(Author's words: The content of this chapter is excerpted from Baidu and has nothing to do with the plot. It is for reference only by history enthusiasts.)

John II

John II was a pious and compassionate monarch, known as the "beautiful man" (kalo?oannēs) or the "good man John". During his 25-year reign, he formed an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire in the West, defeated the Pechenegs, Hungarians and Serbs in the Balkans. He personally directed a huge offensive to fight against the Turks in Asia Minor. John's actions reversed the strategic balance of the Eastern Front and restored a large number of Asian Minor Peninsulars to the Turks.

The occupied Byzantine towns and fortresses. In the southeast, he managed to control all the roads from west of the Mendres River to Chiriqia and Talsus, and powerfully demonstrated the Byzantine emperor's position as the leader in the Christian world. John II also became the leader of the Byzantine coalition and advanced into the Syria occupied by the ***, but the crusaders disappointed John. During the period of John II, the population of the Byzantine Empire was restored to about 10 million people.

Unfortunately, compared with John's father Alexius I or his son Manuel I, his contemporaries or slightly later historians have less account of John II's rule, especially in terms of internal affairs.

Appearance and character

Latin historian William described John II as not only short but also ugly in appearance. His eyes, hair, and skin were as dark as a Moorish man. Despite this, he was called "good man" and "beautiful man". His nickname may not be due to his appearance but to his character. John was as pious as his parents. He also strictly disciplined the words and deeds of his family members. Every meal he had was very simple.

He also often scolded the courtiers who lived in his speeches. His speech style was serious but humorous and clever refutation. He was a loving father to his children and set high standards for his children. But he was a loyal husband to his wife. Although his personal life was very simple, he believed that the praise of gorgeous rituals was conducive to demonstrating the might of the empire. These measures made him highly respected by his subjects.

John was famous for his piety and kindness at that time. In that cruel era, he was regarded as a kind ruler. He was famous for never executing or maiming anyone. He also generously devoted himself to charity. Therefore, he was called the Byzantine little Marco Aurelius (one of the Five Sages of the Roman Empire). Influenced by his noble character and religious piety, the rituals achieved great development in his time. Through his performance in commanding the army to defend the empire several times, he could show his high self-control and courage in battle, and was a very outstanding military strategist on the battlefield.

Inheriting the throne

John II was crowned as the co-governor emperor by his father Alexus I on September 1, 1092 to consolidate his inheritance. Although Alexus I hoped that John would inherit the throne, Queen Irina would rather be succeeded by their eldest daughter Anna Komunina and her husband Nikephoros Bryennios the younger. Alexus concealed his choice in order to avoid Irina's blame, because the queen believed that Nikephoros should succeed the throne. On August 15, 1118, Alexus was in Man

While dying in the monastery of Gana, John took his trusted relatives and his younger brother, the deputy emperor (sebastokrator), Isak Komuning, and obtained the emperor's seal ring from his dying father. He then rode his horse to the Grand Palace while holding his hands up to receive the support of the citizens who supported him. Irina was very surprised to hear about this. She could neither convince his son to give up nor persuade the little Nicki Fruce to rebel. Although the court guards initially refused to recognize John without the will of John's father, the new emperor broke into the palace under the support of the mob.

Alexus I then died that night. Despite his mother's strong persuasion, John refused to attend the funeral of his father because of his weak control of power. His status gradually became stable within a few days. However, less than a year after John ascended the throne, John II discovered a conspiracy aimed at his step down, and the evidence pointed directly to his mother and sister. As Anna's husband, Little Nickifrus, had no interest in his wife's conspiracy, the plot to support his husband ascend the throne was also shattered. All of Anna's property was stolen,

The emperor wanted to give all her property to his friend John Aksukh. But Aksukh wisely refused, and finally under the influence of Aksukh, John reached a certain degree of reconciliation with his sister and her property was also returned. Queen Mother Irina was sent to the monastery, and Anna seemed to have withdrawn from political life. She lived in simplicity and became a historian. However, her husband Nicky Fruth was entrusted by the emperor with important tasks. In order to maintain his own power, John crowned his young son Alexius as the co-governor emperor in 1122.

internal affairs

The conspiracy that emerged within the family against John's ascension influenced John's way of rule - he appointed people outside the royal family to help govern the empire, which was significantly different from the way his father linked the royal family members to most important military and political positions.

