Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos | |
---|---|
Palaiologos | |
Father | Michael IX Palaiologos |
Mother | Rita of Armenia |
Religion | Eastern Orthodox |
Andronikos III Palaiologos (
His reign included the last failed attempts to hold back the
Life
Andronikos was born in Constantinople on 25 March 1297. His father, Michael IX Palaiologos, began reigning in full imperial style as co-emperor c. 1295.
In March 1318, Andronikos married Irene of Brunswick, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. In c. 1321 she gave birth to a son, who died in infancy.
In 1320, Andronikos accidentally caused the death of his brother Manuel, after which their father, co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, died in his grief. The homicide and the general dissolute behavior of Andronikos III and his coterie, mostly the young scions of the great aristocratic clans of the Empire, resulted in a deep rift in the relations between young Andronikos and his grandfather, still reigning as Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos.
Emperor Andronikos II disowned his grandson Andronikos, who fled the capital, rallied his supporters in
Empress Irene died on 16/17 August 1324 with no surviving child. Theodora Palaiologina, sister of Andronikos III, married the new tsar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria in 1324. Andronikos III, then a widower, married Anna of Savoy in October 1326. In 1327 she gave birth to Maria (renamed Irene) Palaiologina.
Andronikos III concluded the
Reign
Military history
Ottoman Turks besieged Nicaea in Asia Minor, historically the provisional capital of the Byzantine Empire from the Fourth Crusade until the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople. Andronikos III launched a relief attempt, which Ottoman sultan Orhan defeated at the Battle of Pelekanon on 10 or 15 June 1329.
Also in 1329, Andronikos III sent a naval expedition against Martino Zaccaria, Genoese ruler of the Lordship of Chios (which also included Samos and Cos). The expedition deposed Zaccaria, and regained Byzantine control of the islands.
An alliance with Bulgaria failed to secure any gains for the Byzantine empire. On 28 July 1330, the Serbians decisively defeated the Bulgarians in the Battle of Velbazhd (modern Kyustendil, Bulgaria) without significant Byzantine participation. The Ottomans continued to advance in 1331, finally taking Nicaea (İznik). Andronikos III wanted Nicomedia and the other few Byzantine forts in Anatolia not to suffer the same fate and sought to pay off the Ottomans with tribute.
Andronikos III reorganized and attempted to strengthen the weakened Byzantine navy, which comprised only 10 ships by 1332; in emergencies, he still could muster a hundred extra merchant ships.
Having failed to gain anything against Serbia, Andronikos III attempted to annex Bulgarian Thrace, but the new tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria defeated Byzantine forces at the Battle of Rusokastro on 18 July 1332. Andronikos III secured peace with Bulgaria by territorial concessions and the marriage of his daughter Maria (renamed Irene) to Ivan Alexander's son, the future Michael Asen IV of Bulgaria.
The Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta visited Constantinople towards the end of 1332 and mentions meeting Andronikos III in his memoirs.[2] Byzantine sources do not attest to the meeting.
Stephen Gabrielopoulos, ruler over Thessaly, died circa 1333; taking advantage of the secession crisis, Andronikos III extended Byzantine control over the region.
Andronikos III meanwhile effected the recovery of Phocaea in 1334 from the last Genoese governor, Domenico Cattaneo. However, this victory failed to stem significantly the Ottoman advance in Asia Minor. Byzantine rule gradually vanished from Anatolia as tribute failed to appease Ottoman sultan Orhan, who took Nicomedia in 1337, leaving only Philadelphia and a handful of ports under Byzantine control.
Despite these troubles, Andronikos III took advantage of a secession crisis in the Despotate of Epirus in 1337, regaining Byzantine control from Nikephoros II Orsini. Thessaly was also reconquered by Andronikos III during this period.
In 1340, Dušan fell seriously ill. At this critical time, one of Dušan's leading commanders, Hrelja deserted to Byzantines. He could do this because he had possessed holdings right on Byzantine-Serbian border that included region of the middle of Struma river, with Strumitsa and other two other strongly fortified castles near-by.[8]
In 1341, the Latin lords of the Peloponnese sent a delegation to Constantinople, seeking to swear allegiance to the Byzantine crown. An ailing Andronikos III then received the Latin delegation on one occasion, shortly before succumbing to an illness on 15 June 1341.
Domestic policy
Andronikos III also reformed the judiciary through his creation of a panel of four judges, designated "
Family
Andronikos III was first married in 1318 with
In 1326, Andronikos III married as his second wife Anna of Savoy,[9] daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy and of his second wife Marie of Brabant, Countess of Savoy. Their marriage produced several children, including:
- Maria (renamed Eirene) Palaiologina, who married Michael Asen IV of Bulgaria
- John V Palaiologos (born 18 June 1332)
- despotes(designated successor)
- Irene (renamed Maria) Palaiologina, who married Francesco I Gattilusio.
According to the contemporary Byzantine historian
Succession and legacy
Andronikos III died at Constantinople, aged 44, on 15 June 1341, possibly due to chronic malaria, and was buried in the Hodegon Monastery after lying in state at the Hagia Sophia.[12][13] Historians contend that his reign ended with the Byzantine Empire in a still-tenable situation and generally do not implicate deficiencies in his leadership in its later demise.[citation needed] John V Palaiologos succeeded his father as Byzantine emperor, but at only nine years of age, he required a regent.
The energetic campaigns of emperor Andronikos III simply lacked sufficient strength to defeat the imperial enemies and led to several significant Byzantine reverses at the hands of Bulgarians, Serbians, and Ottomans. Andronikos III nevertheless provided active leadership and cooperated with able administrators. Under him, the empire came closest to regaining a position of power in the Balkans and the Greek peninsula after the Fourth Crusade. The loss of a few imperial territories in Anatolia, however, left the Ottoman Turks poised to expand into Europe.
Within a few months after the death of Andronikos III, controversy over the right to exercise the regency over the new emperor John V Palaiologos and the position of John Kantakouzenos as all-powerful chief minister and friend of Andronikos led to the outbreak of the destructive
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e PLP, 21437. Παλαιολόγος, Ἀνδρόνικος III. Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνός.
- ISBN 9780330418799.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- ^ Norwich. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall p. 284
- ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- ^ a b Garland 1999, p. 231.
- ^ William Miller, Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461, 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), p. 46
- ISBN 978-0-520-24385-9.
- ^ Lascaratos & Marketos 1997, pp. 106–109.
- ^ Melvani, N., (2018) 'The tombs of the Palaiologan emperors', Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 42 (2) pp.237-260
References
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Bosch, Ursula Victoria (1965), Kaiser Andronikos III. Palaiologos. Versuch einer Darstellung der byzantinischen Geschichte in den Jahren 1321–1341 (in German), Adolf M. Hakkert
- ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
- Garland, Lynda (1999). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204. Routledge.
- Lascaratos, J.; Marketos, S. (1997), "The fatal disease of the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341 A.D.)", PMID 9068444
- ISBN 9780521439916.
- Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Walther, Rainer; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja; Kislinger, Ewald; Leontiadis, Ioannis; Kaplaneres, Sokrates (1976–1996). ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (9th ed.). 1878. p. 23. .
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 976. .