No More Learning

The emperor, loss fled with Theodore Lascaris to Nicaea. Next
nevertheless, spared their lives, and sent them into to this distinguished prince, Vatatzes was the most
exile, till, having rebelled a second time, they were active and successful in preventing the whole of the
blinded, and kept in confinement. Bardas Phocas Greek empire from becoming a prey to the Latins,
having surrendered to Bardas Sclerus, was com- and he was likewise one of those who supported
pelled to assume the monastic habit, and to spend Theodore Lascaris after he had assumed the im-
the rest of his life in a convent in Chios. Previous perial title, and taken up his residence at Nicaea.
to these events (970), Zimisces, who was then a In reward for his eminent services in the field as
widower, having lost his
wife Maria, the sister of well as in the council, Theodore gave him the hand
Bardas Sclerus, married Theodora, the daughter of of his daughter Irene, and appointed him his fu-
Constantine Porphyrogenneta, and the sister of the ture successor, because, having no children, he
late Romanus II. , a marriage agreeable to the thought Vatatzes more fit and worthy for the
Greeks, who revered the memory of the learned crown than either of his four brothers, Alexis,
and mild Constantine. Meanwhile, the Russians John, Manuel, and Michael
. Vatatzes thus suc-
had again in vaded Bulgaria ; and they would have ceeded Theodore Lascaris on the imperial throne
formed lasting settlements in that country but for of Nicaea in 1222. In the same year Theodore
the valour of Zimisces, who took the command in Angelus, despot or prince of Epeirus and Aetolian
the field, while a Greek fleet sailed up the Danube, made himself master of Thessalonica and of
cutting off the retreat of the northern barbarians. nearly the whole of Macedonia, assumed the title
Parasthlava, the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom, of emperor, and was crowned by the bishop
had been taken by the Russians, and the Bulgarian of Achrida.
king, Bosisa, was kept there by the Norman Sven- Four emperors now reigned over the remnants of
tislav (Sviatoslav, Wenceslaus), or Sphendosthlaba, the Eastern empire, Andronicus I. Gidon in Trebi-
as the Greeks call him, the prince of the Russians zond, Theodore Angelus in Epeirus and Macedonia,
of Kiew. Under the walls of Parasthlava the Robert of Courtenay in Constantinople, and Jolin
Russians suffered a bloody defeat ; a large body of Vatatzes in Nicaea; and it is curious that the im-
their best troops, who defended the castle, was cut perial crown devolved upon three of them in the
to pieces ; and Zimisces once more gave proof of same year, 1222, while the fourth, Robert of Cour-
military genius and undaunted courage. Sphen- tenay, took actual possession of his dominions only
dosthlaba made peace, and withdrew to Russia, in the previous year, 1221. Of these, the emperor
while Bosisa was generously re-established by Zi- in Nicaea was the greatest.
misces on his hereditary throne. These events No sooner had Vatatzes ascended the throne


