George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos

George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos (Greek: Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός; ca. 1390 – 1456/59) was a Byzantine aristocrat, a member of the Kantakouzenos family, and adventurer. He is also known by the Turkish nickname Sachatai, which he earned in the service of the Despot Constantine early in his military career.

George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos was the son of Theodore Palaiologos Kantakouzenos. Among his siblings were the Despotess of Serbia Irene Kantakouzene, the Empress of Trebizond Helena, and the unnamed wife of King George VIII of Georgia. He was also a cousin of the last two Byzantine emperors, John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos.

He spent his youth in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, where he studied under John Chortasmenos. In later life he moved to the Despotate of the Morea, where he is attested in documents from Dubrovnik written in 1431. He had scholarly inclinations and maintained a library at Kalavryta, where he was visited by Cyriacus of Ancona in 1436.

When the Despot Constantine (the future Constantine XI) left for Constantinople in September 1437 to govern the city during the absence of his brother John VIII Palaiologos, George also left Greece. He visited his sister Helena in Trebizond, then his other sister Irene in Serbia, where he decided to settle. He assisted in the construction and defense of the Castle of Smederevo that his sister and brother-in-law Đurađ Branković began in 1430; for a while he commanded the garrison at that fortification. A note dated 31 May 1454 in a manuscript of Procopius (Cod. Palatin. gr. 278) indicates that it belonged to George Kantakouzenos while he was living at Smederevo.

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