 Shortly after the fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI, Manuel with the local Greek population joined 30,000 Albanians in a revolt against the two brothers, Thomas and Demetrios, rulers of the Byzantine Morea.It was public knowledge that the two brothers hated one another, and using this situation to his advantage, Manuel headed this revolt in 1453.He was soon proclaimed by the Albanians as a Despot and in order to please them, he took the Albanian name "Ghin" and also called his wife "Cuchia".