Boucicaut

   French marshal sent by French king Charles VI in 1399 to help raise the Ottoman siege of Constantinople (qq.v.). He fought his way to the city, despite the attempt of Sultan Bayezit I (q.v.) to prevent his small fleet from passing through the Hellespont (q.v.). He brought with him 1,200 soldiers, most of them archers. He stayed there for the remainder of the year, raiding the eastern coast of the Bosporos and Sea of Marmara (qq.v.), but he achieved nothing of importance. He then encouraged Manuel II (q.v.) to seek further military aid from the West, and on 10 December 1399 Manuel II and Boucicaut left for France, where plans to send more French troops never materialized.