(), emperor of Constantinople A.
D. 1391-1425, was the son of the emperor John VI., in whose life is related the history of
Manuel previous to his sole accession, which took place on the death of John, in A. D. 1391. Manuel was then an hostage at the court of sultan Bayazid,
but no sooner was he informed of the death of his father, than he escaped from Nicaea, and
hastened to Constantinople, fearing lest his brother Andronicus should seize the crown. His
flight enraged the sultan, who, without declaring war, advanced with his main army against
Constantinople, and laid siege to it, swearing he would not retire till he had taken the city,
and put the emperor to death. In this extremity Manuel implored the assistance of the Western
princes, with whom he had constant negotiations: his efforts were crowned with success,
inasmuch as a powerful army, composed of Hungarians, Germans, and French, headed by the flower
of European chivalry and nobility, appeared on the Turkish frontier, and obliged Bayazid to
raise the siege, and defend his own kingdom. The unfortunate battle of Nicopolis, in 1396,
where the allies were routed, and 10,000 of them, who were taken prisoners, massacred by the
victors on the field of battle, seemed to be the signal for the final destruction of the Greek
empire, for no sooner had Bayazid obtained that decisive victory on the banks of the Danube,
than he changed the blockade of Constantinople into a close siege. The obstinate resistance of
the inhabitants, and the attention which the sultan was obliged to pay to the appreaching
danger arising from the conquests of Timur, delayed the surrender of the Greek capital; and
after a blockade and siege of nearly six years, the belligerent parties came to terms. Manuel
turned the friendship of Bayazid for John, the son of the blinded Andronicus, to his own
advantage. He gave his nephew the government of Constantinople, reserving for himself the
Peloponnesus, whither he proceeded with his family, and then set out for Europe, to beg
succour from the Western princes. Italy, France, and Germany, received the imperial suppliant
with all the honours due to his rank; but his prayers for assistance were in
vain, and he returned to Constantinople in 1402, at a moment when a great political crisis
made his presence most necessary. During his absence, John reigned with absolute power, having
obtained his recognition from Bayazid, on conditions which show the state of helpless weakness
into which the small remnant of the Byzantine empire was sunk. At that period there were
already three mosques in Constantinople, where a numerous Mohammedan population enjoyed the
free exercise of their religion. To these John was compelled to add a fourth; and besides, the
sultan obtained the privilege of establishing in the capital a " mehkeme," or court of
justice, where a Turkish " kadi," or judge, administered justice in the name of the sultan,
who increased the number of Mohammedans by settling a numerous colony of Turkmans at Kiniki, a
borough in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople. A yearly tribute of 10,000 ducats was
added as another condition.
Considering Constantinople a prey which he could seize at the first opportunity, Bayazid
resolved, first to subdue Greece, the greater part of which was then governed by Latin
princes, among whom the dukes of Delphi and Athens were the principal. Greece was an easy
conquest, and Athens, which the Turks still called the city of philosophers, became for some
time the seat of a Turkish pasha. The fall of Constantinople now seemed to be inevitable, and
Bayazid had already assembled an army for its speedy reduction, when the great Timur invaded
Asia Minor with a countless host. At Angora (1402) the Turkish army was annihilated by the
Tatar; and Bayazid, with his son Musa, fell into the hands of the victor. This unexpected
event saved Manuel. Bayazid died soon after his captivity; and Timur, who left Asia Minor for
the purpose of conquering China, died in 1405. Meanwhile, the sons of Bayazid seized each a
portion of their father's empire; and the Tatar having withdrawn from Asia Minor, a civil war
broke out between the Turkish princes, which ended in the undisputed government of prince
Mohammed, the first of the sultans of that name (1415). During these disturbances Manuel acted
with diplomatic skill: he first removed his nephew, John, from the government; and perceiving
the rising fortune of Mohammed, joined him; and in 1413 he contributed to the defeat and death
of prince Musa, who had succeeded his brother Suleiman, in 1410, in the government of European
Turkey. In reward for his assistance, Manuel received from Mohammed several places on the
Euxine, Thessalonica and its territory, and several districts in the Peloponnesus. The latter
part of the reign of Manuel was quiet. Still hoping that the Western princes would finally
unite for the purpose of putting an end to the Turkish dominion and restoring the Greek
empire, he sent ambassadors to the Council of Constance with seeming instructions to effect a
union of the Latin and Greek churches. But his real intentions were quite different; he never
earnestly wished for such an union; and Phranza (2.13) was witness when the emperor openly
said that he negotiated with the Western princes for no other purpose but causing fear to the
Turks. This was well known in Europe; and while Greek fickleness and duplicity prevented a
cordial understanding between the East and the West, it became one of the principal causes of
the destruction of the Greek empire. Manuel died in 1425, at the age of 77, and was succeeded
by his eldest son John (VII.), whom he had by his wife Irene, daughter of Constantine Dragas,
and whom he created co-emperor in 1419. (Laonic. 1.2; Ducas, 100.12-15; Phranza, 1.16,
&c.)