John Aksukh was John II's only close friend and the emperor's closest consultant. He was originally a Turkic man. After the city of Nicea was broken, he was captured and presented as a gift to John's father Alexius I. Emperor Alexius believed that Atus would be a good partner of his son, so Atus could grow up with the prince in the imperial court. After John II ascended the throne, Aksukh was immediately appointed as the commander megas   domestikos(greek:μ?

γα?δομ?στικο?) was the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army. In the early days of Manuel I's reign, he also became the chief manager of the imperial internal affairs and took charge of the "National Seal". This informal position, like the mesazon at that time, was also equivalent to Vizier or modern prime minister. This appointment was iconic and completely deviated from the nepotism policy of Alexius I. The royal family hid their resentment for this decision, and when the two sides met, they were forced to pay tribute to Atus.

The emperor fully trusted the officials he appointed, who were often selected for their own abilities rather than ties with royal families and noble clans. Until his rule ended, he did not want royal members to interfere in political affairs. John also appointed many former servants of his father as senior officials such as: eustathios     kamytzes, michaelitzes                                                                                                                                                                                                               �

Although John II lost his dependence and trust in the royal relatives, his government still had many similarities with his father and father, such as his piety toward religion and a serious political tone. In fact, some Alexus's advice on government affairs was collected in the form of poetry and called musai. This book was written to warn John that the first thing he had in governing the country was to maintain fairness and justice and maintain financial abundance. Even after the death of the old emperor, his ruling advice could continue to affect his son.

John's military operations have stabilized the military strength and economy of the western part of Annatolia, which has allowed him to start establishing a provincia system in these areas. The administrative center was re-established in the Thrakesion Military Region in the city of Philatif. The military region in the Thrakesion (thrakesion) sa and noudion.

Diplomacy

The core of John II's foreign policy to the West was to form an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor. This policy was necessary because it could reduce the threat posed by the Normans in Southern Italy to the Balkan territory. This threat became particularly serious after Roger II of Sicily became king and gained supreme status in Southern Italy and established a strong navy. In repaying the Emperor of Shenluo, Lothier III, in 1136, invaded the Norman territory and advanced southward to Bari, he received Byzantine rewards, including a huge reward. As Pope Innocent II and the Church's territory in Italy

He was threatened by Roger II, who supported the opposing Pope anacletus      ii, so he also joined the alliance between John and Lothel. However, in fact, the alliance was difficult to compete with Roger II, who obtained the throne from the Pope through the Treaty of Miniano in 1139. Conrad III's successor Conrad III sought to marry Manuel, John's youngest son, to the German royal family. In the end, Conrad's sister-in-law bertha of      sulzbach married to Byzantium. At the same time, Roger II also hoped to marry John II's son, but he failed.

John II tended to interfere with his wife's family, the Hungarian royal family. The Byzantine Empire regarded the reception of exiled competitors to the Hungarian throne in Constantinople as a method and a useful security strategy to expand the empire's influence. However, the Hungarians regarded this interference as a provocation of war. The alliance between Hungary and Serbia posed a serious threat to Byzantine territory in the western Balkans.

John's foreign policy on the Eastern Front was similar to his father - that is, provoking conflicts between the Sultan of Konia and the Danishmand dynasty that controlled the northeast of Anatolia's inland. The Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud also provided troops to support John's attack on the city of Kastamuni, which was the Danishmand dynasty, but the alliance with the Seljuk people proved unreliable. The Seljuk army gave up this expedition and set out to camp at night.

The crusading states in the Levant generally recognized that Byzantine's claim to Antioch had legal effect, but in fact they would only recognize it when the Byzantine emperors threatened them with force. The highest peak of diplomacy in the Levant was in 1137 that he accepted allegiance to the Earl of Tripoli, Earl of Antioch Prince Edsar. The Byzantine Empire was eager to be considered to have the sovereignty of all the crusading states, and its ambition was evident when John informed Falk, the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, that he would go to Jerusalem to vassalem for an armed pilgrimage.

Religious Affairs

Continuous wars occupied almost most of John II's reign, and he was not as keen on theological research and doctrinal debates as his father, and he seemed content to hand over religious affairs to the Patriarchs (patriarchs) and the church class. John would only participate when religion directly affected imperial politics, such as the Pope or the Union of Greek Latin Churches. He also organized many theological debates between Greek and Latin Churches.

