516:, with their pro-aristocracy bias, paint a very negative picture of the man, which has been adopted virtually unaltered by most modern historians as well. In a dissenting view, the historian Eva de Vries-Van der Velden believes that the image of Apokaukos as the ungrateful protégé of Kantakouzenos and an inveterate schemer who was responsible for the outbreak of the civil war is inaccurate, and largely the result of distorting propaganda by Kantakouzenos and Gregoras. However, she acknowledges Apokaukos as Kantakouzenos's "most redoubtable adversary" during the war, and the dictatorial nature of his regime after 1343. According to the historian
330:
remaining imperial possessions, and create a deep rift in
Byzantine society: the aristocracy and the propertied classes generally supported Kantakouzenos, while the lower and middle classes, primarily urban, as well as the merchants and sailors, supported Apokaukos and the regency. This gave the dynastic dispute and civil war strong social overtones: during the war, the excessive wealth and perceived indifference of Kantakouzenos and the aristocracy towards the common people became a standard fixture of Apokaukos's propaganda. In addition, the conflict acquired religious significance as well: the
286:. Kantakouzenos did not claim the throne for himself, but demanded the regency, based on his close association with the deceased emperor, and with the support of the capital's troops secured it. His position, however, was weakened by the adherence of Apokaukos to the Patriarch's camp; Kantakouzenos, in his own account, relates that Apokaukos had urged him to seize the throne in hopes of his own advancement, and when he refused, the powerful chancellor switched over to his opponents' camp.
306:
39:
376:, Kantakouzenos began to reverse the situation. With the initial support of Stefan Dušan, Kantakouzenos regained much of Macedonia, and despite his failure to take Thessalonica, his Turkish allies enabled him to return to his old stronghold of Didymoteicho in Thrace. Gradually, Apokaukos's supporters abandoned him, including his son Manuel, who deserted his post at Adrianople and went over to the Kantakouzenos camp.
302:. However, when Kantakouzenos returned victorious to the capital, instead of depriving Apokaukos of his offices, and against the counsel of his friends, he pardoned his protégé. Apokaukos put on an exaggerated display of deference to Kantakouzenos, who allowed him to resume his offices and return to Constantinople, while Kantakouzenos left on yet another campaign.
329:
in
October 1341, while his opponents followed with the coronation of John V in November. The two coronations finalized the split, and ushered in a civil war that would embroil the Byzantine Empire and all of its neighbours until 1347 with Kantakouzenos's victory. In its course, it would devastate the
225:
in favour of his grandson
Andronikos III. Under the threat of war, the Emperor surrendered Thrace and some districts in Macedonia to the rule of his grandson. When Andronikos III became sole emperor in 1328, his close friend Kantakouzenos became his chief minister, and Alexios was awarded with the
412:
Although the death of
Apokaukos did not bring about the immediate collapse of the regency, it removed the main instigator of the civil war and one of its chief protagonists, and resulted in dissension and defections in the regency's camp. It therefore marked the beginning of the war's end, which
313:
Once back in the city, however, the
Patriarch and Apokaukos seized power. Kantakouzenos's family and friends were imprisoned (Kantakouzenos's mother Theodora would eventually die in prison) and the Patriarch was declared regent, while Anna named Apokaukos as
387:
in the capital, and even ordered a new prison constructed for political prisoners. On 11 June 1345, Apokaukos suddenly decided to inspect the new prison, without being escorted by his bodyguard. The prisoners immediately rose up and
297:
against any attempt by Turks to cross into Europe, he deliberately allowed this to happen in order to cause disruption in Thrace. Apokaukos tried to kidnap the young John V, but failed and was forced to flee to his house at
357:". Their anti-aristocratic beliefs made them enemies of "Kantakouzenism", and earned them the support of the regency. Apokaukos himself arrived with a fleet of 70 ships to aid them, and appointed his elder son
232:) and in charge of the state's finances. These positions allowed him to amass a considerable personal fortune, which he used to construct a personal refuge, a fortified tower-house at the site of Epibatai near
512:", Apokaukos was mistrusted by the scions of the aristocratic families who dominated the imperial government. The only accounts of the period of the civil war, Kantakouzenos's memoirs and the history of
349:
rebelled against the aristocracy and declared themselves for the regency, with
Apokaukos sending his younger son Manuel to become the city's governor. In a similar development in 1342,
405:, the fleet's marines, free rein to avenge their leader's death. As a result, all prisoners, some 200 in total, were massacred, even though some attempted to seek refuge in a nearby
399:
for getting rid of the hated
Apokaukos. She, however, was so shocked and dismayed at the loss of her principal minister, that she gave Apokaukos's supporters, who were joined by the
293:
in July 1341 to campaign against the Empire's enemies who were assaulting it, Apokaukos made his first moves. Although as commander of the fleet it was his duty to guard the
428:
Alexios
Apokaukos had two brothers, John and Nikephoros, of whom very little is known. Alexios himself married twice. His first wife was the daughter of a priest of the
520:, Apokaukos can also be seen as the exponent of a radical change in the nature and direction of the Byzantine state: in place of the old, agricultural empire, run by a
1292:
463:
364:
In the first years of the war, the tide was in favour of the regency, until, in the summer of 1342, Kantakouzenos was forced to flee to the court of
1244:
1297:
1282:
1232:
1184:
497:
420:, removing Kantakouzenos for good, reinstalling John V Palaiologos and bringing further devastation to the Byzantine Empire.