## p. 579 (#595) ############################################

JOANNES.
579
JOANNES.
than Manuel and Michael Lascaris abandoned him, natural daughter Anne in marriage, in 1244, the
went to Constantinople, and persuaded Robert to first wife of Vatatzes having died in 1240.
declare war against Vatatzes. Its issue was un- Never despairing of putting an end to the
favourable to the Latins. In a pitched battle at Latin domination in the East, but obliged to give
Poemanene or Poemanium, in 1224, the Latin up the plan of effecting it with the Bulgarian king,
troops were completely defeated ; and such was the Vatatzes undertook to subdue the Bulgarian nation,
hatred of the Greeks against the foreign intruders, and to force those warlike barbarians to serve under
that they neither gave nor accepted quarter : the his banners against the intruders at Constantinople.
two Lascaris were taken prisoners, and payed their In 1246 he had already conquered the south-
treason with the loss of their eyes. In consequence western portion of Bulgaria, and given its govern-
of this victory, the greater part of the Latin pos- ment, together with that of Thessalonica (Mace-
sessions in Asia fell into the hands of the Greeks. donia) to his Magnus Domesticus Andronicus Pa-
On the sea the Latins were successful ; they block. laeologus, when his progress was checked by a com-
aded the Greek fleet in the port of Lampsacus, and bined attack of the Latins and Michael Comnenus,
Vatatzes preferred burning his own ships to having despot of Epeirus. The issue of a protracted war
them burnt by his enemy. However, Vatatzes had was favourable to Vatatzes, who took several of the
little to lose on the sea, and the Latin emperor was towns of the Latins in Thrace, and made peace
finally compelled to sue for peace, and to leave the with Michael in 1253. The following years were
greater part of bis Asiatic possessions in the hands peaceful, and Vatatzes employed his leisure in pro-
of Vatatzes. The peace was of short duration. The moting the happiness of his subjects. He patronised
old John of Brienne, who after the death of Ro- arts and sciences, constructed new roads, distri-
bert, in 1228, exchanged his nominal kingdom of buted the taxes equally, and made himself beloved
Jerusalem for the real though tottering throne of by every body through his kindness and justice.
Constantinople, attacked Vatatzes in 1233, in Asia, Michael of Epeirus having threatened a new war,
but was routed in Bithynia, and hastened back to Vatatzes set out against him, but was taken ill in
Thrace. Supported by the fleets of the Venetians, Macedonia, returned to Asia, and died, after long
he could, however, renew his inroads whenever he sufferings, at Nymphaeum, on the 30th of October,
saw a favourable opportunity. Accordingly, Va- 1255, at the age of sixty or sixty-two. Vatatzes
tatzes conceived the plan of making himself master is justly called one of the greatest emperors of the
of the sea, and had he succeeded, the national East; and the merit of having put an end to the
Greek empire would have been soon restored to its Latin empire belongs as much to him as to Michael
limits of 1204. Samos, Lesbos, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, Palaeologus, who carried out, in 1261, the plan which
and many other islands, were conquered by the had been conceived and successfully begun by Va-
Greeks, but the main force of the Venetians was in tatzes. The successor of Vatatzes was Theodore Las
Candia; and though Vatatzes conquered the greater caris II. (The sources referred to in BALDUINUS II. ,
part of that island, bis progress was checked by the among which Acropolita is the principal. ) (W. P. )
Venetian governor Marino Sanuti, the historian, JOANNES IV. LA'SCARIS ('Iwávunis
who at last forced the Greeks to sail back to Asia. Adokapıs), emperor of Nicaea (A. D. 1259—1261),
Baffled on the sea, Vatatzes renewed his con- was the son of the second emperor of Nicaea,
tinental plans, and concluded, in 1234, an alliance Theodore II. , Lascaris, whom he succeeded in
with Asan, king of Bulgaria Their united forces 1259, at nine years of age. He first reigned under
besieged Constantinople in 1235, by land and sea, the guardianship of the patriarch Arsenius and the
but the superiority of the Latin mariners over the Magnus Domesticus Muzalon. The latter was
Greek led to a total defeat of the Greek fleet, and slain, with his adherent, in a revolt of the guards,
twenty-four Greek gallies fell into the hands of the kindled by Michael Palaeologus, who was pro-
victors, and were paraded in triumph in the port of claimed emperor ; and after having taken Constan-
Constantinople. Listening to the persuasions of tinople from the Latins, in 1261, he deprived the
Messire Anseau de Cahieu, who acted as regent in youthful emperor of his eyes and sent hiin into
the absence of the emperor Baldwin II. , Asan exile, where he died in obscurity. (MICHAEL
showed symptoms of defection, and forsook his ally VIII. )
(W. P. )
in 1237, when they were just besieging Constan- JOANNES V. CANTACUZE'NUS ('Iwdvrns
tinople a second time. By land, however, Vatatzes • Kavrakousávos), emperor of Constantinople (A. D.
was more successful, and conquered the rest of the 1342-1355), often called Joannes VI. His full
Latin possessions in Asia. The assistance which name was Joannes Angelus Comnenus Palaeologus
Baldwin II. obtained in Europe is mentioned in Cantacuzenus. He was the eldest son of Joannes
the life of that emperor ; but the formidable knights Cantacuzenus, the chief of a great Greek family,
of France and Italy tried in vain to obtain a firm and Theodora Palaeologina, and was born early in
footing in Asia, and Baldwin was reduced to such the beginning of the 14th century.
(See the
weakness, that he was unable to prevent Vatatzes genealogical table of the Cantacuzeni, Vol. I. p. 595. ]
from sailing over to Macedonia, and compelling the His history is intimately connected with that of his
self-styled emperor, John Comnenus of Epeirus, ward and rival Joannes VI. Palaeologus. John
Aetolia, and Macedonia, to cede him Macedonia, to Cantacuzenus, the subject of this article, early dis-
renounce the imperial title, and to be satisfied with tinguished himself in the service of his relative, the
that of despot of Epeirus (1242). In 1243 Va- emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the elder, who
tatzes concluded an alliance with Gaiyáth-ed-dín, appointed bim prefect of the sacred bed-chamber.
the Turkish sultan of Iconium, in order to resist United, by friendship and harmony of sentiments,
the approaching Mongols; and having thus secured to the emperor's grandson, Andronicus the younger,
his eastern frontiers, he renewed his attacks upon he took the part of the latter in his rebellion against
the Latins in Constantinople. His fame was his grandfather ; and it was to his valour, wisdom,
then so great, that the Roman emperor, Frederic and exertions, that the younger Andronicus owed
11. , one of his greatest admirers, gave him his his final success and the undisputed crown of Con-
PP 2


