Andronikos IV.

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Miniature of Andronikos IV. From the Mutinensis manuscript (manuscript size 122 of the Biblioteca Estense in Modena ) from the 15th century, illustration of a copy of the Chronicle of Johannes Zonaras .

Andronikos IV. Palaeologus ( medium Greek Ἀνδρόνικος Δ 'Παλαιολόγος * 11. April 1348 , † 28. June 1385 ) was Byzantine emperor from 1376 to 1379. In the civil wars of the 1370s and 1380s he was the throne candidate of the Genoese , while his father John V. was supported by their enemy Venice and the Ottoman Empire changed fronts several times in order to achieve the greatest possible profit.

Childhood and reign

Andronikos was born on April 11, 1348 as the first son of Emperor Johannes V and his wife Helene Kanzakuzena Asanina († 1391). In 1352 he was installed as co-emperor, but had to face his father-in-law, the rebellious John VI , the following year with his father . to flee to Tenedos . After the usurper was forced to abdicate in 1354, John V resumed the government. The following year he wrote a letter to Pope Innocent VI. to convince him to go on a crusade. He offered him, in return, to teach the prospective heir to the throne Andronikos in Latin language and literature. In the following years he led, among other things, the reign in Constantinople during the trips of his father and his brothers to Hungary 1366-1367 and to Rome from 1369.

The first conflicts between the emperor and his son developed during the last-mentioned trip to the Pope. On the way back, John went to Venice to ask the republic for a loan. However, since he was already deeply in debt to them, the Venetians held him until he could repay part of the money. In this situation he sent the order to Byzantium to cede the island of Tenedos, six warships and 25,000 ducats to the creditor. Andronikos refused, despite the predicament of his father, to obey this order - possibly under pressure from Genoa, which itself raised claims on Tenedos. His younger brother Manuel then had to travel to Venice with a large sum of money to buy her father out.

First rebellion in 1373

When Emperor Johannes became dependent on the growing Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad I in 1373 and fought at his side in Anatolia, Andronikos rebelled against his father. For this he allied himself with Murad's son Savcı Bey , who in turn had started an uprising against the Ottoman ruler. Andronikos had previously shown an independent policy, but now there was an open break. It is possible that he represented a political faction that opposed his father's rapprochement with the papacy. Another reason for the uprising may have been that Johannes increasingly turned to Manuel and Andronikos feared for his succession to the throne.

At the beginning of May Andronikos left the capital and united his armed forces with those of the Turkish insurgent. But his uprising was put down by the end of the month, that of Savcı Bey in September. Murad blinded his son and finally even killed him and asked Johannes to do the same with his son and his child and co-emperor Johannes . But only one eye of these two was blinded out of gratitude from their father (according to another version, the two only partially regained their eyesight later). They were taken to a prison in the northwest of the city, the Tower of Anemas . Instead of Andronikos, his brother Manuel was installed as heir of the father on September 25th and was crowned emperor. In 1375 a delegation under Philipp Tzykandyles was sent to the Pope to justify the blinding in front of him.

Second rebellion in 1376 and reign

In July 1376, the Genoese helped Andronikos IV escape from prison and took him to their Galata district . With the support of his liberators and the Turks (who provided a mixed army of horsemen and foot soldiers and who, in turn , hired the Serbian King Marko Kraljević to help), he began a siege of Constantinople, which was taken on August 12th after a month. The rest of the imperial family holed up in the Golden Gate for a few days before they too gave up. Now Andronikos finally took over power and brought his father and his brothers Manuel and Theodor to the tower of Anemas, in which he had previously sat. The patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos , who refused to crown the usurper, was deposed; Makarios took his place . On October 18, 1377 this Andronikos crowned the sole ruler and his son John VII as co-emperor.

Officially, as a "thank you" for their commitment, the Turks received the Gallipoli peninsula after Andronikos' visit with Murad I , but in fact the emperor was completely dependent on the sultan, who could and wanted to blackmail him into territories. According to two Venetian sources, Andronikos even promised him the hand of his sister, but she died "fortunately" before this project, which was regarded as sinful, could be implemented. In any case, the marriage would have given both parties dynastic prestige.

In return for their support, the Genoese were awarded Tenedos . Since John V had already promised this to Venice, the Chioggia War broke out between the two Italian cities, which only ended in 1381 with the Treaty of Turin , in which the island of Amadeus VI. was handed over to administration by Savoy . This conflict exacerbated the situation in Constantinople, especially as Genoa demanded money, troops and weapons from Andronikos, but the acts of war largely took place in Italian waters.

