Part Two: The Ancient Enemy
As the excitement over the glorious victory wore away, Manuel pondered with fear what he knew he had to do next. He thought of the possiblility that he would become a prisoner in his palace with the Turks ruling all of his empire save the capital. But he knew it was a gamble he needed to take, and was confident that his civilized armies could defeat the barbarian infidels. As the census taxes came in at the beginning of the year, Manuel ordered new troops conscripted in the capital province, realinzing that the main battle would most likely be fought there. But this put the Empire in a perilous financial situation. The cost to keep the troops in top form was immense compared to the small budget of the nation, and there was a chance that the army would revolt due to the decrease in wages. Even so, Manuel knew that he must confront the Turks as soon as possible to ensure the Empire's survival.
Oddly enough, Mustafa, brother of the former Turkish sultan Mehmed, was being held in Constantinople. Mustafa claimed that he was the rightful sultan, so Manuel ordered him executed in order to keep the Turks at bay until he was ready to fight. This pleased Murad so much that he sent a gift of 125 ducats to Constantinople. Little did he know that that money would be used to conscript troops who would later be besieging his capital.
By September of 1421, the financial consquences of maintaining a large army became apparent. The Empire was forced to take two loans to maintain the army. But this did not deter Manuel. On December 21, 1421, a declaration of war was sent across the Bosporus to Bursa, the Ottoman capital. The Empire was joined by her allies Trebizond and Georgia, while Ak Koyunlu opted to leave the alliance rather than fight the Ottomans. The Turks were joined by Albania, Wallachia, Bosnia, and the Mameluks, a formidable alliance.
The Empire immediately went on the offensive, sending troops to Macedonia. The Ottoman force preparing to set out for Thrace was defeated, and the city of Thessaloniki was put under siege. With the northern border of Hellas secured, the army stationed there moved into Albania in hopes of quickly subjugating the vassal of the Turks. Unfortunately, the Albanians repulsed the attack, fighting effectively in the mountainous terrain. This news of defeat was countered by the news that the Knights of St. John had declared war on the Turks. Manuel was delighted in that troops would have to be diverted to protect southern Asia Minor from the crusader state.
As it became apparent that there was no Turkish force presenting a threat to the army in Macedonia, Manuel ordered that a detachment be sent to besiege the undefended province of Rumelia. He also ordered that the army in Hellas, regrouped after their defeat, be sent back into Albania. This time, they were successful and Durrës was put under siege on April 15, 1422. Now, it was time to test the strength of the Byzantine navy. The Cibyrraeots Theme was sent out of port in Thrace to prevent the Ottomans from crossing the Bosporus and besieging Thrace. The Turks, seeing this disadvantage, tried to sink the Byzantine fleet, but were instead routed themselves. With the danger of any attack in Europe eliminated and Macedonia captured, Manuel ordered troops be sent to Bulgaria and Smyrna.
Outside of Sofia, the Turkish armies put up fierce resistance, but were dislodged from their positions after a hard-fought battle. In Smyrna, however, there was no resistance whatsoever, and a siege was initiated on October 17, 1422. But in the excitement of the war, Manuel had failed to rectify the precarious financial situation. Byzantium had taken five loans, and the nation was on the brink of fiscal collapse. On April 1, 1423, Byzantium went bankrupt. The nobles panicked, and only the coolheaded Manuel saved the country from descending into anarchy.
The war, however, continued to go well. In September of 1423, both Smyrna and Sofia were captured, and Antalya was put under siege. Also, a small Mameluk force preventing supplies from being sent to Thessaloniki was defeated. The Excubitors Tagma was then ordered to besiege Dobudja, the last Ottoman possession in Europe under their full control. Thinking the Ottomans were defeated, Manuel was surprised to awake one morning and find his city under siege! He looked out of his window and saw that it was not Turks but Romanians from Wallachia who were outside the great double walls of his city.
The siege of Constantinople cause great financial strain once again for the Empire, taking its third loan since the bankruptcy. But Manuel was still determined to press on against the Turks, and his persistance paid off. On October 27, 1424, Dobrudja, Albania, and Rumelia were captured. Albania was annexed on the first of November. However, that did not stop another state bankruptcy. The second bankruptcy in as many years worried Manuel much more greatly than the first. He wished to end the war with the Ottomans, asking for Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Rumelia, but the sultan refused his offer. But the Turks did end their war with the Empire's ally, Trebizond, ceding Angora.
By this point, the citizens were becoming restless due to the war. To try to end the war as quickly as possible, Manuel sent all of his forces from Europe to Asia Minor in an attempt to crush the Turks. The Ottomans, however, put Smyrna under siege and Wallachia moved their troops from Thrace into Rumelia and began a siege of Varna. But the lifting of the siege was not enough to relieve the stresses of war for Manuel II. He died in July 1425, and his successor, Ioannes VIII took the throne on the twenty-second of the month.
The tides of war now seemed to be turning against the Empire. The army was repulsed in an attempt to relieve Smyrna from its siege and Dobrudja was placed under siege by the Turks. But the Ottoman Empire was war weary as well. On March 28, 1426, Antalya was captured. Left with only their capital province the Ottomans finally agreed to peace with the empire, ceding Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumelia, and Smyrna to the Byzantines. The empire had risen from the dead to become the largest Orthodox state in the world.