## p. 580 (#596) ############################################

580
JOANNES. '
JOANNES
Zenus.
stantinople. In reward for his services, he was January, 1347, he took the capital with scarcely
appointed magnus domesticus. Aetolia and Lesbos, any resistance, the gates having been opened by
both in the hands of usurpers, were re-united Facciolati, an Italian captain, who was the secret ad-
by him to the empire ; and his influence was so herent of Cantacuzenus ; and A pocauchus was slain
great, that he, rather than Andronicus, was the in the tumult. Being now sole master, Cantacu-
real sovereign of the Greeks, His administration zenus consented to acknowledge John Palaeologus
was wise: he enforced the laws with firmness, as co-emperor, on condition that until the majority
but also with forbearance ; and at a time when of the young prince, who was then fifteen years,
every public functionary was a robber of the people, and would be of age at twenty-five, according
he alone escaped the charge of peculation and fiscal to the Greek law, he should be the sole ruler ;
oppression. The emperor bestowed upon him un. and as a guarantee for the future harmony be-
bounded confidence, and was so fondly attached to tween the two princes, he married his daughter
him, that he proposed to share the throne with him. Helena to his youthful colleague. In the same
This Cantacuzenus refused, from motives both of year Cantacuzenus was crowned a second time
modesty and prudence. Andronicus, on his death in the capital, by Isidorus, patriarch of Constan-
bed (a. D. 1311), appointed him guardian of his linople.
infant son, John, in whose name he was to govem The reign of John Cantacuzenus was not blessed
the empire.
with pence. In the year of his accession, the
No sooner had Cantacuzenus begun to exercise plague made great havoc among the inhabitants of
his eminent functions, than he was checked by two the capital and other towns. The Genoese of Pera,
ambitious intriguers, the admiral Apocnuchus and who enjoyed great privileges, despised the imperial
the patriarch of Constantinople, John of Apri, who authority, took up arms, and laid them down only
aspired to the regency, and for that purpose per- after having obtained still greater privileges; and
suaded the widow of the late emperor, Anna, during the same time Duscham, the kral of Servia,
princess of Savoy, to claim the guardianship of her made an inroad into Thrace, but was fortunately
son, although it was lawfully vested in Cantacu- compelled, by severe defeats, to sue for peace.
The conspirators found many adherents; The emperor's relations with the Turks were amic-
and from a system of calumny and petty annoy- able for several years. In his history (ir. 16) Can-
ance, proceeded to bold attacks. During a temporary tacuzenus alludes to a project formed by Merjan,
absence from the capital, Cantacuzenus was suddenly an eunuch in the service of sultan Urkhan, to
charged with high treason ; and his enemies being poison his young colleague; but it would seem as if
his judges also, he was found guilty, sentenced to the story had been invented by himself, for the
death, and deprived of his estates and emoluments. purpose of frightening young Palaeologus, and thus
Under such circumstances he had no alternative bringing him under a still closer watch. His friend-
but rebellion or death : yet he hesitated till his ship with Urkhan was, however, not very sincere,
friends showed him that even by submission and for he sent ambassadors to pope Clement VI. pro-
imploring the clemency of his adversaries, he could mising to bring the Greek church under the papal
not save his life. Accordingly Cantacuzenus took authority if the holy father would preach a crusade
up arms, not against the infant emperor, but against against the Turks; but Clement declined the pro
his powerful councillors, and assumed the title of position, knowing that the Greeks and Latins
emperor. On the 21st of March, 1342, he was would agree upon religion only so long as the
crowned with great solemnity, together with his crusaders did upon a common plan of attack, and
wife, Irene, at Adrianople, by Lazarus, patriarch an equal mode of division in case of success
of Jerusalem. His adherents not being numerous, Meanwhile, dissensions arose between Cantacu-
he sought assistance at the court of Stephen Dus- zenus and Palaeologus, who grew tired of his
cham, kral or king of Servia ; and having reason to inactivity, and listened to the advice of the former
suspect the faith of this prince, he reluctantly con- party of Apocauchus, although he was kindly
cluded an alliance with Umur Bey, the Turkish treated and allowed full domestic freedom by his
prince of Aidin (Lydia, Maeonia and Caria). father-in-law, which, it would seem, was quite
During the transactions which led to this alliance enough for so young a man. Suspecting some
Cantacuzenus was at the Servian court, and his treachery, Cantacuzenus sent him to reside at
wife was at Didymoticum. Umur Bey sailed over Thessalonica, and employed Anne of Savoy, though
to Greece with a fleet of 380 vessels, and an army in vain, as mediator between her son and him : the
of 28,000 men ; and after having left a strong gar- young prince emancipated himself from the surveil-
rison at Didymoticum, marched upon Servia. An lance of the officers charged with guiding and
early and very severe winter compelled him to re- watching him, and in 1353 raised the standard of
turn to Asia without having had an interview with rebellion. Defeated in a pitched battle by the
Cantacuzenus ; but the two princes met in the fol- united forces of Cantacuzenus and Urkban, Palaeo-
lowing year, 1343, at Clopa, near Thessalonica, and logus took refuge with the Latins in Tenedos ; and
in their operations against Apocauchus and his in order to exclude him for ever from the throne,
party, Greece and Thrace were dreadfully ravaged. the emperor proclaimed his son, Matthaeus, co-
Bribed by Apocauchus, Umur Bey ceased assisting emperor, and his future successor. However well
Cantacuzenus, who, however, found a more powerful calculated this step might have been had the em-
ally in the person of Crkhan, sultan of the Turks peror enjoyed universal popularity, it proved
Osmanlis, to whom he gave his daughter in mar- disastrous under contrary circumstances, as the
riage. During five years Greece was desolated by Greeks felt much more sympathy with the house
a civil war. In 1346, however, Cantacuzenus be of the Palaeologi than with the Cantacuzeni, and
came the more powerful; and having made a sort the emperor soon learned that the people's attach-
of reconciliation with the dowager empresá, Anna, ment to a distinguished person is often much less
he advanced upon Constantinople, after re-enforcing strong than their love of a distinguished family.
bis army by a body of Latin mercenaries. In / Numerous bands organised themselves for the suy
a