During the reign of Andronikos, among other things, a coin reform took place, which led to the late Byzantine coin system based on silver. Otherwise, it was characterized by close cooperation with the Genoese dealers, whose goodwill Andronikos had to secure and for which he also concluded some extremely unfavorable deals. There is evidence that the townspeople were largely on his side as well, as they harbored strong concerns about his father's prolatein course.

Suppression of rule

In the summer of 1379 John V was able to flee (allegedly through the use of his wife Helena or with the help of Venetian agents) and went to the Ottoman field camp in Chrysopolis . He succeeded in outbidding the tribute of his son to Murad (allegedly 30,000 gold coins annually) and in leaving Philadelphia, the last Byzantine base in Asia Minor, to the Turks . In doing so he brought the Sultan to his side. With his support and with the help of Venice's fleet , Byzantium was attacked at the end of June. With the exception of a Genoese garrison, the defense was very half-hearted and after taking Constantinople, Andronikos was overthrown on July 1st. John V was brought back to power by his allies. Allegedly Murad I had given the townspeople the choice of either recognizing himself or John as ruler. The patriarch Makarios installed by Andronikos lost his office again.

Andronikos himself retired to the Genoese district of Pera after his recent defeat and took his mother Helena, his aunts Maria and Theodora and their father John VI. as hostages with you.

The Byzantine Empire (light pink) and the surrounding states in 1355. Byzantium here still includes the southern half of the Morea , the region around Thessaloniki and Thrace
The Byzantine Empire in 1400, which has shrunk noticeably compared to the territory 45 years earlier (especially in Thrace)

Last years

In the years that followed, the Galata peninsula (on which Pera is also located) was besieged by his father's party and his Ottoman and Venetian allies in conditions similar to civil war. Only when Andronikos' right to the succession to the throne was formally recognized again in a phase of relaxation in May 1381 did he release the prisoners. With this understanding, however, the succession to the throne was withdrawn from his younger brother Manuel, which he had held since the first uprising of Andronikos, so that he retired to Thessaloniki and tried to build his own power base there. The third brother, Theodor , was awarded the despotate Morea shortly afterwards .

Andronikos received from John Thrace with the capital Selymbria (today Silivri ) on the coast of the Marmara Sea as an allowance for independent administration. The cities of Herakleia (now Marmara Ereğlisi ), Rhaidestos (now Tekirdağ ) and Panidos (now Barbaros ) belonged to this area . By equipping his son with such a large area, John V probably wanted to secure the peace in the long term. Now peace was more or less restored, even if there were still minor territorial conflicts. On November 2, 1382 Andronikos IV, John V and the Genoese people of Pera signed a treaty in which they decided to take joint action against all enemies. The Ottomans, whose authority was unreservedly recognized, were excluded from this.

In 1385 Andronikos asked the Ottoman sultan to build a fortress in Thrace and sent his son to Anatolia for this purpose. At the same time he occupied a fortress near Melita, which was part of his father's territory. Nevra Necipoğlu suspects that it is one and the same fortress, the occupation of which he wanted to have confirmed by the Sultan, whose vassal John V was practically. A conflict arose between father and son, in which the former struggled to gain the upper hand. Shortly afterwards, Andronikos died of a sudden illness. His son Johannes took over his father's claims, was regarded by the Genoese as the legitimate ruling emperor after 1385 and actually came to the Byzantine imperial throne in 1390 and 1399 to 1402.

family

Andronikos was married to Maria Keratsa ( Mara Kyratza ) of about the same age , the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander Assen from the Schischman family . The marriage came about in connection with the Byzantine-Bulgarian treaty of 1355 and was confirmed on August 17th of this year by the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. They were generally felt to be unworthy in Constantinople, but for the emperor this maneuver was politically necessary in order to obtain an ally against the Ottomans. The only son who arose from the marriage was John VII, born in 1370. There is also evidence of two daughters not known by name.

swell

  • Demetrios Kydones (1324–1397 / 98) repeatedly refers to contemporary historical backgrounds in his letters . He stands on the side of John V and gives Andronikos a harsh refusal when he asks him to put himself in his service. An extensive and scientifically commented German translation is: Demetrios Kydones: Briefe. Translated and explained by Franz Tinnefeld (= Library of Greek Literature , Vols. 12, 16, 33, 50, 60). So far four volumes in a total of five half volumes, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1981–2003.
  • Laonikos Chalkokondyles (approx. 1423–1490) treats the period from 1298 to 1463 in the ten books of his historical work Ἀποδείξεις Ἱστορι dieν ( Historarium Demonstrationes ) and goes into a very factual style also comprehensively on the political events around Andronikos IV. The latest translation is the first full English edition of Kaldellis: Laonikos Chalkokondyles: The Histories. Translated by Anthony Kaldellis (= Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Vol. 33, 34). Two volumes, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 2014.