John and his wife participated in religious and philanthropy, and were famous for the many church buildings they took over, including the famous Christian Monastery of Pantokratol, Constantinople (translated as the Abbey of Christ, now the Zeilek Mosque. The Queen of John II built the christ pantokrator, including the Church of Almighty, the library and hospital of Christ. After the death of the queen, the emperor built the church of mercy (theotokos     eleousa) to the north of the first church, to the outside world

Opening. In 1136, St. Michael's Cathedral was added to connect two churches, as the royal tomb of the Komuning and the Valleolic dynasties. John II and John V and other emperors, and the empress were buried here). This monastery consists of three churches, which is described as one of the most important and influential buildings of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople in the middle. A hospital with five wards belongs to this monastery and is open to the public of all social classes. There are many professional lay doctors who are not monks working here. This monastery also becomes the royal cemetery of the Komuning dynasty.

The fierce persecution against heresy followers of the Paulites and the Bogmis was a feature of the late reign of Alexus I. Although the suppression of heretics still took effect, no record of such persecution during John's reign was mentioned. In a religious meeting held in Constantinople, the works of a late monk named constantine chrysomallos circulated in many monasteries were investigated. Based on the fact that these works contained elements of the Bogmis creed and rituals, they were ordered to be burned by the Patriarch Leo Styppes of Constantinople in May 1140.

Adrian Komuning, a member of the royal family, (son of John's uncle Isak Komuning), was entrusted with important tasks by his cousin John II. Adrian became a monk and accompanied John to the battle of 1138. When Bulgaria as an autonomous diocese needed a respected man as a bishop, Adrian was soon appointed Archbishop of Bulgaria.

Military achievements

Although John II had won many battles, his military strategy relied on occupying and controlling the fortifications of various residences to build a solid border defense. During the reign of John II, about 25 sieges were organized.

Conflict with Venice

After John II ascended the throne, he refused to recognize the treaty signed by his father with the Republic of Venice in 1082, which generously gave the Italian city-state a unique trade privilege in the Byzantine Empire. However, the policy shift was not due to economic considerations. Just as Byzantine relied on Venetian naval aid, an incident involving the Venetians insulting the imperial royal family led to the outbreak of conflict. After the Byzantine retaliated against Corfu, John exiled Venetian merchants in Constantinople. But this was further

In counterattack, a Venetian fleet of seventy-two ships ransacked Rhodes, Chios, Sams, and Lesbos and occupied Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. In the end, John was forced to compromise; the war was a loss for him, and he did not intend to misappropriate the army's military expenses to build new ships for the navy. John re-enrolled the treaty of 1082. Despite this, the dilemma was not completely forgotten by the empire, and it inspired John II's successor, Manuel I, to rebuild a powerful Byzantine fleet several years later.

The destruction of the Pecheneg

After John defeated the Seljuk Turks in 1119-1121, he began to take the southwestern Anatolia under his control. Then in 1122, John quickly transported his army to Europe to resist the Pechenegs who had already crossed the Danube border invaded the paristrion area. These invaders were also assisted by the Grand Duke of Kiev. When the Chechenegs broke into Thrace, John surrounded them. In order to deceive their trust, John also proposed to sign a treaty that was beneficial to them, and he immediately organized another

A devastating raid on the Chepenegers. The battle of the beroia was very difficult, and John was shot in the leg, but in the end, the Byzantine army won a heavy victory. The Valangi Guard, composed of a large number of Englishmen, played a decisive role in breaking through the Chepenegers in this battle, using their famous long axe to open a way for the troops to advance. The battle also effectively ended the existence of the Chepenegers as an independent nation; many prisoners of war were placed on the border to become peasant soldiers of the empire.

War with Hungary and Serbia

John's marriage to Hungarian princess Piroshka involved him in the struggle of the Hungarian royal family. John's behavior of providing asylum to the potential heir to the Hungarian throne aroused the Hungarian wariness of him. Later, under the leadership of Stephen II, the Hungarians invaded the Balkan territory of Byzantine between 1127 and 1129; however, another statement is that Byzantine counterattacked the Hungarian invasion in 1125 and the outbreak of a new round of war the following year.

The Battle of Serbia may have occurred between two stages of the war against Hungary. John organized a raid on Serbia and brought many Serbs together to Nicomedia in Asia Minor as military immigrants, in order to retaliate against the Empire with Hungary. This was done in part to intimidate Serbia to surrender (at least Serbia was nominally a Byzantine protector), and in part to strengthen the empire's strength to resist the Turks on the eastern border. Serbia once again recognized the sovereignty of the Byzantine Empire.

