Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354
John VI Kantakouzenos
or
Cantacuzene
(
Greek
:
?ω?ννη? ?γγελο? Παλαιολ?γο? Καντακουζην??
,
I?ann?s Angelos Palaiologos Kantakouz?nos
;
[2]
Latin
:
Johannes Cantacuzenus
;
c.
1292
? 15 June 1383
[4]
) was a
Byzantine Greek
nobleman
, statesman, and
general
. He served as
grand domestic
under
Andronikos III Palaiologos
and
regent
for
John V Palaiologos
before reigning as
Byzantine emperor
in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name
Joasaph Christodoulos
(
Greek
:
?ω?σαφ Χριστ?δουλο?
) and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 90 or 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Constantinople
,
John Kantakouzenos was the son of
Michael Kantakouzenos
, governor of the
Morea
;
Donald Nicol
speculates that he may have been born after his father's death and raised as an only child.
Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was related to the then-reigning house of
Palaiologos
.
He was also related to the imperial dynasty through his wife
Irene Asanina
, a second cousin of Emperor
Andronikos III Palaiologos
.
Kantakouzenos became a close friend to Andronikos III and was one of his principal supporters in Andronikos's
struggle
against his grandfather,
Andronikos II Palaiologos
. On the accession of Andronikos III in 1328, he was entrusted with the supreme administration of affairs and served as
grand domestic
throughout his reign. He was named regent to Andronikos's successor, the 9-year-old
John V
, upon the emperor's death in June 1341.
Kantakouzenos apparently began with no imperial ambitions of his own, having refused several times to be crowned
co-emperor
by Andronikos III. After the death of the emperor, Kantakouzenos again refused to take the throne, insisting on the legitimacy of John V's claim and contenting himself with overseeing the empire's administration until the boy came of age: according to the history written by John VI himself. Whether he would have remained loyal is unknowable but, despite his professed devotion to John V and his mother
Anna
, she came to suspect him of treason.
His close friendship with the late emperor and power over his successor had aroused the jealousy of his former proteges, Patriarch
John XIV of Constantinople
and
Alexios Apokaukos
;
[
citation needed
]
after a series of failed attempts, they succeeded in overthrowing his regency in September 1341 while he was out of the capital readying an army against the
Crusader principalities
that still held parts of the
Peloponnesus
. He attempted to negotiate with the usurpers, but this was rebuffed and his army was ordered to disband. Further, his relatives in Constantinople were driven into exile or imprisoned, with their property confiscated by the new regents. His mother Theodora died owing to the mistreatment she suffered while under house arrest.
[8]
His army ignored the new regents' orders and proclaimed Kantakouzenos emperor at
Didymoteichon
in
Thrace
as John VI.
He accepted this, while continuing to style himself as the junior ruler to John V.
Civil war
[
edit
]
The
ensuing civil war
lasted six years; calling in foreign allies and
mercenaries
of every description, the two sides completely disrupted and almost ruined the empire.
At first,
John VI
marched to
Thessalonica
, which the ruling families planned to hand over to him. Apokaukos anticipated this move and sent a fleet to reinforce the city, obliging John to flee to
Serbia
, where
Stefan Du?an
sheltered him and lent him military support. This proved largely ineffectual, and only the intervention of John's old friend and ally
Umur of Aydin
broke the regency's siege of his headquarters at
Didymoteichon
.
During another attempt on Thessalonica the following year, the Serbians switched sides to support the regency, leaving John stranded once more before that city. Yet again, Umur came to his rescue, and their combined forces broke out of Macedonia to return to Didymoteichon. The war dragged on another four years as neither side could dislodge the other, although time was on
John VI
's side. He struck a bargain with the
Ottoman Turks
, giving
Orhan Bey
his daughter,
Theodora
, for his
harem
and permitting him to take
Greek Christians
as
slaves
. The Greco-Turkish force prevailed and
John VI
entered Constantinople in triumph on 8 February 1347.
[10]
[a]
Empress Anna and John VI agreed that the latter would rule as senior emperor for ten years, after which John V would reach seniority and share power as an equal to Kantakouzenos. The formal coronation of John VI took place on 21 May.
[10]
[11]
Reign
[
edit
]
During John's reign, the empire?already fragmented, impoverished, and weakened?continued to be assailed on every side.
The
Genoese
, disregarding the terms of
the treaty
which permitted their colony at
Galata
, began fortifying and arming it. Their customs dues undercut the Byzantines and meant that as much as 87% of the revenue from control of the
Bosphorus
went to them instead of the empire.
John VI
attempted to rebuild the shattered
Byzantine navy
in preparation for the war he expected to follow a reduction of Constantinople's own customs dues. He was able to borrow enough to construct 9 fair-sized ships and about 100 smaller ones before he lowered the rates and began siphoning off Genoa's income. When they
did declare war
, however, they were able to sink or capture his fleet by early 1349. The Genovese were forced to negotiate after major areas of Galata were burnt, including its wharves and warehouses, but the Byzantine Empire thenceforth was forced to turn to an alliance with the
Republic of Venice
for naval protection. This led to their involvement in Venice's
1350 war
against Genoa, but
Paganino Doria
was able to force
John VI
(and the twelve ships he had fielded) out of the war by a Pyrrhic victory off Constantinople the next year.
