ABSTRACT
It is perhaps appropriate to say a few words about the visit of the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who six hundred years ago stayed in the Priory of the Hospital of St John at Clerkenwell. His visit casts light on the important role the Hospitallers played in the Mediterranean, and on the help they extended to the Emperor during his reign. Manuel had set out to visit Europe in December 1399 in the hope of eliciting help against the Turks, who since 1394 had laid siege to Constantinople. It was during these desperate years that the Emperor sought to arouse the conscience of the West against the Ottomans. Manuel was received by King Charles VI with all the magnificence which France commanded. While in France, Manuel decided to seek help from Henry IV of England and began negotiations for his visit to that country, planned for September 1400.