417:
265:
158:
154:
270:
Upon
Andronikos's death, two factions emerged at court: the supporters of Kantakouzenos, chiefly provincial magnates from
365:
473:
545:
1253:
1208:
1144:
1123:
1099:
555:
56:" commissioned by him in the early 1340s. Alexios is depicted in the garb of his office, wearing a richly decorated
206:(chamberlain). His position made him useful to John Kantakouzenos, who included him in a conspiracy, together with
1272:
524:, he seems to have favoured a commercial, maritime and likely westward-looking state, in emulation of the
1317:
525:
451:
358:
197:
142:
1307:
309:
Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354), Apokaukos's patron and victim of his protégé's ambition
222:
1312:
1302:
1287:
354:
200:
of the West. He rose in the bureaucratic hierarchy until, in 1321, he was appointed the imperial
1224:
The
Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295–1383
207:
187:
439:
331:
150:
127:
240:. In early 1341, shortly before Andronikos's death, he was rewarded with the high office of
1277:
1248:(in German). Vol. 1. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
489:
226:
positions that Kantakouzenos himself had formerly held: head of the imperial secretariat (
8:
513:
183:
1170:
379:
In early 1345, Apokaukos and Kalekas rejected offers of reconciliation conveyed by two
271:
218:
146:
1136:
L'Élite Byzantine Devant l'Avance Turque à l'Époque de la Guerre Civile de 1341 à 1354
1249:
1228:
1204:
1180:
1154:
1140:
1119:
1109:
1095:
551:
456:
444:
139:
149:(r. 1341–1357). Although he owed his rise to high state offices to the patronage of
361:
as the city's governor, although the latter's authority would remain only nominal.
335:
279:
135:
95:
1222:
1198:
1174:
1134:
1113:
1089:
178:
Alexios was of humble origin, and was born in the late 13th century somewhere in
1166:
517:
290:
247:
237:
202:
115:
43:
413:
would come with Kantakouzenos's entry into Constantinople on 3 February 1347.
1266:
478:
396:
315:
283:
1218:
1194:
429:
384:
350:
326:
213:
436:, and the second, whom he married sometime around 1341, the cousin of the
294:
53:
383:
friars. Trying to bolster his waning power, Apokaukos began a series of
353:, the Empire's second-largest city, was seized by a group known as the "
305:
509:
433:
380:
346:
252:
242:
192:
48:
1169:(2008). "Chapter II.3.2D: Political-Historical Survey, 1204–1453". In
485:
Unnamed daughter, married (in 1341) the son of Patriarch John Kalekas.
488:
Unnamed daughter, married (in 1341) the son of one of Empress Anna's
406:
401:
339:
233:
157:, one of the leaders of the faction supporting Emperor John V in the
58:
38:
389:
373:
369:
368:
of Serbia. However, from 1343 onwards, with the aid of his friend,
299:
179:
76:
521:
447:. His first marriage produced three children and his second two:
228:
162:
1094:. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
345:
A few days after Kantakouzenos's coronation, the inhabitants of
275:
250:. He re-equipped the fleet, paying from his own pocket 100,000
325:
Kantakouzenos responded by having himself declared emperor at
437:
211:
165:
by political prisoners during an inspection of a new prison.
