The massacre of the Venetians under emperor Manuel I Comnenus as one of the causes of antagonism between Byzantium and Europe

The article examines the complex relationship between the Venetian Republic and the Byzantine Empire at the end of the 11th century, when the Emperor Alexios I Comnenus, in gratitude for their military support, gave to the Venetians trade privileges. In the following years, until the end of the 12th century, the Venetian question became one of the key issues both in domestic and foreign policy for the basileuses of the Comnenian dynasty, including Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). Initially, Emperor Manuel’s actions amounted to an atempt at a diplomatic solution to the Venetian question. However, in 1171, the basileus took extreme measures, placing under arrest almost all of the Venetians on the territory of the Byzantine Empire and confiscating their property, in this way challenging the strongest naval power of the time. He was able to solve the Venetian question and come out as the winner in the subsequent conflict. But ultimately, the massacre of the Venetians in 1171 strengthened the growth of both religious and ethnic antagonism between East and West, and was one of the factors that spurred the Venetians, together with the Crusaders, to conquer Constantinople in 1204.