Voicing Political Relief through Psalms. Manuel II Palaeologus and the Battle of Ankara

After the defeat of Bayezid I against Temūr at Ankara, Manuel II Palaiologos composed a short prose in which Temūr reproaches the captured Sultan, and a psalm. Although the two texts have drawn Barker’s attention, he merely lists some quotes from the Psalter and ends up stating a supposed ineffectiveness of late Byzantine authors in reproducing biblical style. This approach is inadequate. Together with a handful of contemporary witnesses, Manuel’s works seem to be the most vivid reactions to the unforeseen Turkish defeat and definitely prove the spreading of re-interpretation of the events between 1391 and 1402 through the lents of the Bible. If the reproach against Bayezid can be identified with a specific genre, a composition ἐν εἴδει ψαλμοῦ turns out to be rather uncommon in Byzantine literature. Psalms had been metaphrased for centuries, but the author has decided to accurately reproduce psalmodic style. But how does a Byzantine author create a psalm? The rhythmical features of the text and its content will be outlined. The psalmodic quotes already listed by Barker will be reconsidered in order to properly understand the tools used by the author. The psalm will be analysed on the basis of the Byzantine rhetorical production, which Manuel proves to know and to handle with skill, and through a comparison with other coeval witnesses. It is not by chance that an emperor decides to write a psalm on a specific event. Turkish defeat inflamed Constantinopolitans after years of famine, as they felt again protected by the Lord, but many still feared an attack by Temūr. In this historical context, once back to the City, Manuel picked up David’s lyre and praised God as the rightful emperor of the Chosen People.