Alan November's Profile

Manuel II Palaiologos used this period of respite to bolster the defences of the Despotate of Morea, where the Byzantine Empire was actually expanding at the expense of the remnants of the Latin Empire. Here Manuel supervised the building of the Hexamilion wall (six-mile wall) across the Isthmus of Corinth, intended to defend the Peloponnese from the Ottomans. Also in 1414, he commands a fleet of four galleys and two other vessels carrying some infantry and cavalry saves the island of Thasos from an invasion.

Half stavraton coin by Manuel. On the reverse, Manuel's bust.

Manuel II stood on friendly terms with the victor in the Ottoman civil war, Mehmed I (1402–1421), but his attempts to meddle in the next contested succession led to a new assault on Constantinople by Murad II (1421–1451) in 1422. During the last years of his life, Manuel II relinquished most official duties to his son and heir John VIII Palaiologos, and in 1424 they were forced to sign an unfavourable peace treaty with the Ottoman Turks, whereby the Byzantine Empire was forced to pay tribute to the sultan. Manuel II died on 21 July 1425.

Manuel II was the author of numerous works of varied character, including letters, poems, a Saint's Life, treatises on theology and rhetoric, and an epitaph for his brother Theodore I Palaiologos.

Bayou St. John is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain. In its natural state, it extended much further than today; colonial era and early 19th century maps show it had tributaries or branches (at least seasonally) reaching into what are now the Broadmoor neighborhood, the New Orleans Central Business District just back from St. Charles Avenue above Lee Circle, the Carrollton neighborhood, the Treme neighborhood, and a branch connecting to Bayou Gentilly.

Egrets along Bayou St. John, October, 2005

The portion still in existence today was navigable by canoes and similar small vessels, used by Native Americans since Pre-Columbian times. The natives knew the waterway as Bayouk Choupic. There was a portage between the Bayou and the Mississippi River, which attracted early French explorers, traders, and trappers, some of who established a small community here by the late 17th century. In 1701 a small fort was established by the French beside the Lake Pontchartrain end of the Bayou to protect this important route; Fort St. Jean would be known to later generations of New Orleanians as "Old Spanish Fort". The Bayou and portage was a key factor in the selection of the site where the city of New Orleans was founded in 1718, by the river end of the portage route.

In colonial times the portage trail became Grand Route St. John, later replaced as the main route by the wide straight Esplanade Avenue. The Carondelet Canal was dug to connect the back of the city along the River with the Bayou, and the Bayou dredged to accommodate larger vessels.

An area along Bayou St. John was reputedly the location of many voodoo rituals by Marie Laveau.

In the early 20th century, commercial use of the Bayou declined, the Carondelet Canal was filled in. A number of New Orleanians started living in houseboats on the Bayou. Complaints from people in nearby neighborhoods and sanitation concerns led to this being outlawed in the 1930s. A Works Progress Administration cleaned up and beautified the Bayou. A lock was installed near the Lake Pontchartrain end of the Bayou. In the summer of 1955 the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board temporarily drained the Bayou to clean out debris and material that was causing foul odors.

The Bayou then took on the role it has had since as a picturesque bit of water with small earthen levees on either side forming a narrow bit of park space in the city. From the mid 20th century on, the banks of the Bayou across from City Park became a favorite place for young couples on a date to park and "watch the submarine races" (enjoy each other's company). The banks of Bayou St. John are an important meeting place for the Downtown Mardi Gras Indian tribes for their "Super Sunday" parade after Carnival.