Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I)

He served his uncle, Manuel I Komnenos, as a diplomatic envoy to the Russian principalities and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also helped his father escape imprisonment in Constantinople.

His opposition to the regency of Empress-dowager Maria of Antioch and the protosebastos Alexios Komnenos landed him in prison, but he was released in April 1182, when his father stood poised to take power in the Byzantine capital.

[4] Whatever her origin, Manuel was of high birth: his paternal grandfather, Isaac, was a younger son of the founder of the Komnenian house, Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) and Empress Irene Doukaina.

According to the contemporary historian John Kinnamos, the mission was a success, as the Russian princes were flattered by the high rank of the imperial envoy: both rulers agreed to maintain friendly relations with Byzantium.

[15][16] It also appears that the embassy managed to turn the neighbouring ruler of Galicia, Yaroslav Osmomysl, who was tied to Stephen III by marriage, towards friendship with Byzantium, and adopting a neutral stance in the oncoming Byzantine–Hungarian conflict.

[18] In the next year, he was a member of the high-ranking mission that accompanied his niece Maria Komnene to the Kingdom of Jerusalem for her wedding to King Amalric at Tyre on 29 August 1167.

This would most likely indicate the presence of Andronikos' mistress Theodora Komnene and their two children, but the plural "sons" leaves open the possibility that Manuel followed his father in his wanderings during his exile.

[25] Given his age, Rusudan was possibly his second wife, or alternatively, if the match was arranged by his father during his stay at Tiflis, he had remained unwed to honour that pledge.

[35] The first act of public opposition was his refusal, along with his maternal uncle, the sebastos George, to vote in the Senate for the execution of the Empress-dowager Maria of Antioch in August 1183, or to preside over the deed.

Public hostility to the Emperor increased as the Normans advanced, and, in order to stifle dissent, Andronikos and his supporters in the Senate passed a law that would condemn to death not only those currently imprisoned, but also their families.

[44][45] At the same time, Manuel still retained a measure of influence over his father, as shown when he successfully pleaded for the life and rank of his cousin, David, the doux of Thessalonica, who was being besieged there by the Normans.

[41] During the popular uprising that brought Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204) to power on 11–12 September 1185, Andronikos for a time held the Great Palace against the urban mob.

While Alexios established himself at Trebizond and assumed the imperial title, David moved on to capture Paphlagonia, which he ruled until his death in 1212, when the region was annexed by the Empire of Nicaea.