Komnenian Restoration - John II Komnenos- 1118-1143

John II Komnenos- 1118-1143

John continued Alexios' military successes and was known throughout his reign to be a kind and cautious commander who never risked Byzantine forces in huge pitched engagements that could have resulted in large catastophes. Instead, he methodically retook fortresses throughout Anatolia during his reign. Progress was slow and gradual, however, because the Turks in the area were strong and the Byzantine military was not yet at its former heights. Nevertheless, John made steady progress throughout his reign on the Anatolian front, eventually conquering a road to Antioch so that he could keep watch over the Crusader princes who ruled it.

On the Balkans front John achieved a crushing victory over the Pechenegs at the Battle of Beroia in 1122. His victory at Beroia was so decisive that afterwards the Pechenegs ceased to be an independent people and disappeared from most historical records. Due to his continuous military successes the Byzantine empire was kept safe and its realms were free from destruction and allowed to grow and prosper.

During this time John also reorganized the Byzantine army, making it into a professional fighting force, and not the hodge podge of local forces it had been previously. He created the elite Varangian Guard, made up of Russian and Slavic mercenaries, and added a large cavalry component to the army (most famously the Kataphraktoi of Macedonia) which allowed the Byzantines to effectively fight the more mobile Turks. Yet John died suddenly in 1143, possibly from a poison arrow treacherously sent to him by jealous crusaders who did not want him to succeed and encroach on their territory or sovereignty. His sudden death kept the Byzantines from continuing their conquests of Anatolia, and historian Zoe Oldenbourg believes that, if John had lived but a few more years, much larger territorial gains would have been made by the Byzantines.