literature

  • Donald M. Nicol : The Decline of Byzantium (The Palaiologic Dynasty) . In: Franz Georg Maier (ed.): Byzanz (= Fischer Weltgeschichte . Volume 13). Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1973, p. 388 ff.
  • Donald M. Nicol: The Last Centuries of Byzantium. 1261-1453. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993, pp. 270, 277 ff.
  • John J. Norwich : Byzantium. The Decline and Fall. Penguin Books, New York 1995, p. 324 ff. (Popular science presentation).
  • Mark C. Bartusis: The Late Byzantine Army. Arms and Society, 1204-1453. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1997, pp. 106 ff. ( Online ).
  • Warren Treadgold : A history of the byzantine state and society. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997, pp. 779 ff.
  • Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 1: Aaron - Azarethes . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2007, ISBN 978-2-503-52303-3 , pp. 251-252.
  • Nevra Necipoğlu: Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins. Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, esp. P. 120 ff. ( Excerpts from Google Books )
  • Andronikos IV Palaiologos. In: John H. Rosser: Historical Dictionary of Byzantium. 2nd ed., Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2012, p. 45.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ioannis Spatharákīs: The Portrait in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts. Brill, Leiden 1976, p. 172 ( online ).
  2. ↑ John J. Norwich : Byzantium. The Decline and Fall. Penguin Books, New York 1995, p. 586.
  3. ↑ Stephen W. Reinert: Fragmentation (1204-1453). In: Cyril Mango (ed.): The Oxford History of Byzantium. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, p. 271.
  4. ^ A b c Mark C. Bartusis: The Late Byzantine Army. Arms and Society, 1204-1453. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1997, p. 107 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Klaus-Peter Todt : Emperor Johannes VI. Kantakuzenos and Islam. Political reality and theological polemics in the Byzantine period of the Palaiologists (= Würzburg research on missions and religious studies, Dept. 2: Religious Studies, Vol. 16). Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1991, p. 108.
  6. ^ Mark C. Bartusis: The Late Byzantine Army. Arms and Society, 1204-1453. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1997, p. 100 ( online ).
  7. ↑ Hans-Georg Beck : History of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire. A manual (= The Church in Her History, Volume 1, Delivery D 1). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1980, p. D 255.
  8. ^ A b Donald M. Nicol: Church and society in the last centuries of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1979, p. 131.
  9. ↑ Nevra Necipoğlu: Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins. Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, p. 121 ( online ).
  10. ↑ Johannes Karayannopulos, Günter Weiss: Source studies for the history of Byzantium (324-1453). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1982, p. 515.
  11. ^ Alain Ducellier: Byzantium. The empire and the city. In collaboration with Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York and Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris, 1990, p. 523.
  12. ↑ Nevra Necipoğlu: Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins. Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, p. 123 f. ( online ).
  13. ↑ Donald M. Nicol: The decline of Byzantium (The dynasty of the paleologists) . In: Franz Georg Maier (ed.): Byzanz (= Fischer Weltgeschichte . Volume 13). Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1973, pp. 390 ff.
  14. ^ Günter Weiss: Joannes Kantakuzenos - aristocrat, statesman, emperor and monk - in the social development of Byzantium in the 14th century. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1969, p. 53.
  15. ↑ Klaus-Peter Todt : Emperor Johannes VI. Kantakuzenos and Islam. Political reality and theological polemics in the Byzantine period of the Palaiologists (= Würzburg research on missions and religious studies, Dept. 2: Religious Studies, Vol. 16). Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1991, p. 110.
  16. ↑ Andreas Külzer : Eastern Thrace (Eurōpē) (= Tabula Imperii Byzantini . Volume 12). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-7001-3945-4 , p. 564.
  17. ↑ a b Nevra Necipoğlu: Byzantium Between the Ottomans and the Latins. Politics and Society in the Late Empire. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, p. 129 f. ( online )
  18. ↑ Christian Zgoll: Holiness - Honor - Power. A model for the change in the conception of rule in the late Middle Ages using the example of the Byzantine Kydones letters. Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar 2007, p. 32.
  19. ↑ a b Vassil Gjuzelev : The last Bulgarian-Byzantine war. In: Werner Seibt (ed.): History and culture of the Palaiologenzeit. Lectures at the International Symposium in honor of Herbert Hunger. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1996, pp. 29–34, here p. 32.
predecessor Office successor
John V. Emperor of Byzantium
1376–1379 		John V.
personal data
SURNAME Andronikos IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Andronikos IV. Palaiologos (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine emperor (1376-1379)
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1348
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 1385