120:
25:
466:, governor of Adrianople, defected to Kantakouzenos in 1344.
338:, and, despite some important exceptions, the supporters of
186:, and became a tax official. By 1320 he was director of the
161:
against his one-time benefactor. Apokaukos died when he was
395:
The prisoners believed that they would be rewarded by the
1227:. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
1242:
Trapp, Erich; Walther, Rainer; Beyer, Hans-Veit (1976).
278:, and those opposed to him, led mainly by the Patriarch
66:, a ceremonial headdress depicting the reigning emperor.
1132:
1060:
1048:
1036:
1024:
721:
682:
1139:(in French). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: J.C. Gieben.
52:
Alexios Apokaukos, from a collection of the "Works of
1179:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 281–294.
953:, 1186. Ἀπόκαυκος Ἰωάννης; 1192. Ἀπόκαυκος Νικηφόρος.
1091:
The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453
460:
and governor of Thessalonica, killed there in 1345.
392:him, and his head was severed and stuck on a pole.
153:(r. 1347–1354), he became, together with Patriarch
134:, was a chief minister and head of the navy in the
1203:(Second ed.). London: Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd.
1159:Recherches sur les Institutions Byzantines, Tome I
1118:. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
416:However, less than five years later the war would
282:, who obtained the support of Andronikos's widow,
190:, from which he later advanced to the position of
1241:
974:
962:
950:
579:
1264:
1245:Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit
476:. After he drowned in 1344, she remarried the
693:
691:
590:
588:
547:A History of the Byzantine State and Society
182:. He nevertheless studied under the scholar
1293:14th-century Byzantine government officials
886:
884:
882:
797:
795:
734:
732:
730:
1200:The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453
688:
585:
221:, which aimed to depose the aging Emperor
37:
543:
1176:The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies
1153:
1087:
1066:
1012:
914:
879:
831:
792:
780:
774:
727:
697:
622:
594:
469:Unnamed daughter, who married first the
304:
16:Byzantine politician and military leader
1173:; Haldon, John; Cormack, Robin (eds.).
1108:
652:
606:
246:, giving him the high command over the
1265:
496:One of his sons married a daughter of
1217:
1193:
1165:
1161:(in French). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
1133:de Vries-Van der Velden, Eva (1989).
1072:
938:
926:
902:
890:
873:
861:
849:
837:
825:
813:
801:
786:
762:
750:
738:
709:
670:
658:
646:
634:
618:
575:
573:
571:
569:
567:
544:Treadgold, Warren T. (October 1997).
676:
13:
977:, (1191) 91267. Ἀπόκαυκος Μανουήλ.
564:
14:
1329:
1298:Urban prefects of Constantinople
266:Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
1054:
1042:
1030:
1018:
1006:
993:
980:
975:Trapp, Walther & Beyer 1976
968:
963:Trapp, Walther & Beyer 1976
956:
951:Trapp, Walther & Beyer 1976
944:
932:
920:
908:
896:
867:
855:
843:
819:
807:
768:
756:
744:
715:
703:
580:Trapp, Walther & Beyer 1976
664:
640:
628:
612:
600:
537:
342:also supported Kantakouzenos.
289:As soon as Kantakouzenos left
105:Statesman and military officer
1:
1283:14th-century Byzantine people
550:. Stanford University Press.
531:
503:
173:
1061:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
1049:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
1039:, pp. 64–65 (Note #32).
1037:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
1025:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
722:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
683:de Vries-Van der Velden 1989
438:
259:
212:
168:
7:
126:; died 11 June 1345), also
10:
1334:
1219:Nicol, Donald MacGillivray
1088:Bartusis, Mark C. (1997).
1081:
965:, 1187. Ἀπόκαυκος Ἰωάννης.
582:, 1180. Ἀπόκαυκος Ἀλέξιος.
526:Italian maritime republics
263:
143:Andronikos III Palaiologos
121:
26:
423:
223:Andronikos II Palaiologos
119:
101:
91:
83:
71:
36:
23:
138:, during the reigns of
522:land-based aristocracy
474:Andronikos Palaiologos
310:
236:, at the coast of the
208:Syrgiannes Palaiologos
159:civil war of 1341–1347
440:megas stratopedarchēs
332:Hesychast controversy
322:) of Constantinople.
