page_title: Andronikos Kantakouzenos (1553–1601)
section_title: Origins and early life
hierarchical_section_title: Andronikos Kantakouzenos (1553–1601) / Biography / Origins and early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Salomon Schweigger. Ein newe Reiss Beschreibung auss Teutschland nach Constantinopel und Jerusalem, Nuremberg / Graz, Johann Lantzenberger / Akademische Druck 1608
context_page_description: Andronikos Kantakouzenos, also known as Mihaloğlu Derviş, was an Ottoman Greek entrepreneur and political figure, primarily active in Wallachia and Moldavia. He was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu, a powerful merchant of the Ottoman Empire, executed by Murad III in 1578. Forced to honor his father's outstanding debt, and briefly imprisoned as a galley slave, he rebuilt the fortune through commerce and political intrigues. In the 1590s, he was continuing his father's involvement as kingmaker for both Wallachia and Moldavia, acting as patron for a succession of Hospodars: Stephen the Deaf, Petru Cercel, Aaron the Tyrant and Peter the Lame all benefited from his financing. From 1591, he involved himself directly in the administration of both countries. Integrated within Moldo–Wallachian boyardom, he was Vistier, and then the first-ever Ban of Oltenia to be appointed directly by the Ottomans.
  Andronikos' final choice as Wallachian Prince, Michael the Brave, was also his most enduring, allowing Wallachia to rebel against Ottoman suzerainty.
context_section_description: Andronikos' father was Michael Kantakouzenos, commonly known by the nickname Şeytanoğlu ("Son of Satan"). This market speculator, mine owner, and tax farmer also pioneered the family's kingmaking practices in the Danubian Principalities—historian Neagu Djuvara argues that the Princes of Wallachia and of Moldavia were effectively clients of this "immeasurably wealthy" entrepreneur. The 1570s chronicler Stephan Gerlach even suggested that Şeytanoğlu was the actual "lord of Wallachia and Bogdania". In addition to controlling the two counties politically, Michael "is reported to have controlled almost all the salt trade in Wallachia and Moldavia."
  Şeytanoğlu regarded himself as an heir to the Kantakouzenos, one of the most prominent aristocratic clans in the late Byzantine Empire. This lineage is often described as spurious by both early observers and modern historians. Some researchers have nevertheless endorsed the genealogical claim, leading back to the 14th-century Emperor John VI. Several of these authors agree that Şeytanoğlu's great-grandfather was George "Sachatai", who was in turn the great-grandson of John VI. Overall, historian Tom Papademetriou argues, the reconstruction of this genealogy remains "difficult", with no trustworthy indication of who Şeytanoğlu's father was. Some period sources do however describe Andronikos' other ancestors and relations. A number of records mention that Şeytanoğlu was closely related with a Muslim Kantakouzenos, the scribe Ahmed, who succeeded İbrahim Peçevi as defterdar of the Danube. The family also had a branch claiming to be Palaiologoi, of whom Constantine was Şeytanoğlu's alleged nephew. Şeytanoğlu, Andronikos, and other figures from both branches of the family used seals marked with the double-headed eagle, deriving from Byzantine imperial usage.
  According to various readings, the Greek man known as "Iane", "Iani" or "Ianiu", probably involved in Wallachian politics from as early as the 1550s, under Prince Pătrașcu the Good, may have also been a Kantakouzenos. This Iane probably served as Vistier (treasurer) of Moldavia under John the Terrible, then moved to Wallachia with Mihnea Turcitul and became Ban of Oltenia. The same Iane was then sent back to Istanbul as diplomatic envoy of both principalities, which allowed him a great say in the appointment of Princes and court dignitaries. Genealogist Ioan C. Filitti argues against identifying Ban Iane with the Kantakouzenos, describing him as a commoner from Zagori. However, according to historian Radu Ștefan Vergatti, Iane was Şeytanoğlu's brother and Andronic's uncle. The writer Constantine Dapontes apparently suggests that Iane was Andronikos' older brother, but this descriptor is viewed as inaccurate by scholar Nicolae Iorga. The latter hypothesizes that Iane was brothers with Michael, but notes that his origins are overall "more doubtful". Genealogist Constantin Gane takes an intermediate position, arguing that Iane of Zagori was mistaken for Şeytanoğlu' real brother, John; according to Gane, both Iane and John served as Bans, at very close intervals.
  Andronikos was born from Şeytanoğlu's first marriage. His stepmother, a Romanian, was either the daughter of Mircea Ciobanul and Doamna Chiajna or, contrarily, of Mircea III Dracul. Andronikos was the one of several children: Şeytanoğlu had two other much younger sons, Demetrios (born 1566) and John (born 1570), and at least two daughters, one of whom was Andronikos' senior. The recipient of a classical education at his father's palace in Anhialo, Andronikos learned to speak and write in Greek, Italian, German, New Latin, and Ottoman Turkish. During his son's early years, Şeytanoğlu pursued a political alliance with the Rhali merchants, marrying Andronikos' elder sister to one member of that family, setting her a dowry at 40,000 ducats. Another sister reinforced the family's genealogical claims by marrying Anthony Kantakouzenos, a merchant from the Crimean Khanate. In 1576, Şeytanoğlu oversaw the marriage between Andronikos and Irene, daughter of the merchant Jacob Rhali from E
caption: Murad III receiving ambassadors from the Holy Roman Empire. 1608 engraving to Salomon Schweigger's account of the visit
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