Death of John II Komnenos

April 8, 1143

While hunting boar in the Taurus Mountains, the Byzantine emperor cut his hand on a poisoned arrow and died within days. The most capable Komnenian, who had spent twenty-five years restoring Byzantine fortunes, was succeeded by his son Manuel I, the charismatic westernizer. John's patient campaigns had recovered much of western Anatolia and reasserted Byzantine claims over the Crusader states, achievements his less disciplined son would struggle to maintain.