308:
151:John VI Kantakouzenos
999:John Kantakouzenos.
986:John Kantakouzenos.
1273:13th-century births
1171:Jeffreys, Elizabeth
514:Nikephoros Gregoras
184:Theodore Hyrtakenos
145:(r. 1328–1341) and
1155:Guilland, Rodolphe
1110:Cavallo, Guglielmo
828:, pp. 289–90.
712:, pp. 187–88.
334:divided the pious
311:
219:Theodore Synadenos
147:John V Palaiologos
1318:Byzantine regents
1234:978-0-521-52201-4
1186:978-0-19-925246-6
1027:, pp. 64–67.
941:, pp. 201–02
905:, pp. 71–72.
724:, pp. 62–64.
649:, pp. 47–48.
457:megas primikerios
445:Georgios Choumnos
132:Alexius Apocaucus
122:Ἀλέξιος Ἀπόκαυκος
112:Alexios Apokaukos
109:
108:
31:Alexios Apokaukos
27:Ἀλέξιος Ἀπόκαυκος
1325:
1308:Apokaukos family
1259:
1238:
1214:
1195:Nicol, Donald M.
1190:
1162:
1150:
1129:
1105:
1076:
1070:
1064:
1058:
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1046:
1040:
1034:
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1022:
1016:
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610:
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598:
592:
583:
577:
562:
561:
541:
508:As a self-made "
464:Manuel Apokaukos
443:
280:John XIV Kalekas
217:
155:John XIV Kalekas
136:Byzantine Empire
125:
124:
123:
96:Byzantine Empire
41:
29:
28:
21:
20:
1333:
1332:
1328:
1327:
1326:
1324:
1323:
1322:
1313:Lynching deaths
1263:
1262:
1256:
1235:
1211:
1187:
1167:Laiou, Angeliki
1147:
1126:
1102:
1084:
1079:
1071:
1067:
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1055:
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558:
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534:
506:
426:
268:
262:
176:
171:
79:
67:
32:
30:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1331:
1321:
1320:
1315:
1310:
1305:
1303:Parakoimomenoi
1300:
1295:
1290:
1288:Megaloi doukes
1285:
1280:
1275:
1261:
1260:
1254:
1239:
1233:
1215:
1209:
1191:
1185:
1163:
1151:
1145:
1130:
1124:
1115:The Byzantines
1106:
1100:
1083:
1080:
1078:
1077:
1075:, p. 290.
1065:
1053:
1041:
1029:
1017:
1015:, p. 510.
1005:
992:
979:
967:
955:
943:
931:
919:
907:
895:
878:
866:
854:
842:
830:
818:
806:
804:, p. 193.
791:
779:
767:
755:
743:
741:, p. 189.
726:
714:
702:
687:
675:
663:
661:, p. 187.
651:
639:
637:, p. 168.
627:
621:, p. 20;
611:
609:, p. 202.
599:
597:, p. 210.
584:
563:
556:
535:
533:
530:
518:Angeliki Laiou
505:
502:
494:
493:
486:
483:
467:
461:
452:John Apokaukos
425:
422:
359:John Apokaukos
291:Constantinople
264:Main article:
261:
258:
248:Byzantine navy
238:Sea of Marmara
203:parakoimōmenos
175:
172:
170:
167:
107:
106:
103:
99:
98:
93:
89:
88:
85:
81:
80:
75:
73:
69:
68:
44:Donor portrait
42:
34:
33:
24:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1330:
1319:
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1257:
1255:3-7001-3003-1
1251:
1247:
1246:
1240:
1236:
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1225:
1220:
1216:
1212:
1210:0-246-10559-3
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1146:90-5063-026-X
1142:
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1131:
1127:
1125:0-226-09792-7
1121:
1117:
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1111:
1107:
1103:
1101:0-8122-1620-2
1097:
1093:
1092:
1086:
1085:
1074:
1069:
1063:, p. 73.
1062:
1057:
1051:, p. 64.
1050:
1045:
1038:
1033:
1026:
1021:
1014:
1013:Guilland 1967
1009:
1002:
996:
989:
983:
976:
971:
964:
959:
952:
947:
940:
935:
928:
923:
916:
915:Bartusis 1997
911:
904:
899:
893:, p. 201
892:
887:
885:
883:
875:
870:
864:, p. 200
863:
858:
852:, p. 196
851:
846:
840:, p. 195
839:
834:
827:
822:
815:
810:
803:
798:
796:
789:, p. 289
788:
783:
776:
775:Bartusis 1997
771:
765:, p. 60.
