We Sow the Wind, And Reap the Whirlwind.
The death of Manuel I Comnenus spelled the end of the illustrious Comneni dynasty. His son, eleven year old Alexios II, was ruled by his mother Marie. She was Latin and ruled with the help of the ‘Franks’, despised by the nobility, Church and common folk. Her inability to control the Empire led to the independence of Cyprus in 1180, where Isaac Comneni finally got his “empire”. Even though Cyprus remained a vassal and ally of Constantinople, the damage done would not be repaired for decades to come.
In order to win the support of the military or, at least, to get it out of her way, Marie continued to wage war on the Cumans. In January of 1181 Bulgar Khanate forced them to cede Saratow, Bogutjar, Uralsk and Volgograd. Georgians seized the chance t deliver coup-de-grace to the bleeding nomad state – in September they received Azov and Daghestan, while the Empire got Orthodox Bujak and pagan Crimea, Jedisan and Moldova. Thus, the Empire added a fourth religion to its tray. Immediately steps were taken to fortify Crimea and convert it to Christianity.
On a good side, the entire coast of the Black Sea, with the exception of Kaffa, belonged now to the Romans and their allies. One could travel from one side of Bosporus to another without ever crossing a body of salt water.
Back in the Holy Land Raynald de Châtillon, famous for his looting of Cyprus, raided the holy cities of Islam – Mecca and Medina. This brave and foolish act brought Saladin, the current ruler of Ayyubids, into direct confrontation with the West. In the same time the government of Pisa was overthrown by the Papal supporters and Papal States declared their independence from Pisa. Pope Lucius III rose to power and began preaching for a new crusade against the infidels.
In the Empire people were fed up with the rule of Marie and in September of 1182 they had a chance to express their feelings when Duke Andronicus Comnenus seized the power. ‘Frankish’ party members were brutally executed, but the new Emperor had quickly realized he would have to pacify his so-called “supporters” with force, if he plans to keep his crown and his head.
In the aftermath of this coup, Venetian government demanded trading privileges in return for support they showed to the Emperor Andronicus. The Emperor wisely refuses them. Enraged Venetians stir more trouble in the capital – their gold buys them enough mercenaries to be reckoned with, while their vile words poison the hearts of too many citizens. Fortunately, this rebellion is too brutally suppressed by the legions.
In November of 1184 Saladin of Ayybids and Kilij Arslan of Rum Seljuks sign a non-aggression pact. The former hopes to secure his flanks before attacking the last strongholds of the West in the Holy Land. The latter is still at war with Azerbaijan and has enough trouble to be thinking about the war with its southern neighbor.
Andronicus is experiencing even more trouble. In spring of 1185 Bulgars revolt and raise some 30,000-strong army, which threatens the capitol city itself. The legions quickly dispose of this new threat, but the revolt risk in Bulgaria, Rumelia and Dobrudja remains way too high to feel comfortably safe.
Finally, in August of 1185 Isaak II Angelus seizes the power from Andronicus. A formerly oppressed aristocrat, he takes the throne with the help of the common folk, after Andronicus’ terror wakes lions even inside the foxes.
On the day of Andronicus death, the Empire had hit the bottom of instability. A wave after wave of new rebellions threatened to sink the ship of the Imperial power. Alexius Branas was the man given the command of Imperial armies in the east. His military genius helped the army to come out of all the battles with the rebels unscathed and in good spirits.
In 1186 a brief war with Cumans gave Georgia Astrakhan’. Georgian Kingdom had grown considerably, but would Roman allies be able to hold on to all their conquests. Time will tell, for now the new Emperor made sure he had a sizable army in Crimea.
In 1187 the Third Crusade was declared against Saladin and the King of Jerusalem declared war on the Ayyubids, while Friedrich Barbarossa fought half of Europe in a pathetic attempt to hold onto his “Holy Roman Empire”.
In 1188 Saladin made peace with the King of Jerusalem, paying 100,000 ducats. Serbia declared war on Bosnia and annex this tiny Balkan country within the months after the start of the conflict.
In May of 1189 German Emperor took up a cross and moved through the Hungarian and Roman lands onto Jerusalem. The arrival of the crusaders brought great unrest in Thrace and surrounding provinces and a fresh wave of revolts washed over the countryside. The maraudering crusaders left relatively unscathed, while the Imperial legions had to do the dirty work of pacifying yet another peasant rebellion.
In the West the King of Aragon had annexed Provence and Toulouse, but failed to save the province of Aragon from the wrath of the Almohads. English King Henry II of Anjou died fighting his sons and Richard I Lionheart took up the throne. In doing so he added the province of Aquitaine to the Angevin empire and a month later proved his worthiness on the battlefield by conquering Orleans from French King.
In June of 1190 the German crusading contingent reached the Turkish lands, but soon the remnants of it reported back to Constantinople, heralding the death of the German Emperor. Only few of them reached Jerusalem, while the majority perished in the unforgiving deserts of Asia or went back home to Germany.
Having asked for the help of the West decades ago, Byzantine Emperors could hardly demand their withdrawal now. Their new arrivals caused only trouble, murder, rape and looting in the provinces, but once they were gone there was a greater chance to see the enemies of the Christendom weakened and the power of the Roman Empire strengthened. While English traveled by sea to Sicily, the Emperor Isaac made sure he would be prepared for all the surprises the new crusade could have bring.
With the stability still down and gold barely flowing to the coffers, Isaac II Angelus managed to improve the quality and quantity of the Imperial army. By 1190 five double legions guarded the Empire – one in Italy, one in Crimea, two in the Balkans and one in Asia. Each double legion consisted of 5,000 legionaries and 5,000 cataphracts. Imperial navy was also on a lookout for the enemy, be it the Muslim Arabs or Latin Franks.
The wind we sow turned into the whirlwind, but everything was quite in Constantinople for the moment. The silence that descended on the city reminded the Emperor of the silence before the thunderstorm. After ten years of turmoil and scores of rebellions suppressed, the worst was yet to come.