John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos was one of the most remarkable men of late Byzantium: a brilliant general, a capable if controversial emperor, a subtle theologian, and in his retirement one of the finest historians of his age. He was the great friend and chief minister of Andronikos III, and when Andronikos died in 1341 the dowager empress Anna of Savoy and the patriarch John Kalekas excluded him from the regency. He refused to accept this and fought the resulting civil war from 1341 to 1347, winning with Ottoman Turkish help - help that gave the Ottomans Gallipoli in 1354. He reigned as co-emperor from 1347 to 1354, attempting to maintain a working relationship with the legitimate Palaiologos emperor John V. He supported the hesychast theological movement and the theology of Gregory Palamas, which was victorious at church councils of 1341 and 1351. When John V moved against him in 1354, Kantakouzenos abdicated rather than plunge the empire into another civil war. He retired to a monastery, taking the name Joasaph, and devoted his remaining decades to writing his four-volume Histories, a primary source of great value.
- Lived: 1292 CE – 1383 CE
- Nationality: byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state, military_leader, author