## p. 581 (#597) ############################################

JOANNES.
581
JOANNES
:
port of the son of their late emperor, but the forces | legitimate; they conspire and rebel without any
upon which the latter could rely with more security views of interest, and the violence which they
were the mercenary band and the ships of Gaste inflict or suffer is celebrated as the spontaneous
luzzi or (tatteluzzi, a noble Genoese who promised effect of reason and virtue. "
to help him to the crown on condition of obtaining This work was first made known to the world
the hand of his sister and the grant of some lands. through Gretserus, who published a Latin transla-
The descendants of Gasteluzzi became sovereign tion of it by Jacob Pontanus, with notes and the
princes, and were conspicuous in the latter part of life of the author by the same, Ingolstadt, 1603,
Byzantine history. Palaeologus and Gasteluzzi fol. Pontanus perused a MS. which was kept in
made sail for Constantinople ; and pleading distress the Munich library: The Greek text first appeared,
and want of provisions as pretext for their admis- from a Paris MS. , in the splendid edition of Pierre
sion within the Golden Horn, the chain across the Seguier, chancellor of France, Paris, 1645, 3 vols.
entrance of the port was lowered by the watch of fol. , with the revised translation of Pontanus,
the harbour, who were either bribed by Palaea his and the editor's notes, and the life of the
logus, or were not aware that the ships had hos- author by Pontanus. It was badly reprinted in
tile intentions. The inhabitants of Constantinople 1729 by the editors of the Venice collection of the
now took up arms against Cantacuzenus, who, al Byzantines. The last edition is that of Louis
though he asserts the contrary, was apparently Schopen, 1828–32, 3 vols. in 8vo. in the Bonn
forsaken by most of his adherents, abdicated (Janu-collection of the Byzantines, a careful reprint of the
ary, 1355), and four days after his abdication Paris edition: the editor, however, had no MS. to
renounced the world, and assumed the monastic peruse. The other works of Cantacuzenus are of
habit.
no great importance. Apologiae (Kard tñs Tv
Under the name of Joasaph or Joseph, he spent Eapaxnvar aipéoews 'Anodoylai A), the principal,
the remainder of his days in devotion and literary are in four books, being a refutation of the religion
occupation in the convents of Constantinople and of Mohammed; and Kard tov Mwáued lógoi A,
Mount Athos ; and in his solitude he wrote the four orations against Mobammed. The author was
history of his times. His wife, Irene, likewise evidently well acquainted with the Koran ; but in
retired to a convent. The time of the death of John refuting Mohammedanism, and proving the truth
Cantacuzenus is uncertain. He was still alive in of the Christian religion, he allowed himself to be
1375, for in that year pope Gregory XI. wrote a guided by the prejudices of his time and all sorts
letter to him ; but if he died only in 1411, as of vulgar stories, legends and fables. The Greek
has been pretended, and Ducange (Fam. Byzant. text and a Latin translation of these works, along
p. 260) believes, he would have attained an age of with a translation of the Koran, was first published
more than one hundred years, because he was a by Rudolphus Gualterus, Basel, 1543, fol. ; the
contemporary of, and probably of the same age with, translation alone, ib. 1550. Cantacuzenus also
Andronicus Palaeologus the younger.
wrote a Paraphrasis of the Ethics of Aristotle ; six
His principal work is the “ History” (ʻIOTOPI@V epistles extant in MS. at Oxford; and several
Bibaia A), which comprises in four books the reign smaller treatises, chiefly on religious subjects.
of Andronicus the younger and his own, and The chief sources are the works of Cantacuzenus
finishes with the year 1357. It is written with and Nicephorus Gregoras, especially lib. viii-xv. ;
elegance and dignity, and shows that the author Ducas, c. 1, &c. ; Phranza, i. 1-14; Fabric.
was a man of superior intelligence, and fully able to Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 787 ; Hankius, De By
understand and judge of the great events of history: zantin. Rerum Script. Graec. , p. 602, &c. ; Pon-
but it is far from being written with impartiality; tanus, Vita Jounnis Cantacuzeni. ) (W. P. ]
he throws blame upon his adversaries wherever he JOANNES VI. PALAEOʻLOGUS ('Iwávvns
can, and praises his party, and especially himself, • Dalaiolóyos), emperor of Constantinople (A. D.
in a manner which betrays a great deal of vanity 1355—1391), often called Joannes V. , the only son
and hypocrisy. For the knowledge of the time it and heir of the emperor Andronicus III. Palaeologus
is invaluable, especially as the history of Nice the younger was born in 1332, and nominally suc-
phorus Gregoras is a sufficient check upon bis ; ceeded his father in 1341. It has been narrated
80 that if the two works are compared, a sound in the preceding article how the young prince first
and sagacious mind will correct the one by the reigned under the guardianship of Joannes Canta-
other.
cuzenus, then under the authority of a party headed
? Gibbon speaks of this history in the following by the admiral Apocauchus and the empress Anne
terms, and his judgment is as true as it is expres- of Savoy, and at last as a nominal colleague of
sive: “ The name and situation of the emperor John Cantacuzenus, who held the title and the
John Cantacuzene might inspire the most lively power of emperor, till he ceded both to John Pa-
curiosity. His memorials of forty years extend laeologus, in 1355, whose real accession conse-
from the revolt of the younger Andronicus to his quently begins with that year. For the same
own abdication of the empire ; and it is observed reason he stands in the series of emperors as John
that, like Moses and Caesar, he was the principal VI. , although strictly he was the fifth of that name.
actor in the scenes which he describes. But in this John VI. was a weak prince. “After his enfran-
elegant work we should vainly seek the sincerity chisement from an oppressive guardian," says
of a hero or a penitent. Retired in a cloister from Gibbon," he remained thirty-six years the helpless
the vices and passions of the world, he presents not and, as it should seem, the careless spectator of the
a confession, but an apology, of the life of an am- public ruin. Love, or rather lust, was his only
bitious statesman. Instead of unfolding the true vigorous passion; and in the embraces of the wives
counsels and characters of men, he displays the or virgins of the city, the Turkish slave forgot the
smooth and specious surface of events, highly var- dishonour of the emperor of the Romans. ” The
nished with his own praises and those of his friends. reign of this emperor is nevertheless full of the
Their motives are always pure, their ends always most important events, and nothing affords a better
.
3
P P 3


