The twelfth century was the age of Roger II of Sicily, Henry Plantagenet, Frederick Barbarossa and Saladin. It was also the age of Manuel Komnenos, who ruled the empire of Constantinople from 1143 to 1180. Like his eminent contemporaries, Manuel received more than his fair share of admiration from professional eulogists, yet there can be no doubt that he too provided excellent material for eulogy. Although his accession to the Byzantine throne was sudden, unexpected and precarious, he took control smoothly and efficiently. Only four years later he averted a major crisis when the kings of France and Germany passed through Byzantine territory at the head of huge armies and the king of Sicily took the opportunity to capture Corfu and raid mainland Greece. In addition to many ephemeral successes, Manuel reduced Hungary and the Latin principalities of Outremer to the status of client states. While he reigned, the empire's main centres of population were as secure from internal disorder and foreign invasion as they had ever been. He conducted war and diplomacy on a grand scale and on all fronts. His court was a dazzling display of power and wealth, where state occasions were celebrated with fairytale magnificence. It attracted diplomats, exiles and fortune-seekers from many lands. Manuel also received more foreign potentates than any Byzantine emperor before or since: a king of France, a king of Germany, a Turkish sultan, a king of Jerusalem, and a duke of Saxony and Bavaria.