Manuel Raoul or Rhales ( el, Μανουήλ Ῥαούλ or Ῥάλης; ) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

official known through his surviving correspondence with senior Byzantine figures of his time. Member of an obscure branch of the aristocratic Raoul/Rhales family, Manuel was born possibly at Mystras, but grew up and was educated at

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region ...

. He then served as an official (''grammatikos'') in the administration of the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

under Despot

Manuel Kantakouzenos Manuel Kantakouzenos (or Cantacuzenus) (Greek: Μανουήλ Καντακουζηνός, ''Manouēl Kantakouzēnos''), (c. 1326 – Mistra, Peloponnese, 10 April 1380). ''Despotēs'' in the Despotate of Morea or the Peloponnese from 25 Octob ...

until his failing eyesight forced him to resign in ca. 1362. He had a son called Nikephoros. Twelve of his letters survive, three of which are addressed to Emperor

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under A ...

, and the rest to other officials, literati, and an

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

. According to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...

'', " st of the letters are quite conventional in subject matter, but they do provide some prosopographical data and interesting details of everyday life in the 14th-C.

Peloponnesos The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

, including the plague of 1361–62, the capture of a friend by bandits, and a fall from a horse that made him lame and prevented him from paying his respects to the emperor".

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raoul, Manuel 14th-century Byzantine people Byzantine letter writers Byzantine officials

Manuel Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People of the Despotate of the Morea