around Italy to drum up support. Although Catherine Zaccaria died in August 1462 and Thomas summoned the children to Rome shortly thereafter, Manuel and his older brother Andreas did not choose rejoin their father until a few days before Thomas died in 1465. The two brothers, and their sister Zoe, travelled from Corfu to Rome in 1465 but arrived there after their father had already died. Manuel was 10 years old at the time and Andreas was 12. The children were put in the care of Cardinal Bessarion, who had fled the Byzantine Empire in 1439. Bessarion provided the education for the children and also arranged Zoe's marriage to Duke Ivan III of Moscow in June 1472. Manuel and Andreas continued to stay in Rome by consent of the Pope, who recognised Andreas as the heir of Thomas and the rightful Despot of the Morea. The money that had been provided to their father was reduced for the two brothers. Thomas had received 300 ducats a month from the Pope, with an additional 200 a month provided by the cardinals, but with his death, the cardinals stopped providing extra money and the 300 ducats were split between the two brothers, effectively reducing a pension of 500 to one of 150. Thomas's courtiers had complained that his pension had barely been enough to sustain his household and reducing it to this extent for his sons made their financial situations difficult. Andreas attempted to earn money by offering to sell his claims on the imperial title to various rulers in Europe, but as Manuel was second-in-line (as the younger brother), he had no claims to sell. Thus, the young prince left Rome in early 1474 to travel around Europe and seek his fortune, offering his services to various rulers and nobles. In November, Manuel was at Milan, where he offered Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza to enter Milanese service in some military capacity. The Duke appears to not have given Manuel a satisfactory offer and the following year he was instead at Vaudémont in Lorraine, offering similar services to Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy. Charles offered to employ Manuel for a monthly pay of 100 écus, but Manuel declined as the sum was too little to sustain his retinue. Soon thereafter, he returned to Rome. Manuel in Constantinople Upon his return to Rome, Manuel discovered that the meagre papal pension provided