John V Palaiologos

John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 15 June 1341 - December 1357
(16 years)
Predecessor Andronikos III Palaiologos
Successor Andronikos IV Palaiologos
Co-monarch John VI Kantakouzenos
(31 December 1347 - 4 December 1354);
Matthew Kantakouzenos
(15 April 1353 - December 1357)
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 1 July 1379 - 14 April 1390
(&1000000000000001000000010 years, &10000000000000287000000287 days)
Predecessor Andronikos IV Palaiologos
Successor John VII Palaiologos
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 17 September 1390 - 16 February 1391
(&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000152000000152 days)
Predecessor John VII Palaiologos
Successor Manuel II Palaiologos
Spouse Helena Kantakouzene
Issue
Andronikos IV Palaiologos
Irene Palaiologina
Manuel II Palaiologos
Theodore I Palaiologos, Lord of Morea
Michael Palaiologos
Maria Palaiologina
three unnamed daughters
Full name
John V Palaiologos
Ίωάννης E΄ Παλαιολόγος
House House of Palaiologos
Father Andronikos III Palaiologos
Mother Anna of Savoy
Born 18 June 1332
Didymoteicho, Byzantine Empire[1]
Died 16 February 1391 (aged 58)
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire

John V Palaiologos (or Palaeologus) (Greek: Ίωάννης Ε' Παλαιολόγος, Iōannēs V Palaiologos) (18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.

Contents

Biography

John V was the son of emperor Andronikos III and his wife Anna, the daughter of Count Amadeus V of Savoy by his second wife Maria of Brabant. His long reign was marked by the gradual dissolution of imperial power amid numerous civil wars and the continuing ascendancy of the Ottoman Turks.

Coming to the throne at age nine, his reign began with immediate civil war between his designated regent, his father's friend John Kantakouzenos, and a self-proclaimed council of regency composed of his mother Anna, the patriarch John XIV Kalekas, and the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. It was during this civil war in 1343 that Anna pawned the Byzantine crown jewels for 30,000 Venetian ducats. From 1346 to 1349, the Black Plague devastated Constantinople.

Victorious in 1347, John Kantakouzenos ruled as co-emperor until John V's attack on his son Matthew in 1352 led to a second civil war. It was this conflict that saw the Ottoman Empire acquire its first European territory at Çimpe and Gallipoli. Able to retake Constantinople in 1354, John V was able to remove and tonsure John VI; by 1357, he had deposed Matthew as well.

The Ottomans, who had been allied with the Kantakouzenoi, continued to press John. Suleyman Paşa, the son of the Ottoman sultan, led their forces in Europe and was able to take Adrianople and Philippopolis and exact tribute from the emperor. John V appealed to the West for help, proposing to end the schism between the Byzantine and Latin churches by submitting the patriarchate to the supremacy of Rome.

In 1366 he reached the Hungarian Kingdom, arriving to the Royal city of Buda to meet the King Louis I of Hungary. However the byzantine emperor offended the King staying on his horse as Louis did the contrary and advanced by walk to him. The Hungarian monarch then offered him help with the condition that John should change his confession to the catholic, or at least achieving that the Partiarch recognize the Pope's supremacy. The Emperor left the court of Buda with empty hands and continued his trip throught Europe searching for assitence against the Ottomans.[2] Impoverished by war, he was detained as a debtor when he visited Venice in 1369 and later captured in his way back in Bulgarian territories. In 1371, he recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan Murad I. Murad later assisted him against his son Andronikos when the latter deposed him in 1376.

In 1390, his grandson John VII briefly usurped the throne, but was quickly overthrown. The same year, John ordered the strengthening of the Golden Gate in Constantinople, utilizing marble from the decayed churches in and around the city. Upon the completion of this construction, Bayezid I demanded that John raze these new works, threatening war and the blinding of his son Manuel whom he held in captivity. John V filled the Sultan's order, but is said to have suffered from this humiliation and died soon thereafter on February 16, 1391.

John V was finally succeeded to the imperial throne by his son Manuel. His younger son Theodore had already succeeded to the Despotate of Morea in 1383.

Family

He married Helena Kantakouzene, daughter of his co-emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina, on 28 May 1347. They had at least nine children:

References

  1. ^ Επίτομο Γεωγραφικό Λεξικό της Ελλάδος (Geographical Dictionary of Greece), Μιχαήλ Σταματελάτος, Φωτεινή Βάμβα-Σταματελάτου, εκδ. Ερμής, ΑΘήνα 2001
  2. ^ Küküllei János: Lajos király krónikája, Névtelen szerző: Geszta Lajos királyról; Osisris Kiadó, Budapest, 2000. (Millenniumi Magyar Történelem)

Ancestry

Sources

John V Palaiologos
Palaiologos dynasty
Born: 1332 Died: 16 February 1391
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Andronikos III Palaiologos		 Byzantine Emperor
1341–1376
with John VI Kantakouzenos (1347–1354)
Matthew Kantakouzenos (1353–1357)		 Succeeded by
Andronikos IV Palaiologos
Preceded by
Andronikos IV Palaiologos		 Byzantine Emperor
1379–1390		 Succeeded by
John VII Palaiologos
Preceded by
John VII Palaiologos		 Byzantine Emperor
1390–1391		 Succeeded by
Manuel II Palaiologos