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John VI Cantacuzene

John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos.jpg
John VI presiding over a synod
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 31 March 1347 – 10 December 1354
Predecessor John V Palaiologos (alone)
Successor John V Palaiologos
(alongside Matthew Kantakouzenos)
Co-monarch John V Palaiologos
Emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Reign 15 April 1353 – 10 December 1354
Predecessor Himself
(alongside John V Palaiologos)
Successor Matthew Kantakouzenos
(alongside John V Palaiologos)
Co-monarch Matthew Kantakouzenos
Born 1292
Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died 15 June 1383 (aged 90 or 91)
Peloponnese, Despotate of Morea
Burial Mistra, Peloponnese, Greece
Spouse Irene Asanina
Issue Matthew Kantakouzenos
Manuel Kantakouzenos
Andronikos Kantakouzenos
Maria Kantakouzene
Theodora Kantakouzene
Helena Kantakouzene
Full name
John VI Kantakouzenos
Ἰωάννης ΣΤʹ Καντακουζηνός
House Kantakouzenos
Father Michael Kantakouzenos
Mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina
Full name
John VI Kantakouzenos
Ἰωάννης ΣΤʹ Καντακουζηνός

John VI Kantakouzenos, Cantacuzenus, or Cantacuzene (Greek: Ἰωάννης ΣΤʹ Καντακουζηνός, Iōannēs ST′ Kantakouzēnos; Latin: Johannes Cantacuzenus; c. 1292 – 15 June 1383) was a Greek , 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. Usurped by his former ward, he retired to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian.

Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea; Donald Nicol speculates that he may have been born after his father's death and raised as an only child. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was related to the then-reigning house of Palaiologos. He was also related to the imperial dynasty through his wife Eirene Asanina, a second cousin of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Kantakouzenos became a close friend to Andronikos III and was one of his principal supporters in Andronikos's struggle against his grandfather, Andronikos II Palaiologos. On the accession of Andronikos III in 1328, he was entrusted with the supreme administration of affairs and served as Grand Domestic throughout his reign. He was named regent to Andronikos's successor, the 9-year-old John V, upon the emperor's death in June 1341.


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