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John V Palaeologus





LIFE

John VI Kantakouzenos , his father's friend, served as his Regent and Co-emperor ( 13471354 ). Forced to fight John Kantakouzenos, who had usurped the throne during his minority, he came into power in 1354 .

His reign was marked by the gradual dissolution of the imperial power.
In his reign the Ottomans , led by Suleyman Pasha the son of the Ottoman sultan, took Adrianople and Philippopolis , conquered Serbia , and exacted tribute from the emperor. After the Ottoman Turks gained control of Gallipoli and threatened Constantinople , John V appealed to the West for help, proposing to end the Schism between the Byzantine and Latin churches by submitting to the supremacy of the Roman Church . Impoverished by war, he was detained as a debtor when he visited Venice ( 1369 ). In 1371 he recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan Murad I , who later helped him to regain the throne ( 1379 ) after he was deposed by his son Andronikos IV Palaiologos in 1376 . In 1390 his grandson, John VII Palaiologos , briefly usurped the throne. John V was succeeded by his son Manuel II Palaiologos . His second son Theodore I Palaiologos succeeded to the Despotate of Morea in 1383.

Towards the end of his reign, in 1390 , John ordered the strengthening of the Constantinople Golden Gate , utilizing marble from the decayed churches of city. Upon the completion of this construction, Bayezid I , threatening war, demanded that John raze these new works. John V obeyed the suzerain's order, but is said to have suffered from this humiliation and, according to historians, died of a nervous shock on February 16 , 1391 .


FAMILY

He married Helena Kantakouzene, daughter of John VI Kantakouzenos . They were parents of several children including:
# Andronikos IV Palaiologos , Byzantine emperor 1376-1379
# Manuel II Palaiologos , Byzantine emperor 1391-1425
# Michael Palaiologos, ''despotēs''
# Theodore I Palaiologos , ''despotēs'' in Morea
# Eirene Palaiologina, who married Halil, the son of Sultan Orhan of the Ottoman Empire




  Before Andronikos III Palaiologos
  Title Byzantine Emperor
  Years 1341 &ndash 1376


  Before Andronikos IV Palaiologos
  Title Byzantine Emperor
  Years 1379 &ndash 1390


  Before John VII Palaiologos
  Title Byzantine Emperor
  Years 1390 &ndash 1391