Manuel the Armenian

Manuel
Born	late 8th century
Died	27 July 838 / ca. 860
Buried at	Monastery of Manuel, Constantinople
Allegiance	Byzantine Empire, Abbasid Caliphate
Rank	protostrator, strategos of the Anatolics, Domestic of the Schools
Battles/wars	Battle of Anzen
Relations	Empress Theodora

Manuel the Armenian was a prominent Byzantine general of Armenian origin, active from circa 810 until his death. After reaching the highest military ranks, a palace conspiracy forced him to seek refuge in the Abbasid court in 829. He returned to Byzantine service the next year, receiving the position of Domestic of the Schools from Emperor Theophilos, who had married his niece Theodora. Manuel remained in the post throughout Theophilos's reign, and reportedly saved the emperor's life in the Battle of Anzen in 838. According to one report, he died on 27 July 838 of wounds received during the battle, but other sources record his survival past this date, ascribing him a major role in the regency that governed the empire after Theophilos's death, and report that he died some time around 860.

Manuel was of Armenian origin, and the brother of Marinos, the father of the future Byzantine empress Theodora. Manuel first appears in the reign of Michael I Rangabe (ruled 811–813), when he held the post of protostrator (head of the imperial stables). At the time, he must still have been young, probably in his twenties. Although he urged Michael to confront Leo the Armenian, following Michael's deposition by Leo (r. 813–820), Manuel was promoted to the rank of patrikios and entrusted with the post of strategos of the Armeniac or the Anatolic Theme. The latter post was the most senior of the Byzantine Empire's thematic governors, and Leo himself had held the office prior to his accession. According to historians John B. Bury and Warren Treadgold, in early 819 and for about a year, Leo seems to have appointed Manuel to the exceptional post of monostrategos ("single-general") of the five land themes of Asia Minor, but this unusual concentration of command authority was apparently directed towards the more effective suppression of iconophile resistance against Leo's reinstatement of Iconoclasm rather than for military purposes. This appointment is, however, most likely a misreading of the primary source, according to the editors of the Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit. According to the history of Michael the Syrian, at about the same time Manuel was responsible for the negotiations with the Khurramite refugees and their leader, Nasr, who became baptized as Theophobos in Byzantine service; however, Michael's chronology of this episode is confused and of doubtful accuracy.

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