As The Komnenoi World Turns S1 E3

1169 was a year of highs and lows for Manuel. His attempted conquest of Egypt fell apart when the Greek army was unable to cooperate with the Latins from the army of Jerusalem ¹, but his wife Maria of Antioch was finally pregnant. The Porphyra chamber was prepared for the imperial birth, drapped with silks and decorated with symbols meant to ward off the Evil Eye, then blessed by the patriarch. Manuel himself sat by her bedside as Empress Maria was in labor, although Choniates tells us he "gave most of his attentions to the man who was watching the stars and gaping at the heavens."

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