WI: Manuel I Komnenos never sired a son?

In OTL, Manuel I Komnenos created the title "despotes" for the would-be Bela III of Hungary to designate him as his successor and planned to marry his daughter Maria to him. But when Alexios II was born, this arrangement was cancelled but Manuel helped Bela claim the throne of Hungary later.

Now what if Alexios II was never born and the arrangement went as planned? Would Manuel help Bela claim the Crown of Saint Stephen? Would Bela rule by his own right or only as a co-emperor with Maria like the case of Zoe?

And what would the Christian world reacts to a Hungarian-Byzantine union? Would they abhor a superpower appearing or be somewhat glad to have a strong ally to back the Crusades?

Also, what about the Schism? Although the two parts of Bela's(or confusingly, the TTL Alexios II) realm would have different religions, the Catholic-Orthodox relation was warm back then and there was an attempt to mend the Schism during Manuel's reign, now, would Bela be able to unite the two churches?
 
It would be very interesting to see what would happen if Alexios II was not born in 1169...Would Manuel keep Bela-Alexios in Constantinople and not allow him to ascend to the Hungarian throne (in order to remain his heir)? Or, would Manuel, as he senses he is not long for this world, summon Bela-Alexios and Maria to Constantinople on his death bed?

Perhaps, if Bela-Alexios was still Despotes and heir apparent of the Romans upon Stephan Arpads' death in 1171, he would not be eligable for the Hungarian throne.

I'm just trying to figure out what the likeliest scenario would be if Manuel has no sons by his death in 1180...
 

Deleted member 67076

This is a big Hungary wank and a mid term Roman wank. Bela would likely be interested in bringing some aspects Roman centralization to Hungary, which will probably have a similar effect as Charles I's reforms 200 years down the line. Then he's going to focus on expanding territory. Croatia is almost certainly going to be transferred back into Hungarian control and Wallachia might be split amongst the two realms.

At the same time, for the Byzantines this mean they get access to the Hungarian gold mines and cavalry. The latter is going to be very much a pain for the Seljuqs to deal with. (Also having the Hungarian nobility in Anatolia will make them easier to control for Bela-Alexios). I suspect they'll be going to be swarmed. I don't think all of Anatolia will be reclaimed, as Bela will probably have to focus the majority of his rule on things in Hungary.
 
Another option is Maria Porphyrogenita herself, could she not be groomed by Manuel as his heir just as Tamar the Great was for Georgia during this same period?

Renier-John of Montferrat her husband, likely supported by his able brother Conrad of Montferrat, would likely be at the fore of supporting her regime. But as Porphyrogenita, she and any children she has with Renier could be very attractive to the Komnenian nobility...
 
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