## p. 582 (#598) ############################################

582
JOANNES.
JOANNES.
insight into the causes of the final overthrow of the with its district, a few islands, and some districts
Greek empire than the history of his time. Our in the Peloponnesus and northern Greece, and im-
space, however, is too confined to give more than a plored him to do bis utmost for his delivery should
sketch of those events which are most remarkable he even be obliged to sell the holy vessels of the
for ecclesiastical as well as political history. The churches. Andronicus, in pursuit of some selfish
young emperor was scarcely seated on his throne and ambitious plans, remained deaf to the prayers
when the Turks crossed the Bosporus, and by the of his father. Manuel, however, the emperor's
capture of the fortress of Tzympe, now Chini or second son and lord of Thessalonica, was no sooner
Jemenlik, laid the foundation of all their further inſorined of the misfortune of his father, than he
conquests in Europe. The plan of extending the sold his whole property, hastened to Venice, and
dominions of the Osmanlis over Europe was formed released his father, who immediately returned to
by Soliman, the son of sultan Urkhan, the governor Constantinople (1370), although not without
of Cyzicus, while he was wandering in the silence serious apprehensions of vengeance from sultan
of a moonlight night through the ruins of that an- Mürad. In order to soothe him he sent his third
cient and once splendid town; and having crossed son, Theodore, as a hostage, to Adrianople; where-
the Bosporus with 10,000 horse, he soon conquered upon he deprived Andronicus of his supreme au-
an extensive district near the mouth of the llebrus. thority, and appointed the faithful Manuel co-
He died in 1358 ; but his brother Mürad, who emperor.
Andronicus, a man full of ambition and
succeeded sultan Urkhan in 1359, took up and destitute of principles and honour, now sought for
realized his plans. Neither the arms nor the gold revenge ; and being acquainted with one of the
of Palaeologus could stop the victorious career of sons of Mürad, who governed the European pro-
Bultan Mürad : town after town fell into his hands; vinces during the sultan's absence in Asia, and
and in 1361 he took the noble city of Adrianople, who was a secret enemy of his father, he had an
which soon became the capital of the Turkish em- interview with this prince, and they mutually pro-
pire. Thence he directed his march upon Servia, Dised to murder their fathers, and then assist each
despising the forces of the emperor, who could have other in obtaining the supreme power. The name
fallen upon his rear and cut off his retreat to Asia, of the Turkish prince was Sauji
, but the Greek
but stood trembling within the closed gates of Con- historians call him Labout píos and Mớon Tpedeans
stantinople. With the fall of Adrianople the fate (Moses the gentleman), Chalcocondylas being the
of the Greek empire was sealed. Pope Urban V. only one who writes the name nearly correctly,
yielding to the entreaties of the Greek emperor, Eiáous. Mürad was soon informed of the con-
who promised to submit to his spiritual authority, spiracy. He summoned the emperor to appear at
entreated king Louis of Hungary to arm for the his court, and to justify himself, since it was be-
defence of both the Servian and Greek Christians, lieved that only Sauji
, not Andronicus, really
and from that time the protection of the remnants of intended the alleged crime, and that the whole was
the Greek empire depended entirely upon the fears but a plot of John Palaeologus : but the deep grief
or the courage of the kings of Hungary. A united of the emperor at hearing this terrible news soon
army of Serrians and Hungarians, commanded by convinced the sultan of his innocence. They now
king Louis, advanced upon Adrianopie, but at two resolved to unite their efforts in punishing the
days' distance from that town was stopped by traitors, who had meanwhile raised troops and
Murad, who obtained a decisive victory over them pitched their camp near A pricidium, in the neigh-
(1363). After this Mürad took up his permanent bourhood of Constantinople. In the dead of night
residence at Adrianople, and gradually conquered they were roused by the voice of the sultan, who
the greater part of the Thracian peninsula ; but was seen riding fearlessly through the tents of the
finding the Servians formidable adversaries, he rebels, summoning them to avoid certain death by
made peace with John Palaeologus, who paid him returning to their duty, and promising life and
a heavy annual tribute. A ware that his turn liberty to their royal leaders likewise, if they
would come as soon as the Servians should have would now surrender and implore his mercy. Most
been brought under the Turkish yoke, Palaeologus of the rebels, Turks as well as Greeks, immediately
resolved to implore the assistance of the Western availed themselves of the sultan's conditions, and
princes, and with that view made overtures to pope were pardoned, but the two princes fled. Sauji
Urban V. to adopt the Roman Catholic religion if was taken in the town of Didymoticum, blinded,
he would assist him in his plans. The negotiations and afterwards put to death: and Andronicus
being carried on too slowly for his fears and his baving likewise been made prisoner by the imperial
hopes, he went twice to Rome (1369 and 1370). troops, he and his son John were sentenced to be
Urban promised to put 15 galleys, 500 men in deprived of their sight, but the operation was un-
armour, and 1500 archers, at his disposal ; but this skilfully performed with boiling vinegar, and neither
succour never arrived at Constantinople, nor did father nor son was entirely blinded. The rebel-
the pope succeed in his endeavours to arm the lion of the sons of the two Eastern monarchs 18
Western princes for the defence of the city. The differently told by the Byzantine and Turkish
emperor, however, kept his promise to the pope, historians; but the narratives of the Greeks, Chal-
and in the presence of four cardinals solemnly pro- cocondylas, Phranza, and Ducas, deserve more
fessed himself a Roman Catholic, and acknowledged credit, because they agree even in details. Phranza
the pope as the spiritual head of the Greek church. indeed says that the rebellion took place previous
Disappointed in Rome, Palaeologus went to Venice; to the emperor's journeys to Rome in 1369 and
but there he not only failed in obtaining assistance, 1370, though it really happened in 1385 ; but
but being short of money, he incurred debts, and chronology is the weak side of Phranza, and here,
was arrested by some Venetian merchants. He as in many other cases, he makes an anachronism.
sent messengers to his son Andronicus, who, during Andronicus and his son were confined in the tower
his absence, governed the empire, which was then of Anemas, a sort of state prison, where forty years
reduced to the city of Constantinople, Thessalonica previously the admiral Apocauchus was murdered.


