The BLOOD (AIMA) Prophecy in Byzantium
Although the Byzantine Empire was the stalwart defender of Orthodox Christianity, its emperors nonetheless strongly believed in prophecies and superstitions.
The most famous of these was the AIMA (or BLOOD in Greek) prophecy.
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In a nutshell, the prophecy stated that the first letter of the emperors' names in the Komnenian Dynasty should formulate the word «αίμα» (blood).
Indeed, the first three emperors of the dynasty were Alexios I, Ioannis II and Manuel I.
Their names formed the word «AIM»
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Manuel I was a trong-willed and superstitious emperor.
Though the 4th child of Ioannis II, he rose to the throne eventually and saw the hand of fate everywhere.
Indicatively, he once delayed the Battle of Sirmium in 1167 against the Mayars ... upon an astrologer's omen.
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Manuel would go to great lengths to fulfil this prophecy.
He just needed one more letter - "A".
Initially, he betrothed his daughter from his first marriage, Maria Komnene, to the future King of Hungary, Béla III, and forced the latter to be baptized as Alexios.
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Subsequently, he baptized the son from his second marriage (with Maria of Antioch) as Alexios and crowned him co-emperor (though a 2-year old infant) in 1171.
Alexios II did eventually succeed his father as a minor in 1180 and, at at face value, consummated the prophecy.
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But there was a plot twist ...
Alexios II was overthrown by his uncle, Andronikos I, in 1183.
The reign of Andronikos, whose name started with "A", proved a catastrophe for the empire and ended with his own murder.
Not the expected end-of-a-cycle.
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#History #Byzantium
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