[
citation needed
]
In 1351, Kantakouzenos oversaw the
Fifth Council of Constantinople
, wherein
Gregory Palamas
' mystical
hesychastic theology
was declared
Orthodox
over the objections of
Barlaam of Calabria
and other Byzantine philosophers.
By this time,
Stefan Du?an
had taken
Albania
,
Macedonia
, and
Epirus
.
John VI
secured help against further incursions by again allying with the Turks. Following an earthquake, they annexed Callipolis (
Gallipoli
)?their first foothold in Europe?in partial payment of his many debts in 1354.
He made his son
Matthew Kantakouzenos
another co-emperor in 1353,
but
John VI
's attempts to expand taxation to repay the government's debts had long been displeasing. He was soon removed from power by
John V
, becoming a monk on 10 December 1354.
[b]
Retirement
[
edit
]
Kantakouzenos retired to a
monastery
, where he assumed the name of Joasaph Christodoulos and occupied himself with literary labors, which have been called eloquent.
His 4-volume
History
of the years 1320?1356 served as an apologia for his actions. They are therefore not always trustworthy, including defects in matters where he was not personally involved, but are supplemented by the contemporary work of
Nicephorus Gregoras
.
It is nevertheless remarkable for being the only surviving account any Byzantine emperor gave of his own reign.
In 1367 Joasaph was appointed the representative of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
to negotiate with the
Latin Patriarch
Paul
to attempt a reconciliation of the Eastern Orthodox and
Catholic
churches. They agreed to call a grand ecumenical council to be attended by the
Pope
and all the patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops of both the eastern and western churches.
[15]
This plan was subsequently refused by
Pope Urban V
and eventually nothing came of it.
[
citation needed
]
Kantakouzenos died in the
Peloponnese
and was buried by his sons at
Mistra
in
Laconia
.
Family
[
edit
]
By his wife
Irene Asanina
, a daughter of
Andronikos Asen
(son of
Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria
by
Irene Palaiologina, Empress of Bulgaria
, herself daughter of
Michael VIII Palaiologos
), John VI Kantakouzenos had six children:
Works
[
edit
]
Kantakouzenos's four-volume
History
was published by
Johannes Isacius Pontanus
in 1603, by
Ludwig Schopen
at Bonn as part of the
Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae
c.
1830
, and by
Jacques Paul Migne
at Paris.
[17]
He also wrote a commentary on the first five books of
Aristotle
's
Ethics
and several controversial theological treatises, including a defense of
Hesychasm
and a work
Against Mohammedanism
printed in Migne.
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
McLaughlin (2017)
, p. 14. "Kantakouz?nos inherited the names of
Angelos
and
Palaiologos
from his mother, and was occasionally addressed as
Komnenos
too."
- ^
John VI Cantacuzenus
at the
Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^
History of John VI Kantakouzenos, Book II.
- ^
a
b
c
PLP
, "
Kantakauzenos, Ioannes VI.
"
- ^
a
b
ODB
, p.
1050
- ^
Failler, Albert (1976). ≪
Nouvelle note sur la chronologie du regne de Jean Cantacuzene
≫.
Revue des etudes byzantines
34
: 119?124.
- ^
Norwich, John Julius.
Byzantium: The Decline and Fall
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996) p. 332
- ^
Migne
(ed.),
Patrologia Graeca
(in Latin), vol. CLIII & CLIV
&
(in Greek)
- ^
Migne
(ed.),
Patrologia Graeca
(in Latin), vol. CLIV
&
(in Greek)
Sources
[
edit
]
- Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878),
"Johannes Cantacuzenus"
,
Encyclopædia Britannica
, vol. 5 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 27
- Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911),
"John VI or V"
,
Encyclopædia Britannica
, vol. 15 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 438?439
- Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991
- Harris, Jonathan (2015),
The Lost World of Byzantium
, New Haven: Yale University Press
- Migne
(ed.).
Patrologia Graeca
(in Latin). Vol. CLIII & CLIV.
&
(in Greek)
- Nicol, Donald M.
(1968).
The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus), ca. 1100?1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study
. Dumbarton Oaks studies 11. Washington, DC:
Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies
.
OCLC
390843
.
- Nicol, Donald M.
(1993).
The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261?1453
(Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-43991-6
.
- Nicol, Donald M.
(1996).
The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295?1383
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9780521522014
.
- Sherrard, Philip (1966).
Byzantium
. Time Life Education.
pp. 74?75
- Sugar, Peter F. (1996).
Southeastern Europe Under Ottoman Rule, 1354?1804
. University of Washington Press.
- Teteriatnikov, Natalia (2013).
"The Mosaics of the Eastern Arch of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople: Program and Liturgy"
.
Gesta
.
52
: 61?84.
doi
:
10.1086/669685
.
S2CID
188005589
– via The University of Chicago Press Journals.
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