764:
759:
752:
747:
740:
735:
733:
731:
723:
718:
711:
706:
700:, p. 94.
699:
698:Bartusis 1997
694:
692:
685:, p. 66.
684:
679:
673:, p. 48.
672:
667:
660:
655:
648:
643:
636:
631:
625:, p. 87.
624:
623:Bartusis 1997
620:
615:
608:
603:
596:
595:Guilland 1967
591:
589:
581:
576:
574:
572:
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568:
559:
557:9780804726306
553:
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519:
515:
511:
501:
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498:John Vatatzes
491:
487:
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479:sebastokratōr
475:
472:
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385:proscriptions
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377:
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362:
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337:
333:
328:
323:
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317:
316:urban prefect
307:
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284:Anna of Savoy
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137:
133:
129:
117:
113:
104:
102:Occupation(s)
100:
97:
94:
90:
86:
82:
78:
74:
70:
65:
61:
60:
55:
51:
50:
45:
40:
35:
22:
19:
1243:
1223:
1199:
1175:
1158:
1135:
1114:
1090:
1068:
1056:
1044:
1032:
1020:
1008:
1000:
995:
987:
982:
970:
958:
946:
934:
929:, p. 74
922:
917:, p. 96
910:
898:
876:, p. 68
869:
857:
845:
833:
821:
816:, p. 59
809:
782:
777:, p. 95
770:
758:
753:, p. 52
746:
717:
705:
678:
666:
654:
642:
630:
614:
607:Cavallo 1997
602:
546:
539:
507:
495:
477:
471:prōtostratōr
470:
455:
430:Hagia Sophia
427:
415:
411:
400:
397:Empress Anna
394:
378:
366:Stefan Dušan
363:
351:Thessalonica
344:
327:Didymoteicho
324:
319:
312:
288:
269:
251:
241:
227:
214:prōtostratōr
201:
191:
177:
131:
111:
110:
87:11 June 1345
63:
57:
47:
18:
1278:1345 deaths
295:Dardanelles
92:Nationality
54:Hippocrates
1267:Categories
1073:Laiou 2008
1003:, II.3.19.
990:, II.3.17.
939:Nicol 1993
927:Nicol 1996
903:Nicol 1996
891:Nicol 1993
874:Nicol 1996
862:Nicol 1993
850:Nicol 1993
838:Nicol 1993
826:Laiou 2008
814:Nicol 1996
802:Nicol 1993
787:Laiou 2008
763:Nicol 1996
751:Nicol 1996
739:Nicol 1993
710:Nicol 1993
671:Nicol 1996
659:Nicol 1993
647:Nicol 1996
635:Nicol 1993
619:Nicol 1996
532:References
504:Assessment
482:John Asan.
434:Dishypatos
381:Franciscan
347:Adrianople
336:Byzantines
243:megas doux
193:domestikos
174:Early life
64:skaranikon
49:megas doux
407:monastery
402:Gasmouloi
340:Hesychasm
272:Macedonia
260:Civil war
253:hyperpyra
234:Selymbria
188:salt pans
169:Biography
128:Latinized
59:kabbadion
1221:(1996).
1197:(1993).
1157:(1967).
1112:(1997).
370:Umur Beg
320:eparchos
300:Epibatai
210:and the
180:Bithynia
140:emperors
77:Bithynia
62:and the
1082:Sources
1001:History
988:History
510:new man
432:called
390:lynched
355:Zealots
229:mesazōn
196:of the
163:lynched
46:of the
1252:
1231:
1207:
1183:
1143:
1122:
1098:
554:
492:maids.
424:Family
418:resume
276:Thrace
198:themes
490:Latin
374:Aydin
116:Greek
1250:ISBN
1229:ISBN
1205:ISBN
1181:ISBN
1141:ISBN
1120:ISBN
1096:ISBN
552:ISBN
274:and
84:Died
72:Born
372:of
130:as
1269::
881:^
794:^
729:^
690:^
587:^
566:^
528:.
500:.
454:,
409:.
256:.
118::
1258:.
1237:.
1213:.
1189:.
1149:.
1128:.
1104:.
560:.
318:(
114:(
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