The Hungarian army attacked Belgrade, Nishi and Sophia. John's army, located near Thrace Philipe Polis, immediately launched a counterattack with the support of the Danube fleet; after a battle with unclear details but very challenging, the emperor finally successfully defeated the army of Hungary and his Serbian allies in the Haram Fortress (or chramon, now nova nka). The Hungarians were defeated by the Byzantine army while crossing the bridge, causing huge casualties. After that, the Hungarians immediately launched a new war with John through the attack on Brani?evo.

In addition to the victory of the Byzantine army, the choniates (the 12th-century Byzantine Chronicle writer) also mentioned several treaties that contributed to peaceful restoration. The Hungarians recognized Byzantine control of Braniïvo, and Belgrade and Seum also restored the sirmium region (the choniates called frangochorion) that had been occupied by Hungary since the 1160s. The serious differences between the two countries were also eliminated with the death of Hungarian heir álmos in 1127.

War of attrition against the Anatolian Turks

In the early days of John's rule, the advancement of the Turks made the empire's border war in western Asia Minor very urgent, so he decided to drive the Turks back. In 1119, the Seljuks cut off the road connections near Antalya, the southwestern coast of Anatolia. After John II and John Aksukh recovered Laodicea and Sozopolis, the land connections between the empire and Antalya, Chiriqia and even the Syrian Crusaders were also opened up.

With the end of the Hungarian war, John was able to concentrate most of his remaining time on the situation in Asia Minor. From 1130 to 1135, he launched a battle against the Danishmand Emirates in Malatia, the upper Euphrates River. Under his massive attack, the Turks suspended their expansion in Asia Minor, and then John was ready to take the initiative to attack the enemy. In order to regain the control of the Komunin family, Castamonu (Komin Fort), the birthplace of the Komunin family, under the control of the empire, John closely planned a series of battles against the Turks; and

And more than two thousand garrison troops were left in the city of Gangela. As John conquered the enemy's strongholds one by one, he soon won awesome title "Breaker". Many areas lost after the Battle of Manzicket were recovered and stationed. However, under the powerful threat of the Danishmand dynasty in the northeast, these difficult-to-defend newly occupied areas (such as Castamonu) were even reoccupied by the Turks when John was still celebrating its restoration in Constantinople. However, with John's persistence, Castamonu changed hands again.

In the spring of 1139, the emperor won a battle with a group of Turks (and possibly Turkmen herders) who had plundered in the sangarios river basin, and significantly cut off the source of their livestock by dispersing their livestock. He later led his army along the southern coast of the Black Sea through Bitinia and Pavragonia to fight against the Danishmand Turks. With the end of the independent regime of Trabzon, the area under the jurisdiction of Chaldia returned to the control of the empire. However, John failed to capture the city in the siege of the city of New Caesarea in 1140. The defeat of the Byzantine army was more due to the weather than to the battle with the Turks: the weather was very bad at that time, a large number of troops died, and food began to be short of food.

Battles with Syria in Chiriqia

In the Levant, the emperor once again advocated the strengthening of the empire's sovereignty over the Crusaders and claimed his rights in Antioch. In 1137, he seized Talsus, Adana, Mopsutiya, King Leon I of Chiriqia and Armenia from the Principal of Armenia and most of his family became prisoners and were looted to Constantinople, which opened the path for the empire to the Principal of Antioch.

In 1137, under the pressure of John II, Raymond of Prince of Antioch Poitiers and Joslin II of Edsar, respectively, surrendered to the emperor. Even Raymond II of Earl Tripoli hurriedly expressed his surrender to John, just as his predecessor did to John's father in 1109. These actions allowed John to lead the coalition forces composed of Byzantine/Anteau and Edsar to fight against the Syrian **. Although Aleppo was too strong to attack because the defenders were too strong, fortresses such as Bharat, Biza'a, athereb, Maratnuman and Kafartab were successively captured.

Although John fought hard on the Syrian battlefield for the cause of Christianity, his ally, Prince of Antioch, Raymond, and Earl of Edsar, Joslin II, sat together and played dice while John II besieged Shasa. The Crusaders distrust each other and no one wanted others to participate in the war to gain benefits. Raymond also wanted to save Antioch, because he promised that if John successfully seized Aleppo, Shasa, Holmes and Hama, he would

Historical materials on the transfer of Antioch to John Latin and *** describe the vitality and bravery displayed by John in the siege. The city was eventually captured, but its acropolis was still resisting. Emir of Shasa agreed to pay a huge compensation, become a servant of John and pay the annual tribute. John had lost all his confidence in his allies at this time, and the army of the Zanji Dynasty was about to rush to the city, so the emperor had to accept this condition reluctantly.

