Irlandos at 18:14, January 23, 2006

2006-01-23T18:14:33Z

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The '''AIMA prophecy''' was a prophecy current during the reign of the [[Byzantine emperor]], [[Manuel I Comnenus]]. It claimed to foretell that the initial letters of the names of the four emperors of the [[Comnenus]] dynasty would spell ''aima'' (αιμα), the [[Greek language|Greek]] word for blood. The emperors had been, in order, [[Alexius I Comnenus|Alexius I]] (A, alpha), [[John II Comnenus|Ioannes II]] (I, iota), and Manuel I (M, mu). Because of his belief that his successor's name would have to start with the letter alpha, Manuel had the name [[Alexius II Comnenus|Alexius]] bestowed upon his son.

However, the reign of Alexius II lasted only three years, before he was deposed and killed by his cousin, [[Andronicus I Comnenus]]. A similar prophecy foretold that Andronicus would be succeeded in turn by an emperor who's name began with the letter I (iota). Andronicus thusly feared his throne would be usurped by another cousin, [[Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus]]. However, after an uprising Andronicus was killed and succeeded by [[Isaac II Angelus]].

==Sources==
{{Credit wikipedia}}
* Magdalino, Paul. ''The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos'', 1993
[[Category:Byzantine Empire]]

AIMA prophecy - Revision history

Irlandos at 18:14, January 23, 2006