Domestic opposition to Byzantium's alliance with Saladin: Niketas Choniates and his Epiphany oration of 1190

Abstract

The alliance between Isaac II Angelos and Saladin at the time of the Third Crusade has received much attention from Western and Islamic contemporaries, yet the Byzantine sources are oddly silent. This article teases out a negative reaction in Byzantium to the alliance, a reaction found in an oration delivered by Niketas Choniates on 6 January 1190. The article concludes that Choniates opposed the alliance and tactfully urged Isaac II to turn his attention towards redeeming Jerusalem, then under Saladin's control. The conclusion is set within the larger framework set by other scholars, such as Magdalino, Angold, and Hamilton, who see the Holy Land as an important factor in Byzantine policy before 1176.