Andronikos II Palaiologos
Encyclopedia
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: ) (25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina
Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina
Theodora Doukaina Vatatzaina was the Empress consort of Michael VIII Palaiologos.-Family:Theodora was a daughter of Ioannes Doukas Vatatzes and wife Eudokia Angelina. The names of her parents were recorded by George Acropolites.Her paternal grandparents were sebastokrator Isaakios Doukas...
, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes
John III Doukas Vatatzes
John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes |Nymphaion]]) was emperor of Nicaea 1221–1254.-Life:John Doukas Vatatzes was probably the son of the general Basileios Vatatzes, Duke of Thrace, who died in 1193, and his wife, an unnamed daughter of Isaakios Angelos and cousin of the Emperors...
. On 8 November 1273, Andronikos II married Anne of Hungary (1260–1281), daughter of the king Stephen V of Hungary
Stephen V of Hungary
Stephen V , was King of Hungary from 1270 to 1272.-Early years:...
.
Life
Andronikos II Palaiologos was born at Nicaea.He was acclaimed co-emperor in 1261, after his father Michael VIII recovered Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
from the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
, but he was crowned only in 1272. Sole emperor from 1282, Andronikos II immediately repudiated his father's unpopular Church union with the Papacy (which he had been forced to support while his father was still alive), but was unable to resolve the related schism within the Orthodox clergy until 1310. Andronikos II was also plagued by economic difficulties and during his reign the value of the Byzantine hyperpyron
Hyperpyron
The hyperpyron was a Byzantine coin in use in the latter Middle Ages, replacing the solidus as the Empire's gold coinage.The gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the solidus or nomisma, whose gold content had remained steady at 24 carats for seven centuries and was consequently...
depreciated precipitously while the state treasury accumulated less than one seventh the revenue (in nominal coins) that it had done previously. Seeking to increase revenue and reduce expenses, Andronikos II raised taxes and reduced tax exemptions, and dismantled the Byzantine fleet (80 ships) in 1285, thereby making the Empire increasingly dependent on the rival republics of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
and Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. In 1291, he hired 50–60 Genoese ships. Later, in 1320, he tried to resurrect the navy by constructing 20 galleys, but failed.
Andronikos II Palaiologos sought to resolve some of the problems facing the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
through diplomacy. After the death of his first wife Anne of Hungary, he married Yolanda (renamed Irene) of Montferrat, putting an end to the Montferrat claim to the Kingdom of Thessalonica
Kingdom of Thessalonica
The Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands.- Background :...
. Andronikos II also attempted to marry off his son and co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos
Michael IX Palaiologos
Michael IX Palaiologos or Palaeologus , , reigned as Byzantine co-emperor with full imperial style 1294/1295–1320...
to the Latin Empress Catherine I of Courtenay
Catherine I of Courtenay
Catherine I of Courtenay was Titular Empress of Constantinople from 1283 to her death in 1307. In 1301, she became the second wife of Charles of Valois, by whom she had one son and three daughters; the eldest of these, Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea succeeded her as titular...
, thus seeking to eliminate Western agitation for a restoration of the Latin Empire. Another marriage alliance attempted to resolve the potential conflict with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, as Andronikos II married off his five-year old daughter Simonis
Simonida
Simonida Nemanjić , born Simonis Palaiologina , was a Byzantine princess and queen consort of Serbia as the fourth wife of Serbian king Milutin . She was a daughter of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and Irene of Montferrat.- Life :Simonida was born in Constantinople ca. 1294...
to King Stefan Milutin in 1298.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Andronikos II was faced with the collapse of the Byzantine frontier in Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. After the failure of the co-emperor Michael IX to stem the Turkish advance in Asia Minor in 1302 and the disastrous Battle of Bapheus
Battle of Bapheus
The Battle of Bapheus occurred on 27 July 1302 between an Ottoman army under Osman I and a Byzantine armyunder George Mouzalon. The battle ended in a crucial Ottoman victory, cementing the Ottoman state and heralding the final capture of Byzantine Bithynia by the Turks...
, the Byzantine government hired the Catalan Company
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company of the East , officially the Magnas Societas Catalanorum, sometimes called the Grand Company and widely known as the Catalan Company, was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in the early 14th-century...
of Almogavars
Almogavars
The almogavars were a class of soldiers from the Crown of Aragon, well-known during the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. They were much employed as mercenaries in Italy, Latin Greece and the Levant during the 13th and 14th centuries.-History:The Almogavars came mainly from the...
(adventurers from Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
and Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
) led by Roger de Flor to clear Byzantine Asia Minor of the enemy. In spite of some successes, the Catalans were unable to secure lasting gains. They quarreled with Michael IX, and eventually turned on their Byzantine employers after the murder of Roger de Flor in 1305, devastating Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, Macedonia, and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
on their road to Latin Greece. There they conquered the Duchy of Athens
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....
and Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
. The Turks continued to penetrate the Byzantine possessions, and Prusa
Bursa, Turkey
Bursa is a city in northwestern Turkey and the seat of Bursa Province. The metropolitan area in the entire Bursa province had a population of 2.6 million as of 2010, making the city fourth most populous in Turkey. The city is equally one of the most industrialized metropolitan centers in the...
fell in 1326. By the end of Andronikos II's reign, much of Bithynia was in the hands of the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
of Osman I and his son and heir Orhan
Orhan I
Orhan I or Orhan Bey was the second bey of the nascent Ottoman Empire from 1326 to 1359...
