Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/89

Rh Andronicos, to whom, on the outbreak of the troubles during the reign of the boy successor of Manuel, the people looked for relief from the rule of the Andronicos. press and her lover, was a cousin of Manuel, being the son of Isaac, the younger brother of John. During the reign of Manuel he had been a troublesome subject. At the commencement of his reign Manuel and Andronicos had been boon companions. They were of about the same age. But a quarrel broke out between them as early as 1151, in consequence of the nomination of John Comnenos to the dignity of protosebastos. Andronicos at once intrigued against Manuel, and treated with the King of Jerusalem, the Sultan of the Seljukian Turks, and the King of Hungary. The attempt of Andronicos was discovered. He was deprived of his duchies of Branitzova and Belgrade, and was imprisoned in a palace. His freedom of manners, his high spirit, and his handsome person and great strength had made him popular with the people of the capital. He grew in favor with them in consequence of a series of adventures, which recall those of the young pretender to the throne of England. It would be difficult to name a prince who could boast of more escapes, or who had succeeded in making himself more popular alike with men and women. His noble presence, and, above all, his wonderful powers of persuasion, won him admirers everywhere. Yet he was a worthless hypocrite. He was heartless, sensual, and cruel. Skilled in military exercises, lie was destitute of courage, and as a general was a failure. Capable of attaching men and women to him, he sacrificed them whenever his interest no longer required their services.

His advent&shy;ures began early in the reign of Manuel. He captured by the Sultan Mahsoud. On his return from captivity his cousin Isaac and he had an altercation in presence of the emperor, in which the first drew his sword and attempted to kill Andronicos, and was only saved by the personal intervention of Manuel, who himself received a wound, the marks of which he bore till his dying