Manuel I Comnenus 1143AD Byzantine Rare Authentic Ancient Coin Monogram i21446

Item: i21446

Authentic Ancient

Roman Coin of:

Byzantine – Manuel I , Comnenus – Byzantine Emperor: 8
April 1143 – 24 September 1180 A.D.

Bronze Half Tetarteron 17mm (2.19 grams) Struck at Uncertain Greek Mint
circa 1143-1180 A.D.
Reference: Sear 1979
Monogram 58
.
No legend. Bust of Manuel facing, beardless, wearing crown and loros, and
holding labarum and globe cross.

You are bidding on the exact

Guarantee of Authenticity.

The Chi Rho is one of the earliest

christograms

used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the

first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word

Christ

(

Greek

 : “Χριστός” ), chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce

the monogram

☧. The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by pagan Greek scribes to

mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the

combined

letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning “good.” Although not technically a cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion

of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ. There is early

evidence of the Chi Rho symbol on Christian Rings of the third century.

The labarum (Greek:

λάβαρον) was a

(military standard) that displayed the “Chi-Rho”

symbol, formed from the first two

Greek letters

of the word “Christ”

(Greek:

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) — Chi (χ)

and Rho (ρ).

It was first used by the

Roman emperor

Constantine I

. Since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from

the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize

crucifixion

. The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by Greek scribes to

mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the

combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning

“good.”

Comnenus, or Manuel

I Komnenos (Greek:

Μανουήλ Α’ Κομνηνός, Manouēl I

Komnēnos,

November

28
, 1118

–

September 24

,

1180) was a

Byzantine Emperor

of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning

point in the history of

Byzantium

and the

Mediterranean

. Eager to restore his

empire

to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world,

Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made

alliances with the Pope

and the resurgent west, invaded

Italy

, successfully handled the passage of the dangerous

Second Crusade

through his empire, and established a Byzantine protectorate

over the

Crusader kingdoms

of

Outremer
.

Facing Muslim

advances in the

Holy Land
,

he made common cause with the

Kingdom of Jerusalem

and participated in a combined invasion of

Fatimid

Egypt
.

Manuel reshaped the political maps of the

Balkans
and

the east Mediterranean, placing the kingdoms of

Hungary

and Outremer under Byzantine

hegemony

and campaigning aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the

east. However, towards the end of his reign Manuel’s achievements in the east

were compromised by a serious defeat at

Myriokephalon

, which in large part resulted from his arrogance in attacking

a well-defended

Seljuk

position.

Called ho Megas (Greek:

ὁ Μέγας, translated as “the

Great“) by the Greeks

, Manuel is known to have inspired intense loyalty in those who served

him. He also appears as the hero of a history written by his secretary,

John

Kinnamos
, in which every virtue is attributed to him. Manuel, who was

influenced by his contact with western Crusaders, enjoyed the reputation of “the

most blessed emperor of

Constantinople

” in parts of the

Latin
world as

well.^[1]

Modern historians, however, have been less enthusiastic about him. Some of them

assert that the great power he wielded was not his own personal achievement, but

that of the

dynasty

he represented; they also argue that, since Byzantine imperial power

declined so rapidly after Manuel’s death, it is only natural to look for the

causes of this decline in his reign.