Journey of Manuel II to Western Europe

Journey of Manuel II to Western Europe
	Depiction of Manuel II (with a white horse) entering Paris in Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry.
Leader	Manuel II Palaiologos
Start	Constantinople; December 10, 1399
End	Constantinople; 1403
Goal	Obtaining military support for the Byzantine Empire

Between 1399 and 1403, the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II, undertook a journey to Western Europe to obtain military support from Western powers. Promoted and aided by his friend, Jean II Le Maingre (known as "Boucicaut"), Manuel II visited various Western courts starting in Italy, and then moving to France and later England. He stayed in Paris for some time and received promises of aid, as he did in other European capitals, which ultimately did not materialize.

The news of the defeat of Bayezid, the greatest threat to the Byzantine Empire, at the hands of Timur at the Battle of Ankara, ultimately made his journey unnecessary, and Manuel II returned to Constantinople in 1403. Although Manuel II obtained a reprieve for the survival of his Empire, the journey already foreshadowed the scant Western support for his cause, which would be again demonstrated during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, as Western Europe turned away from the East.