The
Komnenian restoration is the term used by Byzantinists to describe the military, financial and territorial recovery of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
under the
Komnenian dynastyThe Komnenos or Comnenus was a Byzantine Greek noble family and an important ruling Dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, as they are widely considered to have reversed the decline of the Byzantine Empire for over a century, from c.1081 to c.1185....
, from the accession of
Alexios I KomnenosAlexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and the founder of the Komnenian dynasty...
in 1081, to the death of
Manuel I KomnenosManuel I Komnenos, or Comnenus was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean...
in 1180. The Komnenian restoration is also closely linked to the establishment of the
Komnenian armyThe Komnenian Byzantine army or Komnenian army was the force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late eleventh/early twelfth century, and perfected by his successors John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos during the 12th century. Alexios constructed a new army from the...
.
The
Battle of DyrrhachiumThe Battle of Dyrrhachium took place on 18 October 1081, between the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, and the Normans of Southern Italy under Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria...
(near present-day
DurresDurrës is the second-largest city of Albania. It is the most ancient and one of the most economically important cities of Albania. It is located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian...
in
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
) took place on October 18, 1081, between the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, led by the
Emperor Alexius I, and the
NormansThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
of Southern Italy under
Robert GuiscardRobert Guiscard, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, or the Fox, was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
,
Duke of Apulia & Calabria.
The
Komnenian restoration is the term used by Byzantinists to describe the military, financial and territorial recovery of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
under the
Komnenian dynastyThe Komnenos or Comnenus was a Byzantine Greek noble family and an important ruling Dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, as they are widely considered to have reversed the decline of the Byzantine Empire for over a century, from c.1081 to c.1185....
, from the accession of
Alexios I KomnenosAlexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and the founder of the Komnenian dynasty...
in 1081, to the death of
Manuel I KomnenosManuel I Komnenos, or Comnenus was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean...
in 1180. The Komnenian restoration is also closely linked to the establishment of the
Komnenian armyThe Komnenian Byzantine army or Komnenian army was the force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late eleventh/early twelfth century, and perfected by his successors John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos during the 12th century. Alexios constructed a new army from the...
.
Dyrrhachium (1081)
The
Battle of DyrrhachiumThe Battle of Dyrrhachium took place on 18 October 1081, between the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, and the Normans of Southern Italy under Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria...
(near present-day
DurresDurrës is the second-largest city of Albania. It is the most ancient and one of the most economically important cities of Albania. It is located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian...
in
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
) took place on October 18, 1081, between the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, led by the
Emperor Alexius I, and the
NormansThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
of Southern Italy under
Robert GuiscardRobert Guiscard, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, or the Fox, was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
,
Duke of Apulia & Calabria. The battle was fought outside the city of
DyrrhachiumDurrës is the second-largest city of Albania. It is the most ancient and one of the most economically important cities of Albania. It is located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian...
, the Byzantine capital of
IllyriaIllyria was in Classical antiquity a region in the western part of today's Balkan Peninsula, inhabited by the Illyrians, a heterogeneous coalition of tribes, about whom very little is known, though a number of them are assumed to have been united by a common Illyrian language.Illyria and the...
, and ended in a Norman victory.
Following the
Norman conquest of Byzantine Italy and Saracen SicilyThe Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned most of the eleventh century, involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own...
, the Byzantine Emperor,
Michael VIIMichael VII Doukas or Ducas , nicknamed Parapinakēs, was Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078....
, betrothed his son to
Robert GuiscardRobert Guiscard, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, or the Fox, was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...
's daughter. When Michael was deposed, Robert took this as an excuse to invade the Byzantine Empire in 1081. His army laid siege to Dyrrhachium, but his fleet was defeated by the
VenetiansVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
. On 18 October, the Normans engaged a Byzantine army under Alexius I Comnenus outside Dyrrhachium. The battle began with the Byzantine right wing routing the Norman left wing, which broke and fled.
VarangianThe Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were Vikings, Norsemen, who went eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries...
mercenaries joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Normans, but became separated from the main force and were massacred. Norman
knightA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
s in the centre attacked the Byzantine centre and routed it, causing the Byzantines to run away.
After this victory, the Normans took Dyrrhachium in February 1082 and advanced inland, capturing most of
MacedoniaMacedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but the region is nowadays held to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia...
and
ThessalyThessaly is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. The capital of the periphery and traditional geographical region is Larissa. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Thrace, it is often referred to unofficially as Northern Greece...
. Robert was then forced to leave
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
to deal with an attack on his ally, the
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
by the
Holy Roman EmperorThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
,
Henry IVHenry IV was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
. Robert left his son Bohemond in charge of the army in Greece. Bohemond was initially successful, defeating Alexius in several battles, but was defeated by Alexius outside
LarissaLarissa is a city and the capital of the Thessaly periphery of Greece, and capital of the Larissa Prefecture. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by rail with the port of Volos and with Thessaloniki and Athens...
. Forced to retreat to Italy, Bohemond lost all the territory gained by the Normans in the campaign. The Byzantine recovery began the Komnenian restoration.
Levounion (1091)
The
Battle of LevounionThe Battle of Levounion was the first decisive Byzantine victory of the Komnenian restoration. On April 29 1091, an invading force of Pechenegs was heavily defeated by the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire under Alexios I Komnenos and his Cuman allies....
was the first decisive Byzantine victory of the Komnenian restoration. On April 29, 1091, an invading force of
PechenegsThe Pechenegs or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people of the Central Asian steppes speaking the Pecheneg language which belonged to the Turkic language family.-Origins and area:...
was heavily defeated by the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire under Alexios I Komnenos and his Cuman allies.
Beroia (1122)
The
Battle of BeroiaThe Battle of Beroia was fought between the Pechenegs and Emperor John II Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire in the year 1122 in what is now Bulgaria, and resulted in the disappearance of the Pecheneg people as an independent force....
(modern
Stara ZagoraStara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and one of the nationally important economic centres. Stara Zagora is known as the city of straight streets, linden trees, and poets. According to the city's chamber of commerce, it is one of the oldest settlements in Europe, being at least eight...
) was fought between the Pechenegs and Emperor John II Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire in the year 1122 in what is now
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
, and resulted in the disappearance of the Pecheneg people as an independent force.
Sirmium (1167)
The
Battle of SirmiumThe Battle of Sirmium or Battle of Zemun was fought on July 8, 1167 between the Byzantine Empire , and the Kingdom of Hungary...
or Battle of Zemun (Hungarian: zimonyi csata) was fought on July 8, 1167 between the Byzantine Empire (also known as Eastern Roman Empire), and the
Kingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
. The Byzantines achieved a decisive victory, forcing the Hungarians to sue for peace on Byzantine terms.
Myriokephalon (1176)
The
Battle of MyriokephalonThe Battle of Myriokephalon, also known as the ', or in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in Phrygia on September 17, 1176...
, also known as the Myriocephalum, or Miryakefalon Savaşı in Turkish, was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
on September 17, 1176. Seljuk Turks defeated Byzantines.
End
The Komnenian restoration came to an end in ca. 1185 with the death of the last Komnenian emperor,
Andronikos I KomnenosAndronikos I Komnenos or Andronicus I Comnenus was a Byzantine emperor , son of prince Isaac Komnenos. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Eirene Doukaina.-Early years:...
. With his death, the
Decline of the Byzantine EmpireThe decline of the Byzantine Empire was a process similar to the decline of the Western Roman Empire, in that it lasted many centuries. There is no clear consensus on when this process began; but many dates and time lines have been proposed by historians....
recommenced, and by 1204 Byzantium had ceased to be a great power.