Editing Manuel I Komnenos (section)

==Relations with Kievan Rus' (Russia)==
Manuel Komnenos attempted to draw the Russian principalities into his net of diplomacy directed against Hungary, and to a lesser extent Norman Sicily. This polarised the Russian princes into pro- and anti-Byzantine camps. In the late 1140s three princes were competing for primacy in Russia: prince [[Iziaslav II of Kiev]] was related to [[Géza II of Hungary]] and was hostile to Byzantium; Prince [[Yuri Dolgoruki]] of [[Suzdal]] was Manuel's ally (''symmachos''), and [[Volodymyrko Volodarovych|Vladimirko]] of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] ([[Principality of Halych]]) is described as Manuel's vassal (''hypospondos''). Galicia was situated on the northern and north-eastern borders of Hungary and, therefore, was of great strategic importance in the Byzantine-Hungarian conflicts. Following the deaths of both Iziaslav and Vladimirko, the situation became reversed; when Yuri of Suzdal, Manuel's ally, took over [[Kiev]] and [[Yaroslav Osmomysl|Yaroslav]], the new ruler of Galicia, adopted a pro-Hungarian stance.<ref>D. Obolensky, ''The Byzantine Commonwealth'', 299–300.</ref>

In 1164–65 Manuel's cousin [[Andronikos I Komnenos|Andronikos]], the future emperor, escaped from captivity in Byzantium and fled to the court of Yaroslav in Galicia. This situation, holding out the alarming prospect of Andronikos making a bid for Manuel's throne sponsored by both Galicia and Hungary, spurred the Byzantines into an unprecedented flurry of diplomacy. Manuel pardoned Andronikos and persuaded him to return to Constantinople in 1165. A mission to Kiev, then ruled by Prince [[Rostislav I of Kiev|Rostislav]], resulted in a favourable treaty and a pledge to supply the Empire with auxiliary troops; Yaroslav of Galicia was also persuaded to renounce his Hungarian connections and return fully into the imperial fold. As late as 1200 the princes of Galicia were providing invaluable services against the enemies of the Empire, at that time the [[Cumans]].<ref>D. Obolensky, ''The Byzantine Commonwealth'', 300–302.</ref>

The restoration of relations with Galicia had an immediate benefit for Manuel when, in 1166, he dispatched two armies to attack the eastern provinces of Hungary in a vast pincer movement. One army crossed the [[Walachian Plain]] and entered Hungary through the Transylvanian Alps ([[Southern Carpathians]]), while the other army made a wide circuit to Galicia and, with Galician aid, crossed the [[Carpathian Mountains]]. Since the Hungarians had most of their forces concentrated on the [[Sirmium]] and [[Belgrade]] frontier, they were caught off guard by the Byzantine invasion; this resulted in the Hungarian province of [[Transylvania]] being thoroughly ravaged by the Byzantine armies.<ref>M. Angold, ''The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204'', 177.</ref>