. Also, Karasids conquered Mysia
Mysia
Mysia was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia . It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west and by the Propontis on the north...
-region with Paleokastron
Balikesir
Balıkesir is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 265,747 inhabitants. Old name is Karesi or Karasi.- History :...
after 1296, Germiyan conquered Simav
Simav
Simav is a town and a district of Kütahya Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. The town is located on the Simav River.-External links:* * * *...
in 1328, Saruhan captured Magnesia
Manisa
Manisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...
in 1313 and Aydinids captured Symirna
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
in 1310.
The Empire's problems were exploited by Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria
Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria
Theodore Svetoslav ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He was a wise and capable ruler who brought stability and relative prosperity to the Bulgarian Empire after two decades of constant Mongol intervention in the internal issues of the Empire...
, who defeated Michael IX and conquered much of northeastern Thrace in c. 1305–1307. The conflict ended with yet another dynastic marriage, between Michael IX's daughter Theodora and the Bulgarian emperor. The dissolute behavior of Michael IX's son Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...
led to a rift in the family, and after Michael IX's death in 1320, Andronikos II disowned his grandson, prompting a civil war that raged, with interruptions, until 1328. The conflict precipitated Bulgarian involvement, and Michael Asen III of Bulgaria
Michael Shishman of Bulgaria
Michael Asen III ), ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it was between 1280 and 1292. He was the founder of the last ruling dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Shishman dynasty...
attempted to capture Andronikos II under the guise of sending him military support. In 1328 Andronikos III entered Constantinople in triumph and Andronikos II was forced to abdicate.
He died as a monk at Constantinople in 1332.
Family
On 8 November 1273 Andronikos II married as his first wife Anna of Hungary, daughter of Stephen V of HungaryStephen V of Hungary
Stephen V , was King of Hungary from 1270 to 1272.-Early years:...
and Elizabeth the Cuman
Elizabeth the Cuman
-Daughter of Kuthen:She was born in about 1239/40, a daughter of Kuthen/Kotyan/Kotony , khan of the Cumans , and his wife whose identity has not been established. The Cumans were the western tribes of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. The Cumans were a confederation of Turkic speaking peoples who...
, with whom he had two sons:
- Michael IX PalaiologosMichael IX PalaiologosMichael IX Palaiologos or Palaeologus , , reigned as Byzantine co-emperor with full imperial style 1294/1295–1320...
(17 April 1277 – 12 October 1320). - Constantine Palaiologos, despotesDespotesDespot , was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent...
(c. 1278 – 1335). Married firstly Eudokia, a daughter of Theodore Mouzalon and a woman of the Kantakouzenos family. Married secondly Eudokia Neokaisareitissa. He also had a mistress, Kathara, who was in the service of his second wife. Constantine was forced to become a monk by his nephew Andronikos III PalaiologosAndronikos III PalaiologosAndronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...
.- Eudokia Palaiologina. Only legitimate daughter of Constantine and Eudokia Neokaisareitissa. John VI KantakouzenosJohn VI KantakouzenosJohn VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
records her marriage to Demetrios Tsamplakos, megas stratopedarches. - Michael Katharos. Illegitimate son of Constantine and Kathara. A favorite of his paternal grandfather Andronikos II in the later years of his reign.
- Eudokia Palaiologina. Only legitimate daughter of Constantine and Eudokia Neokaisareitissa. John VI Kantakouzenos
After Anna died in 1281, in 1284 Andronikos II then married Yolanda (renamed Irene), a daughter of Marquis William VII of Montferrat, with whom he had:
- John Palaiologos (c. 1286–1308), despotes, married Irene Choumnaina, no issue.
- Theodore I, Marquis of Montferrat (1291–1338)
- Demetrios Palaiologos (d. after 1343), despotes. Father of Irene Palaiologina.
- Simonis PalaiologinaSimonidaSimonida Nemanjić , born Simonis Palaiologina , was a Byzantine princess and queen consort of Serbia as the fourth wife of Serbian king Milutin . She was a daughter of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and Irene of Montferrat.- Life :Simonida was born in Constantinople ca. 1294...
(1294-after 1336), who married King Stefan Milutin of Serbia
Andronikos II also had at least two illegitimate daughters:
- Irene, who married John II DoukasJohn II DoukasJohn II Doukas, also Angelos Doukas or Angelus Ducas , was ruler of Thessaly from 1303 to his death in 1318....
, ruler of ThessalyThessalyThessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey.... - Maria, who married ToqtaToqtaTokhta was a khan of the Golden Horde, son of Mengu-Timur and great grandson of Batu Khan.His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian language....
, Khan of the Golden HordeGolden HordeThe Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...