The author explores «The Moral Dialogue, or On Marriage» by the late Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos to investigate the nature of the internecine strife in Byzantium in the second half of the 14th century as well as the state of the imperial authority in that situation. The order of succession to the Byzantine throne was not defi ned by law, so it generated numerous confl icts between pretenders, and gave to external forces, fi rst of all Turks, a pretext for intervention in internal affairs of Byzantium. These circumstances seriously threatened stability of the imperial power and political system. Manuel II Palaiologos considered the marriage of basileus as an essential condition for solution of political crises and consolidation of the imperial authority.