John VI Kantakouzenos, also rendered Cantacuzene, was a Byzantine nobleman, statesman and general who became emperor in his own right. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and as regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as emperor from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos and spent the rest of his life as a monk and historian, dying at ninety one, the longest lived of the Roman emperors. His two disastrous civil wars cost the empire much of its remaining Balkan territory to the Serbian and Bulgarian empires, and, most severely, the loss of the Gallipoli peninsula to the Ottoman Turks, which let the Ottomans gain their first territory in Europe and set the stage for the empire's destruction a century later.
Facts
RoleByzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354 1 BirthplaceConstantinople, Byzantine Empire 1 Role
Role (category) FAQs
What did John VI Kantakouzenos do after his reign ended?
He became the monk Joasaph Christodoulos, wrote a history of his own years in power, and in 1367 represented the Orthodox Church in failed reunion talks with Rome.
After his reign ended, Kantakouzenos retired to a monastery, where he took the name Joasaph Christodoulos and devoted himself to writing. His four volume History of the years 1320 to 1356 served as an apologia for his own actions. It is not always trustworthy, but it is the only surviving account any Byzantine emperor gave of his own reign. In 1367 he was appointed the representative of the Eastern Orthodox Church to negotiate with the Latin Patriarch Paul toward a reconciliation of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. They agreed to call a grand ecumenical council, but Pope Urban V refused the plan and nothing came of it.
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John VI Kantakouzenos ruled as rival and then senior co-emperor during a civil war from 1347 until John V ousted him in 1354; a rivalry and co-rule, not a succession.
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Sources
1. John VI Kantakouzenos - Wikipedia
Early life section
Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos
Infobox: died
Died 15 June 1383 (aged 91) Despotate of the Morea
Opening paragraph
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.
Opening paragraph (monastic name)
forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos
John VI Kantakouzenos: Gender
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (Greek: Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος [Κομνηνός] Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός, romanized: Iōánnēs Ángelos [Komnēnós] Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós; Latin: Iohannes Cantacuzenus; 6 May 1292- 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine emperor and 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.
lead paragraph and infobox
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (Greek: Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος [Κομνηνός] Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός, romanized: Iōánnēs Ángelos [Komnēnós] Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós; Latin: Iohannes Cantacuzenus; 6 May 1292- 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine emperor and nobleman, statesman, and general.
View the SourceWikidata: John VI Kantakouzenos
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