that a colony of Turks be established. Rebellion; Byzantium survives, 1394–1402 Manuel's next steps were bold and seemingly foolish — not only did he refuse to pay the Sultan tribute, he refused to answer the Sultan's messages and Bayezid set about laying siege to Constantinople. In 1394, his siege began and would continue for eight years. Manuel II realized that while the city could endure a half-hearted blockade, it did not have the military assets to man the walls of Constantinople. At first, the situation was not so dire — a massive counter-attack by the West was to be launched as the Crusade of Nicopolis. In a titanic battle, Bayezid force-marched his army to a stunning yet costly victory. Thousands were killed, but now Bayezid was able to turn his armies fully against Constantinople. The situation was dire; so much so that John VII, Manuel's dire opponent, was left in charge of Constantinople. He made one grand tour of Europe in 1399, stopping at Venice, Padua, Milan, Paris and London, where he met the English King Henry IV; in England, he was well received and treated to a jousting tournament. However, Manuel was unable to secure any help from Western Christendom. In the end, it would be Eastern Islam that would come to Constantinople's aid — Timur led his army deep into Anatolia, decisively defeating Bayezid and his exhausted army in 1402 near Ankara. The defeat caused a panic amongst the Turks in Anatolia, who frantically began crossing over to Europe, albeit with hired Byzantine ships. Manuel, who was still in Europe, arrived in 1403 to a welcoming sight — Constantinople free from Ottoman siege. John VII remained loyal, handing back the capital and even taking Thessalonica back from the Ottomans. Ottoman Interregnum, 1402–13 The defeat of the Ottomans considerably changed the mood within Constantinople. The rewards reaped by the Empire were outstanding considering that only a short time had passed since the city (and possibly the Empire itself) stood on the brink of destruction. John VII appeared to have achieved numerous other benefits for Byzantium. The first was a non-aggression treaty between the local Christian powers (who were also free from Ottoman servitude), meaning that the disasters of Andronikos III's later rule would not be repeated. Next were a treaty between Byzantium and the successor of Bayezid, Süleyman who was in Asia Minor, confirming Byzantium's freedom from paying tribute.