John II Komnenos - Death and Succession

Death and Succession

Having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch John amused himself by hunting wild boar on Mount Taurus in Cilicia, where, on April 8, 1143, he accidentally cut himself on the hand with a poisoned arrow. John initially ignored the wound and it became infected, he died a number of days after the accident, probably of septicaemia. It has been suggested that John was assassinated by a conspiracy within the units of his army of Latin origins who were unhappy at fighting their co-religionists of Antioch, and who wanted to place his pro-western son Manuel on the throne. However, there is very little overt support for this hypothesis in the primary sources. John's final action as emperor was to choose Manuel, the younger of his surviving sons, to be his successor. John is recorded as citing two main reasons for choosing Manuel over his older brother Isaac: these were Isaac's irascibility, and the courage that Manuel had shown on campaign at Neocaesareia. Another theory alleges that the reason for this choice was the AIMA prophecy which foretold that John's successor should be one whose name began with an "M". Fittingly, John's close friend John Axouch, although he is recorded as having tried hard to persuade the dying emperor that Isaac was the better candidate to succeed, was instrumental in ensuring that Manuel's assumption of power was free from any overt opposition.