John V Palaiologos

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 the age of eight.

John V Palaiologos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
15th-century portrait of John V (from a 15th-century codex containing a copy of the Extracts of History by Joannes Zonaras)
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign	15 June 1341 – 12 August 1376, 1 July 1379 – 14 April 1390, 17 September 1390 – 16 February 1391
Predecessor	Andronikos III Palaiologos
Successor	Manuel II Palaiologos
Born	18 June 1332 Didymoteicho, Byzantine Empire[1]
Died	16 February 1391 (aged 58) Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
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	Palaiologos
Father	Andronikos III Palaiologos
Mother	Anna of Savoy

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.

Early rule and first civil war

John V came to the throne at age eight. His reign began with an immediate civil war between his designated regent, his father's friend John VI Kantakouzenos, and a self-proclaimed council of regency composed of his mother Anna, the patriarch John XIV Kalekas, and the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. During this civil war in 1343 Anna pawned the Byzantine crown jewels for 30,000 Venetian ducats. From 1346 to 1349, the Black Death devastated Constantinople.

Second civil war

Victorious in 1347, John VI Kantakouzenos ruled as co-emperor until his son Matthew Kantakouzenos was attacked by John V in 1352, leading to a second civil war. John V asked the ruler of Serbia, Stefan Dušan for help, and Dušan obliged by sending 4,000 Serbian horsemen to his aid. Matthew Kantakouzenos asked his father for help, and 10,000 Ottoman Turks showed up at Demotika (Didymoteicho) in October 1352 and engaged the forces of John V's Serbian allies in an open field battle that resulted in the destruction of the allies and a victory for the more numerous Turks in the service of the Byzantines. The Ottoman Empire thus acquired its first European territory, at Çimpe and Gallipoli. Able to retake Constantinople in 1354, John V removed and tonsured John VI Kantakouzenos; by 1357, he had deposed Matthew as well, who had been captured by the Serbs and was ransomed to John V.

Rule and defeats

In 1366, John V reached the Hungarian Kingdom, arriving at the Royal city of Buda to meet King Louis I of Hungary. However, the Byzantine emperor offended the king by staying on his horse, while Louis descended and approached him on foot. The Hungarian monarch then offered him help on the condition that John join the Catholic church, or at least achieve recognition by the Patriarch of the Pope's supremacy. The Emperor left the court of Buda with empty hands and continued his trip through Europe searching for assistance against the Ottomans.[2]

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 to exact tribute from the emperor. John V appealed to the West for help, proposing to Pope Urban V in 1367 to end the schism between the Byzantine and Latin churches by submitting the patriarchate to the supremacy of Rome. In October 1369 John, having travelled through Naples to Rome, formally converted to Catholicism in St Peter's Basilica and recognized the pope as supreme head of the Church. He was not accompanied by the clergy of the Byzantine Church and the move failed to bring about an end to the Schism.[3]

Impoverished by war, he was detained as a debtor when he visited Venice in 1369 on his way back from Rome and was later captured on his way back through 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.

Deposition and second rule

In 1390, his grandson John VII briefly usurped the throne, but was quickly overthrown. The same year, John V ordered the strengthening of the Golden Gate in Constantinople, utilizing marble from the decayed churches in and around the city. Upon 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 16 February 1391.

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

Family

John V married Helena Kantakouzene, daughter of his co-emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina, on 28 May 1347. They had at least six children -- four sons and at least two daughters.[4] Their known children include:

• Andronikos IV Palaiologos (2 April 1348 – 28 June 1385);
• Irene Palaiologina (c. 1349 – after 1362), who married her first cousin Prince Halil of Ottoman Empire, son of Orhan I and Helena's sister Theodora Kantakouzene. The couple had two sons, Princes Gunduz and Omer.
• Manuel II Palaiologos (27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425);
• Theodore I Palaiologos, Lord of Morea (c. 1355 – 24 June 1407);
• Michael Palaiologos (d. 1376/1377), who claimed the throne of the Empire of Trebizond from Alexios III;
• Maria Palaiologina (d. 1376), who was betrothed to Murad I but died before the marriage could take place;
• One daughter betrothed to Peter II of Cyprus, who may not be Irene or Maria;
• Two unnamed daughters reported to have entered a monastery in 1373, who may be different women from the ones listed above.

See also

• List of Byzantine emperors

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)
3. Alexander Vasiliev History of the Byzantine Empire 324-1453. University of Wisconsin Press, 1952. pp. 671
4. Anthony Luttrell, "John V's Daughters: A Palaiologan Puzzle", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 40 (1986), pp. 103-112

Ancestry

Ancestors of John V Palaiologos

16. Michael VIII Palaiologos 8. Andronikos II Palaiologos 17. Theodora Palaiologina 4. Michael IX Palaiologos 18. Stephen V of Hungary 9. Anna of Hungary 19. Elizabeth the Cuman 2. Andronikos III Palaiologos 20. Hetoum I of Armenia 10. Levon II of Armenia 21. Zabel of Armenia 5. Rita of Armenia 22. Prince Hethum of Lampron 11. Keran of Armenia 1. John V Palaiologos 24. Thomas I of Savoy 12. Thomas II, Count of Piedmont 25. Marguerite of Geneva 6. Amadeus V, Count of Savoy 26. Teodoro III Fieschi of Lavagna 13. Beatrice di Fieschi 27. Simone della Volta 3. Anna of Savoy 28. Henry III, Duke of Brabant 14. John I, Duke of Brabant 29. Aleidis of Burgundy 7. Maria of Brabant 30. Guy of Dampierre 15. Margaret of Flanders, Duchess of Brabant 31. Matilda of Bethune

Sources

• Harris, Jonathan, The End of Byzantium. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-11786-8
• Alexander Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire 324-1453. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1952. ISBN 0299809269
• Nicol, Donald M. (1993) [1972]. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Nicol, Donald M. (1996). The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295-1383. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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) Andronikos IV Palaiologos (c. 1354–1373) Manuel II Palaiologos (1373–1376)	Succeeded by Andronikos IV Palaiologos
Preceded by Andronikos IV Palaiologos	Byzantine Emperor 1379–1390 with Manuel II Palaiologos (1379–1390) Andronikos IV Palaiologos (1381–1385)	Succeeded by John VII Palaiologos
Preceded by John VII Palaiologos	Byzantine Emperor 1390–1391 with Manuel II Palaiologos (1390–1391)	Succeeded by Manuel II Palaiologos