Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios. Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire
Miniature portrait of Manuel II, 1407–1409
Byzantine double-headed eagle with the Palaiologos family cypher.
Half stavraton coin by Manuel. On the reverse, Manuel's bust.
Miniature made c. 1404 depicting Manuel II, Helena and three of their sons, the co-emperor John VIII and the despots Theodore and Andronikos.
Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus was the last reigning Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Constanti
Manuel II Palaiologos
…Latin neighbors helped Manuel's government survive and slightly expand its influence. His wife Helena Dragaš saw to it that their sons, John VIII and Constantine XI, became emperors. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church on 21 July. Manuel II Palaiologos was the second son of Emperor John V Palaiologos…
Fresco of Constantine XI from the Catholicon of the Old Monastery of Taxiarches in Aigialeia, mid-15th century
Ruins of the castle at Patras, captured by Constantine in 1430
Contemporary sketches by Pisanello of the Byzantine delegation at the Council of Florence. The figure mounted on the horse is Constantine's brother, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos.