Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The fall of Byzantium

Manuel II (1391-1425) and the Turks

Page 4

The expedition of Marshal Boucicaut. Realizing that with his own forces he would not be able to overcome the Turks, Manuel decided to appeal for help to the most powerful rulers of western Europe and to the Russian great prince Vasili I Dmitrievich. The pope, Venice, France, England, and possibly Aragon replied favorably to Manuel's appeal. His request seemed especially flattering to the king of France, because, declared a contemporary western chronicler, it was the first time that the ancient emperors of the whole world had appealed for help to such a remote country. Manuel's appeal to western Europe gained him a certain, but an insufficient, amount of money, and the hope of getting from France aid in men. Manuel's request for help from the Great Prince of Moscow, supported by a request to the same purpose from the patriarch of Constantinople, was favorably received in Moscow. There seems to have been no question at the court of Moscow of sending troops to Constantinople; it was only a question of granting alms to those who are in such need and misery, besieged by the Turks. Money was sent to Constantinople, where it was accepted with great gratitude. But money contributions could not help Manuel substantially.

The king of France, Charles VI, fulfilled his promise and sent in support of Constantinople 1200 men-at-arms, at whose head he placed Marshal Boucicaut. Boucicaut was one of the most interesting men of France at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. A man of extraordinary valor and determination, he had spent all his life in long journeys and dangerous adventures. As a young man, he had set out to the East, to Constantinople, traveled all over Palestine, reached Sinai, and for several months had been captive in Egypt. On his return to France, hearing of the appeal of the king of Hungary, Sigismund, Boucicaut had hastened to him, fought with astounding valor in the fatal battle of Nicopolis, and had fallen prisoner to Bayazid. Escaping death almost by a miracle, and ransomed, Boucicaut returned to France in order, in the ensuing year, with all readiness and energy, to take the head of the body of troops sent by Charles VI to the East.

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