## p. 583 (#599) ############################################

JOANNES.
583
JOANNES.
Some time before this' an event took place wnich | Báyazid previous to this prince baving succeeded
showed the utter decay of the Greek power. his father in 1389 ? if this were the case, the
When prince Manuel was despot of Thessalonica, whole matter would be clear. Gibbon pays no
he waged 'war on his own account against the attention to the chronology of this period, and it
Turks, who were then engaged in serious contests cannot be denied that the account he gives of the
with the Servians in Europe, and some Turkoman last Greek en perors is very short and incomplete.
princes in Asia. His undertaking was rash, and The submission of Manuel to sultan Mürad, and
his forces inadequate. Khair-ed-dín Pasha advanced the generous pardon he obtained, are not even
upon Thessalonica, and despairing of defending alluded to by Gibbon, although he had undoubtedly
himself with success, Manuel left the town to its read it in Chalcocondylas and Phranza: the last
fate, and fled by sea to Constantinople. Trembling three volumes of Ameilhon's continnation of Le
for his own safety, his father refused to receive in Beau's - Histoire du Bas Empire ” were not
his palace a son who had incurred the anger of the published when Gibbon, in 1787, concluded the
sultan, and the unfortunate prince sailed to Lesbos, last volume of his " Decline and Fall. ". The
in hopes of finding protection at the court of Gas writer of this article bas endeavoured, but in
teluzzi, the Latin prince of that island, but there vain, to clear up the chronology of the events
also the gates were closed at his appearance. alluded to, by means of " Hammer's History of
Having no other altemative but voluntary exile the Turkish Empire ;” and the conjecture he has
or death, Manuel, with noble boldness, hastened offered seems to be the only means of solving the
to Bruso, appeared resolutely in presence of the difficulty.
sultan, confessed himself guilty, and implored his When John was once more established on his
enemy's mercy. After a silence of some minutes, throne, he sent his son Manuel, then co-emperor,
the sultan said to him, “ You have been wicked, and acknowledged by all parties as his future suc-
be better, and if you are good, the condition of the cessor, as a hostage to sultan Bayazid. Both of them
empire over which you are destined to rule will be were summoned by the sultan to assist him in re-
good too. Return to Constantinople I will give ducing the town of Philadelphia, now Allah Shehr,
orders to your father to receive you well. ” Not which was the last possession of the Greeks in
till then did the emperor dare to embrace his Asia Minor ; and so complete was their depend-
son. ' In 1389 sultan Mürad was assassinated by ence, that they followed the summons, and were
a Servian captive, Milosh Kobilovicz; and his suc- seen among the foremost of the Turks while the
cessor, the terrible Bayazid, soon manifested more town was stormed, thus compelling their own sub-
hostile intentions than his father. Availing him- jects to submit to the Turkish yoke (1390).
self of the dissensions in the imperial family, he Manuel, moved by fear, now secretly proposed to
carried on secret negotiations with Andronicus and his father to strengthen and increase the fortifica-
his son while they were imprisoned in the tower tions of Constantinople, but the emperor having
of Anemas, and with them and the leaders of the begun the work, and already constructed several
Genoese at Pera he concerted the plan of dethron- new walls and towers, a peremptory order came
ing John.
Andronicus having escaped from his from Báyazíd to pull down the new fortifications,
prison, with the aid of the Genoese, Bayazid sud- and leave every thing in its former state. The
denly surprised John and Manuel in one of their order was complied with; and it is said that the
palaces without the gates of Constantinople, and shame which the old emperor felt at being thus
gave them to the custody of Andronicus, who con- treated as an humble vassal of the Turks, hastened
fined them in the same prison whence he had his death, which took place in 1391. (Chalcocon-
escaped, and treated them with humanity, although dylas, i. 2, &c. ; Phranza, i. 16, &c. ; Ducas, C5
the sultan constantly urged him to put them to 15; Cantacuzenus, iii. 4, &c. ) (W. P. )
death. Andronicus was acknowledged as emperor
JOANNES VII. PALAÉOʻLOGUS, emperor
by Bayazid on condition of paying a heavy tribute; of Constantinople (A. D. 1425—1448), was born in
but the captive emperor having promised to pay 1390, and succeeded his father, the emperor Manuel
the same tribute, to take the oath of allegiance to 11. , in 1425, after having been made co-emperor in
the sultan, and to assist him in all his wars with 1419. In the year of his accession he concluded a
12,000 horse and foot, Báyazíd, after ascertaining new peace with sultan Mürad II. , and the Turks
that the Greeks preferred Manuel to Andronicus, being then engaged in war with Hungary, Servia,
ordered the latter to restore his father to liberty, Wallachia, Venice, and the Turkomans, in Asia
and to be satisfied with the conditions which he Minor, he enjoyed the quietude of a slave during
would make, in order to prevent any further dis- more than ten years. His empire consisted of the
Bensions between him and his father. These con- city of Constantinople and its immediate neigh-
ditions were, that John and Manuel should reign bourhood : the other Greek possessions in Greece,
over Constantinople and its environs as far as they on the Propontis and on the Black Sea, were go-
were subject to the imperial sceptre, and that verned with sovereign power by his six brothers,
Andronicus should hold, as a fief of the crown, the among whom was Constantine, the last emperor of
towns and districts of Selymbria, Heracleia, Rhae Constantinople. But the peace with Mürad did
destus or Rhodosto, Danias and Panidas, on the not include his brothers also, and several of them
Propontis, and the fine town of Thessalonica, which, were deprived by the sultan of their small prin-
during the time, had alternately been in the hands cipalities, and took refuge at Constantinople. Still,
of the Turks, the Venetians, and the Greeks. The hoping that the Greek empire could be restored,
chrouology of these events is far from being clear. through the western princes, he followed the line of
Bayazid succeeded in 1389, and John died in policy which had been adopted by so many of his
1391. Yet it is said that Jobn was imprisoned predecessors, and promised to unite the Greek
through the same sultan, remained in prison during church with the Roman, if the pope would rouse
two years, and afterwards reigned again during the kings of Europe for his defence. Pope Eu-
several years. Was John perhaps arrested by I gene IV. invited him to Rome, alleging that his
PP4


