Andronikos Kontostephanos was the leading Byzantine military figure during the reign of his uncle, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
12 Facts About Andronikos Kontostephanos
1.
2.
At some point, Andronikos Kontostephanos was appointed commander of the Varangian Guard.
3.
Andronikos Kontostephanos' father was killed during the siege in early 1149, dying in his son's arms.
4.
Andronikos Kontostephanos next appears, along with his brother Alexios, in the course of Manuel I's attempts to settle the dynastic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary in his favour after the death of King Geza II in 1161.
5.
Andronikos Kontostephanos ignored the order and kept it secret from his officers.
6.
In 1169, Andronikos Kontostephanos was appointed commander of a fleet carrying a Byzantine army to invade Fatimid Egypt in alliance with the forces of Amalric, King of Jerusalem, in what was to be the last of a series of Crusader invasions of Egypt.
7.
The Venetians sent envoys to negotiate, but Manuel allowed them to drag on until his own counterstroke, 150 ships under Andronikos Kontostephanos' command, was ready.
8.
Andronikos Kontostephanos pursued them, but while the Venetians sailed north, raiding the islands of Thasos, Lesbos and Skyros, he assumed they would sail back westwards, and directed his fleet to Cape Malea.
9.
Andronikos Kontostephanos is credited with having persuaded his uncle the emperor, whose confidence had been severely shaken, to remain with his troops following the defeat.
10.
Andronikos Kontostephanos was dissuaded from continuing with the expedition by the refusal of Count Philip of Flanders, and many important nobles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to actively co-operate with the Byzantine force.
11.
Andronikos Kontostephanos's rule proved very unpopular, especially with the aristocracy who resented her Latin origins.
12.
The plot was discovered and Andronikos Kontostephanos was captured, whilst Angelos escaped.