Emperor Manuel I Komnenos has sought throughout his reign in Constantinople to revive the Roman Empire, negotiating unsuccessfully or reunification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Manuel's policies have antagonized many of his own people as well.

His favoritism to the Latins is unpopular, as is his lavish granting of estates in pronoia (by favor of the emperor).

Shortly after his death on September 24, 1180, a reaction sets in, originated by his cousin Andronikos Komnenos, who opposes the unpopular regency of the dowager empress Maria, daughter of Raymond, Prince of Antioch, and mother of eleven-year-old Alexios II Komnenos.

She, in turn, entrusts the government to her favorite, the unpopular and incapable Alexios the prōtosebastos, Manuel's nephew, who is popularly believed to be her lover.

The empire looks impressive at the death of Manuel, having just celebrated the betrothal of his son Alexios II to the daughter of the king of France.

Thanks to the diplomacy and campaigning of Alexios, John, and Manuel, the empire is a great power, economically prosperous, and secure on its frontiers; but there are serious problems as well.

Internally, the imperial court requires a strong leader to hold it together, and after Manuel's death stability is seriously endangered from within.

Some of the foreign enemies of the Empire are lurking on the flanks, waiting for a chance to attack, in particular the Turks in Anatolia, whom Manuel had ultimately failed to defeat, and the Normans in Sicily, who have already tried but failed to invade the Empire on several occasions.

Even the Venetians, the single most important western ally of Constantinople, are on bad terms with the empire at Manuel's death.

Given this situation, it will take a strong emperor to secure the Empire against the foreign threats it now faces, and to rebuild the depleted imperial treasury.