Manuel Kamytzes was a Byzantine general in the late 12th century AD. He was the son of Constantine Kamytzes and Maria Angelina, who, through her mother Theodora, was the granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos

Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...

 and Irene Doukaina

Irene Doukaina

Irene Doukaina or Ducaena was the wife of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and the mother of the emperor John II Komnenos and of the historian Anna Komnene.-Succession of Alexios and Irene:...

. He was therefore a first cousin of the emperors Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos

Isaac II Angelos was Byzantine emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204....

 and Alexios III Angelos

Alexios III Angelos

Alexios III Angelos was Byzantine Emperor from 1195 to 1203.- Early life:Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronicus was himself a son of Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus...

, and of Michael I Komnenos Doukas

Michael I Komnenos Doukas

Michael I Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas , often inaccurately called Michael Angelos , was the founder and first ruler of the principality of Epirus from 1205 until his death in 1215.-Life:...

, who was to be despot of Epirus

Despotate of Epirus

The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

. He was probably born about 1150, and died at some unknown date after 1202.

He led Imperial troops in 1189, when the Third Crusade

Third Crusade

The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...

 crossed Byzantine territory.

Manuel's daughter, whose name is unknown, was forced by the emperor Alexius III Angelus to divorce her husband and marry Dobromir Chrysos in 1198.

Manuel afterwards fought against a rival Bulgarian leader, Ivanko, and was captured. The emperor took no steps to ransom him. Manuel therefore asked his son-in-law, Dobromir, to pay the ransom, and joined him in fighting against the Empire. He is last heard of in 1202.

Manuel's wife's name is unknown. He is known to have had a daughter, mentioned above, and a son named John Kamytzes (Ioannes Kamytzes).

Sources

• O city of Byzantium: annals of Niketas Choniates tr. Harry J. Magoulias (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1984) especially pp. 221–224, 282-283, 293-294.
• K. Varzos, I genealogia ton Komninon (Thessalonica, 1984) vol. 2 pp. 690–713.