{"product_id":"the-empire-of-manuel-i-komnenos-1143-1180","title":"The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe reign of Manuel I (1143–1180) marked the high point of the revival of the Byzantine empire under the Comnenian dynasty. It was, however, followed by a rapid decline, leading to the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. This book, the first devoted to Manuel's reign for over eighty years, re-evaluates the emperor and his milieu in the light of recent scholarship. It shows that his foreign policy was a natural response to the western crusading movement and the expansionism of the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa. It also shows that what he ruled was more than the impoverished rump of a once great empire, or a society whose development had been arrested by a repressive regime. The twelfth century is presented here as a distinctive, creative phase in Byzantine history, when the empire maintained existing traditions and trends while adapting to a changing world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46647250256110,"sku":"9780521305716","price":212.1,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9612\/7726\/files\/9780521305716.jpg?v=1750168033","url":"https:\/\/bookland.com.au\/products\/the-empire-of-manuel-i-komnenos-1143-1180","provider":"Book Land AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}