Marshal Boucicaut’s mission to Constantinople
Kushch Tatiana
This article addresses the history of French participation in the defence of Constantinople besieged by the Ottomans. In 1399, responding to the request of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos for military assistance, King Charles VI of France sent a detachment of knights under the command of Marshal of France Jean II le Meingre, nicknamed Boucicaut, to the Byzantine capital. In Constantinople, the Marshal chose offensive tactics and made a series of naval raids against the Ottoman territories. However, he failed to solve the strategic task of lifting the siege of the city. He advised the Emperor to go personally to France for negotiations with Charles VI concerning additional military and financial resources. Boucicaut also contributed to ending the dynastic strife between Manuel II and his nephew John VII. The author of the article draws attention to the title “Grand Constable of the Emperor and of the Empire of Constantinople” in the epitaph on the tomb of Boucicaut and suggests that it was a French adoption of the Greek rank of grand domestic. According to the author of the article, the Byzantine Emperor elevated the Marshal to this rank when assigning him to command the joint forces of the Greeks and Latins.
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