Manuel Komnenos Doukas

Manuel Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Ducas (, Manouēl Komnēnos Doukas; c. 1187 – c. 1241), commonly simply Manuel Doukas (Μανουήλ Δούκας) and rarely also called Manuel Angelos (Μανουήλ Ἄγγελος), was ruler of Thessalonica from 1230 to 1237 and, after his expulsion from Thessalonica, of Thessaly from 1239 until his death in c. 1241. Life Manuel was the legitimate son of the sebastokratōr John Doukas. He was thus a first cousin of Emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos, and a brother of Michael I Komnenos Doukas and Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Epirus. He married the sister of the Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228). Career Probably after 1225 or 1227, he received the court title of Despotes from 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 that country.