Additionally Manuel opened up relations with the Western powers as he was a man who loved all things Western European and even organized regular jousting competitions. Because of this fondness, he increased diplomatic ties to the West, arranging alliances with the Pope and the Crusaders of the Outremer and successfully dealt with the troublesome Second Crusade that passed through his lands. Conversely, Western Europeans held him in great esteem, and he was described by the Latin historian William of Tyre as "beloved of God...a great-souled man of incomparable energy," highlighting the goodwill he garnered with the previously hostile Western European powers. Indeed, of all the Byzantine emperors it is said that Manuel was the closest to healing the centuries-old rift between the Christian Churches of the East and West, though he never fully achieved this goal.