Manuel Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Ducas, commonly simply Manuel Doukas and rarely also called Manuel Angelos, was ruler of Thessalonica from 1230 to 1237 and, after his expulsion from Thessalonica, of Thessaly from 1239 until his death in c. 1241.
Probably after 1225 or 1227 he was given the court dignity of despotes by his brother, Theodore. In 1225, he married Maria Asen, the illegitimate daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, helping to cement his brother's alliance with this country. After his brother's defeat and capture by the Bulgarians at the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230, Manuel was allowed by Ivan Asen II to rule in Thessalonica and its environs with the title of despotes. At one point Manuel tried to establish contacts with the Papacy, but in 1232 the longstanding breach with the Eastern Patriarchate at Nicaea was finally healed. Manuel ruled peacefully until 1237, when his widowed father-in-lawIvan Asen II married Irene, the daughter of the captive Theodore. At this point Theodore and his sons were released from captivity and resolved to recover the rule of Thessalonica. Manuel was unsuccessful in seeking the support of Prince Geoffrey II Villehardouin of Achaea and was forced to flee to Asia Minor. After a spell among the Seljuks of Rum and in Nicaea, Manuel returned to Greece with Nicaean support in 1239 and captured several fortresses including Larissa and Pharsalos from Theodore's son John Komnenos Doukas, establishing himself as ruler of Thessaly. Theodore and John had to agree to a division of the family lands. When Manuel died about 1241, the area passed into the hands of his other nephew, Michael II Komnenos Doukas of Epirus.
Family
Manuel married Serbian princess Jefimija, sister of Stefan Nemanjić. However, she could not have lived long, as in 1225 he married again, with Bulgarian princess Maria Asen, illegitimate daughter of Ivan Asen II and a mistress, in an arranged marriage, part of a pact. There is no information of them having any children. Manuel may have had a daughter named Helena, who married Guglielmo I da Verona, triarch of Euboea, father ofGuglielmo II da Verona.
