Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I)

Manuel Komnenos (Greek: Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, Manouēl Komnēnos; 1145–1185?) was the eldest son of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos Komnenos (r. 1183–1185) by his first wife, whose name is not recorded.

Perhaps around 1180 Manuel married Rusudan of Georgia, daughter of King George III. He thus became brother-in-law of Queen Tamar of Georgia. Manuel and Rusudan had two sons, Alexios and David Komnenos, who were to be the joint founders of the Empire of Trebizond. Alexios was probably born in 1182; David's date of birth must be about 1184.

In September 1185, when his father was deposed and killed, Manuel was blinded. He may have died as a result of this; at any rate he disappears from the historical record in that year.

Bibliography

• Brand, Charles M. (1968). Byzantium confronts the West, 1180–1204. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. LCCN 67-20872.
• Magdalino, Paul (1993). The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52653-1.
• C. Toumanoff, "On the relationship between the founder of the Empire of Trebizond and the Georgian Queen Thamar" in Speculum vol. 15 (1940) pp. 299–312.
• Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). Η Γενεαλογία των Κομνηνών [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). B. Thessaloniki: Centre for Byzantine Studies, University of Thessaloniki.