## p. 584 (#600) ############################################

584
JOANNES.
JOANNES.
presence there would do most in his favour. But | invasion of Italy, rather than by compassion for the
the imperial finances were exhausted, through the independence of the Greeks, roused king Ladislaus
heavy tribute paid to the Turks, and the emperor of Hungary to break the peace which he had con-
would bave been unable to accept the invitation cluded with sultan Miisad, and to invade Turkey.
but for a timely succour of eight papal gallies laden The dreadful rout of the Hungarians, in 1444, at
with provisions, and the still more acceptable pre- Varna, where king Ladislaus and the cardinal Ju-
Bent of a handsome sum of money, to defray the lian were slain, placed John and his capital in jeo-
expenses of his journey. John, accompanied by pardy, but the sultan was bent upon retiring from
his brother Demetrius, a host of prelates and the throne, and refrained from punishing the em-
priests, among whom was the learned Bessarion, peror. During the Hungarian campaign, the em-
set out from Constantinople in November, 1437, peror's brother, Constantine, bad enlarged his
and safely arrived at Venice, where he was received dominions in Greece so much, that in 1445 he
with all the honours due to his rank. After a short reigned over the whole Peloponnesus and a con-
stay at Venice, he proceeded to Ferrara, and there siderable part of northern Greece. Mürad marched
also was received with great state by the sovereign against him with the victors of Varna, stormed the
of that principality. It was at Ferrara that the Hexamilion, or the wall which, stretching across
council was to assemble. Pope Eugene IV. had the isthmus of Corinth, served as a barrier against
preceded him thither. Particular reasons induced an invasion from the north, took and destroyed
the pope to treat the Greek emperor with much Corinth and Patras, and was only induced through
more attention, and the Greek prelates with much a second invasion of the Hungarians, in 1447, to
less pride, than the mightier emperor of Germany, allow Constantine the further possession of the
or the arrognnt prelates of the West. The council Peloponnesus, on condition of paying an annual
of Ferrara was but a continuation of those of Pisa, tribute. The peace between Constantine and the
Constance, and Basel, in which the supremacy of sultan was concluded by the historian Phranza. In
the popes had met with severe checks, especially in the following year, 1448, John died, and was suc-
the latter, where the authority of the councils was ceeded by his brother Constantine, the last em-
declared to be superior to that of the popes ; and peror of Constantinople. John was thrice married,
Eugene fattered himself that, through the re-union 1. to Anna, a Russian princess ; 2. to Sophia of
of the widely-spread church of the Greeks with Montferrat ; and 3. to Maria Comnena, of the im-
that of Rome, he would secure for himself and his perial family of Trebizond ; but by none of them
successors that unlimited authority which was once did he leave any issue. (Phranza, lib. ii. ; Ducas,
possessed by pope Gregory VII. , and others of the c. 28—33 ; Syropulus, in the edition of Creighton
preceding centuries. In the following year the quoted above. )
(W. P. )
council was transferred to Florence, and there, JOANNES, commonly called Joannes of Cap-
after long negotiations, carried on with remarkable PADOCIA, because he was a native of that country,
ability and learning by Bessarion and bishop one of the principal ministers of the emperor Jus-
Marcus, of Ephesus, on the part of the Greeks, the tinian I. , was appointed praefectus praetorio of the
re-union of the two churches was concluded in July, East in A. D. 530. His services, however, were
1439. The Greek Syropulus has written the his- more in the cabinet than in the field ; and in the
tory of the councils of Ferrara and Florence; and to administration of the provinces subject to his au-
his work, of which Robert Creighton published a thority he evinced a degree of rapacity and fiscal op-
Latin translation at the Hague, 1660, fol. , we pression that filled his own and the emperor's purse,
refer the reader for particulars. The emperor and but rendered him odious to the people. Nor had
his suite returned to Constantinople early in 1440, he fewer enemies among the great, for he was con-
rather disappointed that the western princes had stantly busy in ruining his rivals, or other persons
declined giving any direct promise of restoring the of eminence, through all sorts of slander and in-
Greek empire to its ancient splendour, and his dis- trigues. Proud of Justinian's confidence, who, in
appointment was still greater when he went on his turn, was too fond of money not to like a ser-
shore in his capital. The Greek people considered vant of John's description, the praetorian praefect
their spiritual union with Rome as the prelude to a continued his system of peculation and oppression
second Latin empire in the East ; the orthodox during thirteen years. John opposed sending an
and the bigotted thought their souls in danger ; the expedition against the Vandals in Africa, because
learned were shocked at the idea that by submit- he would be unable to appropriate so much of the
ting to the infallible decision of the pope they inperial revenues ; but Justinian would not take
would henceforth be deprived of all the honours the advice of his favourite, and in 533. Belisarius
and advantages they derived from either remov- set out for the conquest of Carthage. When he
ing or creating religious difficulties ; and bishop arrived off Methone, now Modon, in Greece, where
Marcus of Ephesus, who had constantly opposed he put some troops on shore, a disease decimated
& reunion on conditions dictated by the pope, the men, and it was discovered to be the effect of a
raised the standard of Greek orthodoxy, and con- sultry climate combined with bad food : their bread
fined the doctrine of the united church within the was not fit to eat ; John, who was at the head of
palace of the emperor, and the narrow cells of his the provision department at Constantinople, having
chaplains.
given secret orders to bake the bread at the same
The journeys of several of the Greek emperors fires which heated the public baths, whence it be-
to Rome were of great importance in the revival of came not only very bad, but also increased both in
classical learning in Italy, and that of John VII. bulk and weight. In this way John robbed the
forms an epoch in the history of literature, the con- treasury. Belisarius soon remedied the evil, and
sequences of which we can trace down to the present was much praised by Justinian, but John was not
day. After his return to Constantinople, John was punished. The arrogance of this rapacious man
engaged for some time in secret negotiations with became daily more insupportable, and at last he
the pope, who, moved by the dangers of a Turkish undertook to ruin the empress Theodora in the er
:


