ABSTRACT
ON the following day which was Saturday the Emperor called for us ambassadors, sending horses to bring us to his palace.1 On arrival we found him in a chamber that was off a gallery, where he received us very graciously: and after talking with him for a space we returned to our lodging. At this audience after having speech with the Emperor we were presented to his son, who was a young man some twenty-five years of age. The Emperor is a man well-built, tall and of a stately presence; he and his son were dressed in imperial robes, wearing hats of a very high shape, which had cordings of gold running up the sides with a great plume on the top made of crane feathers; further these hats were trimmed with marten fur. The Emperor’s name is Manuel, and his son is called Alexius. They speak of the son too, like his father, as the Emperor; for this is their custom that the eldest son, who is heir to the Empire, yet during the life-time of his father and like him, is called Emperor: and in the Greek tongue the title is Basileus. This Emperor Manuel pays a tribute to Timur and likewise also to certain Turks who are his neighbours. We were informed that his Empress was related in blood to the Emperor of Constantinople. The young Emperor his son is married to a daughter of a certain nobleman of Constantinople, and he is now the father of two young daughters.
