bohemond lost all the territory gained by the Normans in the campaign. The Byzantine recovery began the Komnenian restoration.
The Battle of Levounion was the first decisive Byzantine victory of the Komnenian restoration. On April 29, 1091, an invading force of Pechenegs was heavily defeated by the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire under Alexios I Komnenos and his Cuman allies.
The Battle of Beroia (modern Stara Zagora) was fought between the Pechenegs and Emperor John II Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire in the year 1122 in what is now Bulgaria, and resulted in the disappearance of the Pecheneg people as an independent force.
The Battle of Sirmium (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 of Myriokephalon, also known as the Myriocephalum, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176.
The Komnenian restoration came to an end in ca. 1185 with the death of the last Komnenian emperor, Andronikos I Komnenos. With his death, the decline of the Byzantine Empire recommenced, and by 1204 Byzantium had ceased to be a great power and fell to a diverted force of crusaders who split the empire.
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