Editing Manuel I Komnenos (section)

===Foreign and military affairs===
As a young man, Manuel had been determined to restore by force of arms the predominance of the Byzantine Empire in the Mediterranean countries. By the time he died in 1180, 37 years had passed since that momentous day in 1143 when, amid the wilds of Cilicia, his father had proclaimed him emperor. These years had seen Manuel involved in conflict with his neighbours on all sides. Manuel's father and grandfather before him had worked patiently to undo the damage done by the battle of Manzikert and its aftermath. Thanks to their efforts, the empire Manuel inherited was stronger and better organised than at any time for a century. While it is clear that Manuel used these assets to the full, it is not so clear how much he added to them, and there is room for doubt as to whether he used them to best effect.<ref name="M3"/>

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| style="text-align: left;" | "The most singular feature in the character of Manuel is the contrast and vicissitude of labour and sloth, of hardiness and effeminacy. In war he seemed ignorant of peace, in peace he appeared incapable of war."
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| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Edward Gibbon'''''<ref name="G74"/>
|}

Manuel had proven himself to be an energetic emperor who saw possibilities everywhere, and whose optimistic outlook had shaped his approach to foreign policy. However, in spite of his military prowess Manuel achieved but a slight degree of his object of restoring the Byzantine Empire. Retrospectively, some commentators have criticised some of Manuel's aims as unrealistic, in particular citing the expeditions he sent to Egypt as proof of dreams of grandeur on an unattainable scale. His greatest military campaign, his grand expedition against the Turkish [[Sultanate]] of Iconium, ended in humiliating defeat, and his greatest diplomatic effort apparently collapsed, when Pope Alexander III became reconciled to the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa at the [[Peace of Venice]]. Historian Mark C. Bartusis argues that Manuel (and his father as well) tried to rebuild a national army, but his reforms were adequate for neither his ambitions nor his needs; the defeat at Myriokephalon underscored the fundamental weakness of his policies.<ref name="B5-6">M. Bartusis, ''The Late Byzantine Army'', 5–6</ref> According to [[Edward Gibbon]], Manuel's victories were not productive of any permanent or useful conquest.<ref name="G74">Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', p. 74.</ref>

His advisors on western church affairs included the Pisan scholar [[Hugh Eteriano]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hamilton |first1=Bernard |title="The Latin Empire and Western Contacts in Asia" in Contact and Conflict in Frankish Greece and the Aegean |date=2014 |publisher=Ashgate |page=220 |isbn=9781409439264 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGF9BAAAQBAJ&dq=manuel+I+advisers+Pisan+scholar+Hugh+Eteriano&pg=PA220 |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>