John III (Byzantium)

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John III, gold hyperpyron

John III Dukas Vatatzes ( Middle Greek Ἰωάννης Γ 'Δούκας Βατάτζης ; * 1193 in Didymoticho ; † November 3, 1254 in Nymphaion near Smyrna ) was Byzantine Emperor in the Empire of Nicaia from 1222 .

Life

John was a son of the general Basileios Vatatzes . Due to his services as a soldier, he was appointed his successor by his father-in-law Theodor I in 1222 . He organized the remnants of the Byzantine Empire and made it the strongest and richest principality in the Levant with his skills . He secured the eastern border through an agreement with the Seljuks and the settlement of fortified farmers and then set out to recapture the European possessions of his predecessors.

While his fleet was operating against the Latins in the Aegean Sea , he first retook Rhodes and later Chios , Lesbos and Samos . In 1225 his army , reinforced by Frankish mercenaries , defeated the forces of the Latin Empire in the open field and almost completely drove them out of Asia Minor .

While a siege of Constantinople , which he launched in 1235 together with the Bulgarians (at that time ruled by Tsar Ivan Assen II ), was unsuccessful, he later managed to regain large parts of Thrace and Macedonia and regain control over the despotates of Thessaloniki (1246) and Epirus (1252). The eventually successful reconquest of Constantinople by his successor Michael VIII (1261) was based on his efforts.

John III was the son-in-law of Emperor Friedrich II. His attempts at a union with the Catholic Church failed. He was canonized as John the Merciful by the Orthodox Church (feast day: November 4th).

family

Johannes was married to:

  1. ∞ (around 1216) Irene Laskarina († 1239), daughter of Theodors I.
  2. ∞ (1244) Constance of Sicily (around 1230–1307), daughter of Emperor Friedrich II.

Johannes had a son from his marriage to Irene, Theodor II.

literature

  • Wilhelm Blum:  Johannes III. Vatatzes. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 417-419.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • John Springer Langdon: John III Ducas Vatatzes' Byzantine Imperium in Anatolian Exile, 1222–54. The Legacy of his Diplomatic, Military and Internal Program for the Restitutio Orbis. Dissertation, University of California, 1978/1979.
  • Demetrios Ioannou Polemis: Remains of an acoluthia for the emperor John Ducas Batatzes. In: Cyril Mango , Omeljan Pritsak : Okeanos: Essays Presented to Ihor Sevcenko on his Sixtieth Birthday by his Colleagues and Students (= Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Volume 7). Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.) 1984, pp. 542-547.
  • Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 3: Faber Felix - Juwayni, Al- . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2012, ISBN 978-2-503-53243-1 , pp. 360-363.
  • Peter Schreiner : Johannes III. Dukas Vatatzes, Byzantine Emperor (1221 / ca. 1192–1254) . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 5, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-7608-8905-0 , Sp. 533 f.
predecessor Office successor
Theodor I. Emperor of Byzantium
1222–1254 		Theodore II
personal data
SURNAME John III
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johannes Dukas Batatzes; John the Merciful (saint name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Emperor of Byzantium in exile in Nikaia (1222–1254)
DATE OF BIRTH 1193
PLACE OF BIRTH Didymoticho
DATE OF DEATH November 3, 1254
Place of death Nymphaion