The final expedition

In early 1142, John launched a battle against the Seljuks of Konia to ensure that (in the expeditionary forces of Chiriqia and the capital of the empire) through the line of contact between Antalya. During this battle, his eldest son, the co-governor of the emperor, Alexus, died of fever. After ensuring his route, John set out to launch a new expedition against Syria in order to recover Antioch. This expedition John also planned to bring his army to Jerusalem with his pilgrimage. King Falk, Jerusalem, was afraid that the emperor's military advantage would force his kingdom to surrender to Byzantium and recognize his sovereignty, begging the emperor.

The emperor came with only a proper amount of escorts. Falke said that his barren kingdom could not support such a huge army. This gentle request led John II to postpone his expedition. John quickly came to Northern Syria and forced Joslin to hand over the hostages (as a guarantee of surrender), including Joslin's daughter, who later proposed that the city and acropolis of Antioch would be handed over to the emperor. Raymond of Poitiers proposed to delay the time by a referendum on the Antioch General Assembly. The changes in the season also prompted John to decide to lead his army to Chiriqia for the winter and then re-attack Antioch in the coming year.

Death and successor

After preparing for his army to attack Antioch, John began to hunt wild boars in the Chirichia Taurus Mountains for fun. On April 8, 1143, he accidentally injured his hand by a poisonous arrow. At first John ignored his injuries, which made his injuries worse later. He might have died of sepsis a few days after the accident. Another theory is that John was plotted assassination by Latino soldiers in his army who were dissatisfied with his attack Antioch, and they hoped that his pro-Western son Manuel would inherit the throne. This conjecture has no obvious evidence in first-hand historical materials.

The last big thing John had during his lifetime was to designate his young son Manuel as his heir. John chose Manuel over his brother Isak, and Manuel's courage had already appeared in the battle of neocaesareia. Another evidence was supposed to be a choice from the Aima prophecy, which predicted that the first letter of the name of John's heir should be "m". John II's best friend John Aksukh, although it was recorded that he tried to persuade the dying emperor that Isak was the more suitable heir, but he still made contributions to ensuring that Manuel gained imperial power without any public challenges.

The Legacy of John II

Historian John Berkenmair recently believed that John's rule was the most successful part of the Komuning dynasty. In the book "The Development of the Komuning Army in 1081-1180", he emphasized that it was because John's war focused on sieges rather than risky battles. Berkenmair believed that John launched a temperate battle every year with a much wiser goal than his son Manuel I. From this point of view, John's war was more beneficial to Byzantines because they protected the core areas of the empire that lacked a reliable border and eventually expanded the empire's territory in Asia Minor. The Turks were forced to turn to defense, while John maintained the imperial diplomatic dominance by forming an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor to fight against the Normans in Sicily.

Generally speaking, John undoubtedly left behind an empire that was much better than when he first ascended the throne. When he died, a large amount of territory had been restored, and he made the goal of regaining central Anatolia and rebuilding the Euphrates defense line possible. However, the Greeks in the inland Anatolia became increasingly accustomed to the rule of the Turks and found it better than the Byzantine period. It was relatively easy to make the Turks in central Anatolia, Serbs and even the Levantese crusades surrender and recognize the sovereignty of the empire, but how to transform this vassal relationship into a solid guarantee of the security of the empire was very difficult. These problems were ultimately left to his intelligent and agile son Manuel to try to solve.

family

In 1104, John II Komuning married Princess Piroshka (later renamed Irina); the purpose of this marriage was to make up for the territory lost by King Koloman of Hungary. Irina had basically no political influence. She was very pious and raised a family of children. Irina died on August 13, 1134. She was soon honored as St. Irina. John II and Irina had eight children:

Alexios Komnenos, since 1122 to 1142, become the co-governor emperor

Maria Komnene, Alexius' twin sister, married john roger ssenos

Andronikos komnenos, died in 1142

Anna Komnene, married to stephen kontostephanos

Isaac Komnenos, died in 1154

Theodora komnene, married manuel anemas

Eudokia Komnene, married theodore     vatatzes
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