Matthaios Asanes Kantakuzenos

Matthaios Asanes Kantakuzenos ( Middle Greek Ματθαίος Ἀσάνης Καντακουζηνός , * approx. 1325 ; † 1391 ) was Byzantine emperor from 1353 to 1357 and from 1380 to 1383 Byzantine despot of Morea .

family

In 1341 Matthaios married Irene Palaiologina , daughter of Demetrios Palaiologos , the cousin of Emperor Andronikos III in Thessaloniki . They had five children:

• Johannes Kantakuzenos , despot
• Demetrios I. Kantakuzenos , Sebastokrator and Despot of Morea .
• Theodora
• Helena
• Maria

War in Thrace

Matthaios Asanes Kantakuzenos was the eldest son of Emperor John VI. Kantakuzenos and Irene Asanina, a granddaughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Iwan Assen III. from the house of Assen (also called Asanes , from where its first nickname comes from). In 1343 he became military commander in Thrace and in 1347 received the order from Adrianople to administer large parts of Thrace between Didymoteichos and Christopolis ( subject of Macedonia ). From there, Matthaios Kantakuzenos led various campaigns against Serbia . His younger brother Manuel Kantakuzenos became despot of Morea in 1348. When his father John VI. was crowned emperor on May 21, 1346 in Adrianople, he did not make Matthaios his co-emperor, but kept this position Johannes V. Palaiologos , the fourteen-year-old son Andronikos III. and legitimate heirs to the throne. Matthaios became the highest ranked after the emperor, but without a corresponding title.

In 1342 radical revolutionaries, the Zealots , established an autonomous city republic in Thessaloniki . They had supported John V and refused to follow instructions from Constantinople. At the end of 1349 their rule collapsed. The leader, Andreas Palaiologos, fled to the monks on Holy Mount Athos .

In order to consolidate the situation in the few areas still remaining in the empire, Johannes Kantakuzenos sent Matthaios with strong forces, including 20,000 horsemen, which Johannes' son-in-law had made available to the Ottoman Sultan Orhan I , to Thessaloniki. The emperor himself and his co-emperor Johannes V followed the troops by sea. The two emperors solemnly entered Thessaloniki in autumn 1350. Even Gregory Palamas , the protagonist of the Hesychasts and designated Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who had been prevented by this time of the zealots from entering the city, could now take office.

In May 1352 John V demanded his share of power in Constantinople. Johannes Kantakuzenos assigned him areas in Thrace, which, however, also included the city of Didymoteichos and most of the area that he had already assigned to Matthaios. Matthaios objected to this.

In the summer of 1352, John V started a civil war, perhaps to forestall an attack. He crossed the border to the area administered by Matthaios and besieged Adrianople in autumn 1352. Emperor Johannes Kantakuzenos came to the aid of Matthaios with Turkish troops under the leadership of Sultan Orhan's eldest son Suleiman Pasha, while Johannes V was supported by 4,000 Serbian horsemen provided by Stefan Dušan . However, John V did not succeed in taking Adrianople. He had his area plundered by Suleiman's soldiers.

Co-emperor

In April 1353, John VI. Kantakuzenos Johannes V. Palaiologos, had him arrested and banished to the island of Tenedos . Matthaios was made co-emperor. The Patriarch of Constantinople Callistus I, who refused to crown Matthew and his wife Irene Palaiologina, was replaced by Philotheus Kokkinos , who performed the coronation in February 1354. In November 1354 John V returned to Constantinople from exile. Open war broke out. John V compelled his father-in-law John VI. in December 1354 to abdicate. In Thrace, Matthew continued the fight until 1357. In February 1357 he was captured by the Serbian voivod Vojihna , extradited to his rival John V and forced to abdicate in December 1357.

That Johannes Kantakuzenos, despite his loyalty to John V, the legitimate heir to the throne, pursued the goal of establishing his own dynasty is evident in the way in which he linked Matthaios Kantakuzenos with the Tomos of the Council of 1351.

Despotate Morea

In 1361 Matthaios went to the court of his brother, the despot of the Morea, Manuel Kantakuzenos, and supported him in the administration of the despotate. After Manuel's death in 1380, he ruled the Morea until the appointment of the new despot Theodor I. Palaiologos in 1381 and until his arrival in 1383. Before completely handing over power to the palaeologists , Matthaios Kantakuzenos resigned and handed over the power to his son Demetrios I Kantakuzenos . In 1383 he retired to a monastery.

Monk and author

Matthaios Kantakuzenos was an educated man. During his stay on Mount Athos he wrote various philosophical and religious works, mainly commentaries on the scriptures. His "Commentarii in Cantica Canticorum" by Vincentius Richardus was published in 1624, and he was probably also the author of the "Commentarius in Sapientiam Salomonis".

literature

• Donald M. Nicol: Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) 1100-1460. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington 1968.
• Donald M. Nicol: The Last Centuries of Byzantium 1261-1453. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993.

Web links

• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Byzantium 1261–1453 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Charles Cawley: Medieval lands .
2. ↑ Miroslav Marek: Royal genealogy index page, The house of Aseniden .
3. ^ Matthew Cantacuzenus . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 17 : Lord Chamberlain - Mecklenburg . London 1911, p. 898 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
4. ^ John W. Barker: Late Byzantine Thessalonike: A Second City's Challenges and Responses. ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ; PDF) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Dumbarton Oaks Papers No. 57, Dumbarton Oaks 2003. 
5. ↑ Hierotheos of Nafpaktus: St Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite. ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Publisher: Birth of Theotokos Monastery (Greece), ISBN 960-7070-37-2 
6. ^ Waclaw Hryniewicz:  Kallistos I. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 981-983.
7. ^ Paul Lemerle: Le Tomos du concile de 1351 et l'horismos de Matthieu Cantacuzene . In: Revue des Études Byzantines. 9, 1951, pp. 55-64.
8. ↑ William Plate: Matthäos Cantacuzenus . In: William Smith (Ed.): Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . tape 2 : Ea'rinus, Fla'vius – Nyx . Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1870, p. 973–974 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Manuel Kantakuzenos	Despot of Morea 1380-1383	Demetrios I. Kantakuzenos