| John VI Kantakouzenos | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |||||
 John VI presiding over a synod,c. 1370–1375 | |||||
| Byzantine emperor | |||||
| Reign | 8 February 1347 – 10 December 1354 | ||||
| Coronation | 21 May 1347 | ||||
| Predecessor | John V Palaiologos (alone) | ||||
| Successor | John V Palaiologos (alongsideMatthew) | ||||
| Co-monarch | John V Palaiologos Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos | ||||
| Born | 1292 Constantinople,Byzantine Empire | ||||
| Died | 15 June 1383 (aged 90/91) Despotate of the Morea | ||||
| Spouse | Irene Asanina | ||||
| Issue | Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos Manuel Kantakouzenos Theodora Kantakouzene Helena Kantakouzene Andronikos Kantakouzenos Maria Kantakouzene | ||||
| |||||
| House | Kantakouzenos | ||||
| Father | Michael Kantakouzenos | ||||
| Mother | Theodora Palaiologina Angelina | ||||
| Religion | Greek Orthodox | ||||
John VI Kantakouzenos orCantacuzene[1] (Greek:Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος [Κομνηνός] Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός,romanized: Iōánnēs Ángelos [Komnēnós] Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós;[2]Latin:Iohannes Cantacuzenus;[3]c. 1292 – 15 June 1383[4]) was aByzantine Greeknobleman, statesman, andgeneral. He served asgrand domestic underAndronikos III Palaiologos andregent forJohn V Palaiologos before reigning asByzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the nameJoasaph Christodoulos (Greek:Ἰωάσαφ Χριστόδουλος,romanized: Joásaph Christódoulos) 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. His two disastrous civil wars led to the loss of much of the remaining territory in the Balkans under Byzantine control to the Serbian and Bulgarian empires, but the most severe loss during his civil war was the loss of the Gallipoli peninsula to the Ottoman Turks, allowing the Ottomans to gain territory in Europe and setting the stage for the destruction of the Byzantine Empire a century later.
Born inConstantinople,[3] John Kantakouzenos was the son ofMichael Kantakouzenos, governor of theMorea;Donald Nicol speculates that he may have been born after his father's death and raised as an only child.[5] Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was related to the then-reigning house ofPalaiologos.[6] He was also related to the imperial dynasty through his wifeIrene Asanina, a second cousin of EmperorAndronikos III Palaiologos.[7] Kantakouzenos became a close friend to Andronikos III and was one of his principal supporters in Andronikos'sstruggle 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 asgrand domestic throughout his reign. He was named regent to Andronikos's successor, the 9-year-oldJohn V, upon the emperor's death in June 1341.[3]
Kantakouzenos apparently began with no imperial ambitions of his own, having refused several times to be crownedco-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 motherAnna, she came to suspect him of treason.[3] His close friendship with the late emperor and power over his successor had aroused the jealousy of his former protégés, PatriarchJohn XIV of Constantinople andAlexios 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 theCrusader principalities that still held parts of thePeloponnesus. 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 atDidymoteichon inThrace as John VI.[9] He accepted this, while continuing to style himself as the junior ruler to John V.
Theensuing civil war lasted six years; calling in foreign allies andmercenaries of every description, the two sides completely disrupted and almost ruined the empire.[3] At first,John VI marched toThessalonica, 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 toSerbia, whereStefan Dušan sheltered him and lent him military support. This proved largely ineffectual, and only the intervention of John's old friend and allyUmur of Aydin broke the regency's siege of his headquarters atDidymoteichon.
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 onJohn VI's side. He struck a bargain with theOttoman Turks, givingOrhan Bey his daughter,Theodora, for hisharem and permitting him to takeGreek Christians asslaves. The Greco-Turkish force prevailed andJohn VI entered Constantinople in triumph on 8 February 1347.[10][9][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]
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During John's reign, the empire—already fragmented, impoverished, and weakened—continued to be assailed on every side.[3]
TheGenoese, disregarding the terms ofthe treaty which permitted their colony atGalata, began fortifying and arming it. Their customs dues undercut the Byzantines and meant that as much as 87% of the revenue from control of theBosphorus went to them instead of the empire.John VI attempted to rebuild the shatteredByzantine 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 theydid declare war, however, they were able to sink or capture his fleet by early 1349. The Genoese 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 theRepublic of Venice for naval protection. This led to their involvement in Venice's1350 war against Genoa, butPaganino Doria was able to forceJohn 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 theFifth Council of Constantinople, whereinGregory Palamas' mysticalhesychastic theology was declaredOrthodox over the objections ofBarlaam of Calabria and other Byzantine philosophers.[12]
By this time,Stefan Dušan had takenAlbania,Macedonia, andEpirus.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.[3]
He made his sonMatthew Asen Kantakouzenos another co-emperor in 1353,[13] butJohn VI's attempts to expand taxation to repay the government's debts had long been displeasing. He was soon removed from power byJohn V, becoming a monk on 10 December 1354.[b]
Kantakouzenos retired to amonastery, where he assumed the name of Joasaph Christodoulos and occupied himself with literary labors, which have been called eloquent.[3] His 4-volumeHistory 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 ofNicephorus Gregoras.[9] 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 theEastern Orthodox Church to negotiate with theLatin PatriarchPaul to attempt a reconciliation of the Eastern Orthodox andCatholic churches. They agreed to call a grand ecumenical council to be attended by thePope and all the patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops of both the eastern and western churches.[15] This plan was subsequently refused byPope Urban V and eventually nothing came of it.[citation needed]
Kantakouzenos withdrew to thePeloponnese as a monk. There is no record of Kantakouzenos's burial, but it is possible that he was buried in one of the monasteries established by his sonManuel.[16]
By his wifeIrene Asanina, a daughter ofAndronikos Asen (son ofIvan Asen III of Bulgaria byIrene Palaiologina, Empress of Bulgaria, herself daughter ofMichael VIII Palaiologos), John VI Kantakouzenos had six children:
Kantakouzenos's four-volumeHistory was published byJohannes Isacius Pontanus in 1603, byLudwig Schopen at Bonn as part of theCorpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinaec. 1830, and byJacques Paul Migne at Paris.[18] He also wrote a commentary on the first five books ofAristotle'sEthics and several controversial theological treatises, including a defense ofHesychasm and a work titledAgainst Mohammedanism printed in Migne.[19][9]
John VI Kantakouzenos Kantakouzenos dynasty Born: 1292 Died: 15 June 1383 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Byzantine emperor 1347–1353 withJohn V Palaiologos (1341–1376) Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos (1353–1357) | Succeeded by |
