John Uroš

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Uroš or John Oureses Doukas Palaiologos (Greek: Ιωάννης Ούρεσης Δούκας Παλαιολόγος, Iōannēs Ouresēs Doukas Palaiologos, Serbian: Jovan Uroš), was ruler of Thessaly from c. 1370 to c. 1373, died 1422/3.

John Uroš was the son of Emperor Simeon Uroš Palaiologos by Thomais Orsini. His maternal grandparents were John II Orsini and Anna Palaiologina.

Between 1369 and 1372 he succeeded his father as titular emperor of Serbians and Greeks and as ruler of Thessaly. He may have been associated on the throne by his father as early as 1359/60. After reigning for an uncertain number of years, John Uroš abdicated in favor of his relative, the Caesar Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos, and became a monk.

He joined the monastic community founded by his father at Meteora, where he is documented under his monastic name Joasaph in 1381. Although he had surrendered political power, John Uroš remained wealthy and influential. In 1384–1385 he helped his sister Maria govern Epirus after the murder of her husband Thomas II Preljubović. He endowed the monasteries at Meteora and eventually became the head of the local monastic community, rebuilding or establishing further monasteries in the area in 1388 and 1390. In the 1390s he visited Mount Athos, but was back in Meteora by 1401, and died there in 1422 or 1423.

John Uroš was the last emperor of Serbian and Greeks and the last Serbian ruler of Thessaly. His successor Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos recognized imperial suzerainty, and the area was lost to Bayezid I of the Ottoman Empire by his son Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos in 1394. John Uroš had a younger brother named Stephen Uroš, who may have held Pharsalos as his fief. Although he died long after his brother became monk, he did not succeed him as ruler of Thessaly.