Komnenian Restoration

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 Andronikos I Komnenos in 1185. At the onset of Alexios I's reign (1081) the Byzantine Empire was reeling from its defeat at the hands of the Seljuk Turks of Anatolia at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The empire was also being threatened by the Normans of Robert Guiscard who were invading the Balkans from their base in southern Italy. This all occurred while the military institution was in disarray, as the Empire had grown increasingly reliant on mercenaries; previous Emperors had also squandered the large gold deposits of Constantinople. This meant that the defenses of the empire had broken down and there were few troops to fill the gaps.

Yet, for 104 years, from the ascension of Alexios I to the death of Andronikos I, the Komnenoi managed to reassert Byzantine pre-eminence in the Mediterranean world, both militarily and culturally. During this time there was a flowering of relations between the Byzantine East and Western Europe, epitomized by the help Alexios I and later emperors provided for the Crusaders (indeed Alexios was instrumental in calling the First Crusade). This era was also characterized by a restructuring of the scattered and disorganized Byzantine army into a competent fighting force that became known as the Komnenian Byzantine army. Even though the empire rapidly disintegrated after the death of the last Komnenoi Emperor, Andronikos I in 1185, the Komnenian Restoration represented the final apex of the thousand year history of the Byzantine Empire.