## p. 585 (#601) ############################################

JOANNES.
. 385
JOANNES.
timation of her husband. ' Upon this, Theodora and it might guide us in determining the time when the
Antonina, the wife of Belisarius, concerted one of writer lived. 2. A work which Photius describes
those petty plots through which women often suc- as Κατά της αγίας τετάρτης συνόδου, Adversus
ceed in ruining men : they surrounded him with Quurtam Sunclam Synodum. This must be Pho-
false flatterers, who pointed out to him the pos- tius's description, not the original title of the work;
sibility of seizing the crown from Justinian, and for a writer against the authority of the council of
Antonina, having feigned hostile intentions towards Chalcedon would hardly have described it as "the
the emperor, persuaded John to an interview with fourth sacred council. ” Photius commends the
her. Their conversation was heard by spies placed style in which the work was written. Fabricius
there by Antonina and the empress, and Justi- identifies John of Aegae with the Joannes ó 8ca-
nian having been informed of it, deprived him of Kpovbuevos, i. e. " the dissenter," cited by the anony-
his office, confiscated his property, and forced him mous writer of the Alaoráceis cúvtouo Xpovikal
,
to take the habit of a monk. Soon afterwards, Breves Demonstrationes Chronographicae, given by
however, he gave him most of his estates back, and Combéfis in his Originum CPolitinarum Munipulus
John lived in splendour at Cyzicus (541). Four (pp. 24, 33); but Conbéfis hinself (Ibid. p. 59)
years afterwards he was accused by Theodora of identifies this Joannes d Alakpwóuevos with Još
having contrived the death of Eusebius, bishop annes Malalas. The epithet Aiaxpivóuevos was
of Cyzicus, who was slain in a riot, and he was applied to one who rejected the authority of the
now exiled to Egypt, where he lived in the council of Chalcedon. Whether John of Aegae is
greatest misery, till after the death of Theodora the Joannes Ó PÁTwp," the Rhetorician," cited by
he was allowed to return to Constantinople. Evagrius Scholasticus (H. E. i. 16, ii. 12, iii. 10,
There he led the life of a mendicant monk, and&c. ), is doubtful. Le Quien (Opera S. Jounnis
died in obscurity. (JUSTINIANUS, I. ) (Procop. Damasceni, vol. i. p. 368, note) identifies them,
Bell. Pers. i. 24, 25, i. 30, Bell
. Vand. i. 13, but Fabricius thinks they were different persons.
Anecdot. c. 2, 17, 22 ; Theophanes, p. 160, ed. (See below, No. 105. )
Paris. )
W. P. )
JOANNES ('Iwávens), Literary and Ecclesia de The period at which John of Aegae lived is not
determined : Vossius places him under Zeno; Cave
tical The index to the Bibliotheca Graeca of thinks he was later. "(Photius, Bibl. cod. 41, 55;
Fabricius contains a list of about two hundred Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 419 ; Cave, Hist. Lit.
persons by whom this name was borne ; and vol. i. p. 456, ed. Oxford, 1740-43. )
many more are recorded by the Byzantine histori- 3. A EGYPTIUS, or of Egypt (1). A Christian
ans, or noticed in the Bibliotheca Orientalis of As-martyr, who suffered in Palestine in the persecution
semani, the Historia Litteraria of Cave, and the ca- generally known as that of Diocletian. Eusebius
talogues of MSS. by Montfaucon and others. Many speaks of him as the most illustrious of the sufferers
of these persons are too obscure to require notice in Palestine, and especially worthy of admiration
here, and information respecting them must be for his philosophic (i. e. ascetic) life and conversa-
songht in the works above mentioned : others are tion, and for the wonderful strength of his memory.
better known by their surnames, as Joannes Chry- He suffered the loss of his eyesight, either in the
sostomus, Joannes Damascenus, Joannes Xiphilinus, earlier part of Diocletian's persecution, or at some
and Joannes Zonaras, and are given elsewhere. earlier period ; but afterwards acted as Ana-
(CHRYSOSTOMUS, DAMASCENUS, &c. ] The re- gnostes or reader in the church, supplying the want
mainder we give here, with the references to those of sight by his extraordinary power of memory.