page_title: Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor. 14th-c. miniature. Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek.Русский: Андроник III ПалеологEspañol: El emperador Andrónico III, que supervisó el último período de recuperación del estado bizantino.
context_page_description: The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son and heir, John V Palaiologos. It pitted on the one hand Andronikos III's chief minister, John VI Kantakouzenos, and on the other a regency headed by the Empress-Dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV Kalekas, and the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. The war polarized Byzantine society along class lines, with the aristocracy backing Kantakouzenos and the lower and middle classes supporting the regency. To a lesser extent, the conflict acquired religious overtones; Byzantium was embroiled in the Hesychast controversy, and adherence to the mystical doctrine of Hesychasm was often equated with support for Kantakouzenos.
  As the chief aide and closest friend of Emperor Andronikos III, Kantakouzenos became regent for the underage John V upon Andronikos's death in June 1341.
context_section_description: In 1341, the Byzantine Empire was in a state of turmoil, and despite the restoration of the Empire's capital to Constantinople and the recovery of a measure of its former power by Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282), the policies implemented during his reign had exhausted the state's resources, and the Empire's strength waned under his successor, Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328). During Andronikos II's long reign, the remaining Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor slowly fell to the advancing Turks, most notably the newly established Ottoman emirate. This caused a flood of refugees into Byzantium's European provinces, while at the same time the Catalan Company wrought havoc in the imperial domains. Taxes also rose dramatically to finance tributes to the Empire's enemies. A combination of these failures and personal ambition moved the Emperor's grandson and heir, the young Andronikos III Palaiologos, to revolt. Supported by a group of young aristocrats led by John Kantakouzenos and Syrgiannes Palaiologos, Andronikos III deposed his grandfather after a series of conflicts during the 1320s. Although successful in removing the old Emperor from power, the war did not augur well for the future, as the Empire's neighbours—the Serbs, Bulgarians, Turks, Genoese and Venetians—took advantage of Byzantine infighting to gain territory or expand their influence within the Empire.
  The only son of a former governor of the Byzantine holdings in the Morea, John Kantakouzenos was related to the Palaiologoi through his mother. He inherited vast estates in Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly, and became a childhood friend and the closest and most trusted advisor of Andronikos III. During Andronikos III's reign (1328–1341), John Kantakouzenos acted as his chief minister, holding the office of megas domestikos, commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army. The relationship between the two remained close, and in 1330, when the heirless Andronikos III (John V was born in 1332) fell ill he insisted that Kantakouzenos be proclaimed Emperor or regent after his death. Their ties were further strengthened in the spring of 1341, when the latter's eldest son, Matthew Kantakouzenos, wed Irene Palaiologina, a cousin of the Emperor.
  Unlike Andronikos II, who had disbanded the Byzantine army and navy, and who favoured monks and intellectuals, Andronikos III was an energetic ruler who personally led his forces in military campaigns. In 1329, his first campaign against the Ottomans resulted in a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Pelekanos, after which the Byzantine position in Bithynia rapidly collapsed. Subsequent sorties into the Balkans were nevertheless successful in shoring up Andronikos' tottering realm. Thessaly and the Despotate of Epirus, two territories separated from the Empire after the Fourth Crusade, were restored to imperial rule, almost without bloodshed in 1328 and 1337 respectively. Andronikos III also rebuilt a modest fleet, which allowed him to recover the rich and strategically placed island of Chios from the Genoese Zaccaria family in 1329 as well as to claim the allegiance of Andreolo Cattaneo, the Genoese governor of Phocaea on the Anatolian mainland. In 1335, however, Andreolo's son Domenico captured the island of Lesbos with Genoese assistance. The Emperor led a fleet to recover it and Phocaea, and requested the aid of the Turkish emirs of Saruhan and Aydin. Saruhan sent troops and supplies, but Aydin's ruler Umur Beg came to meet the Emperor in person. It was during this encounter that Kantakouzenos and Umur established a long-lasting close friendship and alliance.
  A war with Serbia in 1331–1334 proved less successful for the Emperor when several towns in Macedonia were captured by the Serbs, led by the renegade Syrgiannes Palaiologos. These gains were only curtailed when the assassination of Syrgiannes and the threat of a Hungarian invasion forced the Serbian ruler, Stefan Dušan, to seek a negotiated settlement. The subsequent peace treaty concluded between Andronikos III and Dušan was important for the future of Byzantine-Serb
caption: Emperor Andronikos III, who supervised the last period of recovery of the Byzantine state.
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