John VI Kantakouzenos

John VI Kantakouzenos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
John VI presiding over a synod, c. 1370–1375
Byzantine emperor
Reign8 February 1347 –
10 December 1354
Coronation21 May 1347
PredecessorJohn V Palaiologos (alone)
SuccessorJohn V Palaiologos
(alongside Matthew)
Co-monarchJohn V Palaiologos
Matthew Kantakouzenos
Born1292
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died15 June 1383 (aged 90/91)
Despotate of the Morea
Burial
SpouseIrene Asanina
IssueMatthew Kantakouzenos
Manuel Kantakouzenos
Theodora Kantakouzene
Helena Kantakouzene
Andronikos Kantakouzenos
Maria Kantakouzene
Names
John Angelos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos
Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος [Κομνηνός] Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός
HouseKantakouzenos
FatherMichael Kantakouzenos
MotherTheodora Palaiologina Angelina
ReligionGreek Orthodox

John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene[1] (Greek: Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός, Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós;[2] Latin: Iohannes Cantacuzenus;[3] c. 1292 – 15 June 1383[4]) was a Byzantine Greek 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. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos (Greek: Ἰωάσαφ Χριστόδουλος) and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 90 or 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors.

  1. ^ EB (1911), p. 438.
  2. ^ McLaughlin (2017), p. 14. "Kantakouzēnos inherited the names of Angelos and Palaiologos from his mother, and was occasionally addressed as Komnenos too."
  3. ^ EB (1878).
  4. ^ John VI Cantacuzenus at the Encyclopædia Britannica