John Angelos (sebastokrator)
Encyclopedia
John Angelos was a Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 aristocrat, general and and governor. He first distinguished himself in the suppression of a revolt in Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

 in 1339–1340, where he was subsequently appointed as governor. A relative of the statesman and emperor John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...

, he took the latter's side in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...

 and in late 1342 received the governorship of Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

 (and possibly Epirus), which he held until his death in 1348.

Life

John Angelos was a relative – he is variously qualified as nephew or cousin, with the latter being more likely – of John Kantakouzenos, the closest friend and associate of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...

 (r. 1328–1341) and later emperor as John VI (r. 1341–1354). The names and identities of John's parents are unknown. The only precise information available is that he was the son-in-law of the protovestiarios
Protovestiarios
Protovestiarios was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs.-History and functions:The title is first attested in 412, as the comes sacrae vestis, an official in charge of the Byzantine emperor's "sacred wardrobe" , coming under the praepositus sacri cubiculi...

Andronikos Palaiologos. In his memoirs, John Kantakouzenos states that he himself raised John Angelos and taught him about warfare.

John first appears in 1328, when he was governor of the city of Kastoria
Kastoria
Kastoria is a city in northern Greece in the periphery of West Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria peripheral unit. It is situated on a promontory on the western shore of Lake Orestiada, in a valley surrounded by limestone mountains...

.
In the years after the death of John II Orsini
John II Orsini
John II Orsini, also John Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas , was count palatine of Cephalonia from 1323 to 1324 and Despot of Epirus from 1323 to 1335....

 in 1335, Andronikos III had gradually annexed the territories of the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

 in Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

 as well as in Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

 and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

. In ca. 1336/1337 John Angelos held the post of governor (kephale
Kephale (Byzantine Empire)
In the late Byzantine Empire, the term kephalē was used to denote local and provincial governors.It entered use in the second half of the 13th century, and was derived from the colloquial language. Consequently, it never became an established title or rank of the Byzantine imperial hierarchy, but...

) of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...

 with the title of pinkernes
Pinkernes
Pinkernes was a high Byzantine court position. The term, deriving from the Greek verb , signified the Byzantine emperor's cup-bearer. The position is attested in Philotheos's Kletorologion of 899, where a pinkernes of the Byzantine emperor and of the Augusta are listed amongst the eunuchs of...

. Byzantine rule was generally resented however, and in 1339 a revolt broke out in Epirus, which quickly gained ground and succeeded in taking a few key fortresses, including the capital, Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...

. Later in the same year, John Angelos was sent by Andronikos III along with the governor of Thessaly, Michael Monomachos, as the vanguard of the Byzantine army into Epirus. The emperor and Kantakouzenos followed in spring 1340. The region was subdued by the end of the year, and John Angelos was appointed as imperial governor with his seat at Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...

.

John remained in Epirus as governor until the death of Andronikos III in June 1341. He then left his post and travelled with a delegation of high officials to meet with Kantakouzenos at Didymoteichon. With the outbreak of the civil war
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...

 in the early autumn, he sided with Kantakouzenos' and was present at the latter's acclamation as emperor at Didymoteichon on 26 October 1341. In spring 1342, Angelos followed Kantakouzenos in his abortive campaign to Thessalonica and his subsequent flight to Serbia and the court of its ruler Stephen Dushan.

Later in the year however, the magnates of Thessaly approached Kantakouzenos and offered their support in the war. After the negotiations were successfully concluded, Kantakouzenos issued a chrysobull appointing John Angelos, who also held the court rank of pinkernes
Pinkernes
Pinkernes was a high Byzantine court position. The term, deriving from the Greek verb , signified the Byzantine emperor's cup-bearer. The position is attested in Philotheos's Kletorologion of 899, where a pinkernes of the Byzantine emperor and of the Augusta are listed amongst the eunuchs of...

, as governor of Thessaly for life. Although Angelos was later raised to the high rank of sebastokrator
Sebastokrator
Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a compound of "sebastos" Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used...

and enjoyed a measure of autonomy, his authority was circumscribed: the post was not hereditary, and he functioned strictly as the emperor's deputy. Angelos ruled Thessaly with success. Taking advantage of the decline of the Catalans
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company of the East , officially the Magnas Societas Catalanorum, sometimes called the Grand Company and widely known as the Catalan Company, was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in the early 14th-century...

 of the Duchy of Athens
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....

 he made gains in the south, and even managed to extend his authority over Epirus and Acarnania
Acarnania
Acarnania is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital...

 as well, where he seized and placed under house arrest Anna Palaiologina, the scheming widow of John II Orsini and sister of Angelos' own wife. His actions, in the midst of the ongoing civil war, gave Kantakouzenos' cause a much-needed boost. In early 1343, he also participated, at the head of a Thessalian cavalry contingent, in Kantakouzenos' failed attempt to take Thessalonica.

John Angelos continued to govern Thessaly (and possibly Epirus and Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is located in the western part of Greece; the regional unit is a combination of the geographic regions Aetolia and Acarnania. Its capital is Missolonghi for historical reasons, with its biggest...

 as well) until early 1348, when he died of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

, which ravaged Thessaly and Epirus and caused severe depopulation in 1347–1348. The Serbs quickly took advantage of this: Epirus fell to the Serbs under Dushan himself in autumn 1347, while Thessaly was taken within a few months after John's death by the Serbian general Gregory Preljub, who became its new governor on behalf of Dushan.

Family

Little is known of John Angelos' family. He married one of the daughters of the protovestiarios
Protovestiarios
Protovestiarios was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs.-History and functions:The title is first attested in 412, as the comes sacrae vestis, an official in charge of the Byzantine emperor's "sacred wardrobe" , coming under the praepositus sacri cubiculi...

Andronikos Palaiologos, a sister to the queen of Epirus Anna Palaiologina. It is unknown if he had any children, although some writers have posited that the brothers known as the "Pinkernaioi", active in Epirus at the turn of the 15th century, were his descendants.

Sources

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