John V Palaeologus
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John V Palaeologus or better Palaiologos (Iōannēs V Palaiologos) (1332 – February 16, 1391) was the son of Andronikos III Palaiologos, whom he succeeded as Byzantine emperor in 1341, at age nine.
Life
John VI Kantakouzenos, his father's friend, served as his regent and co-emperor (1347–1354). Forced to fight John Kantakouzenos, who had usurped the throne during his minority, he came into power in 1354.
His reign was marked by the gradual dissolution of the imperial power. In his reign the Ottomans, led by Suleyman Pasha the son of the Ottoman sultan, took Adrianople and Philippopolis, conquered Serbia, and exacted tribute from the emperor. After the Ottoman Turks gained control of Gallipoli and threatened Constantinople, John V appealed to the West for help, proposing to end the schism between the Byzantine and Latin churches by submitting to the supremacy of the Roman Church. Impoverished by war, he was detained as a debtor when he visited Venice (1369). In 1371 he recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan Murad I, who later helped him to regain the throne (1379) after he was deposed by his son Andronikos IV Palaiologos in 1376. In 1390 his grandson, John VII Palaiologos, briefly usurped the throne. John V was succeeded by his son Manuel II Palaiologos. His second son Theodore I Palaiologos succeeded to the Despotate of Morea in 1383.
Towards the end of his reign, in 1390, John ordered the strengthening of the Constantinople Golden Gate, utilizing marble from the decayed churches of city. Upon the completion of this construction, Bayezid I, threatening war, demanded that John raze these new works. John V obeyed the suzerain's order, but is said to have suffered from this humiliation and, according to historians, died of a nervous shock on February 16, 1391.
Family
He married Helena Kantakouzene, daughter of John VI Kantakouzenos. They were parents of several children including:
- Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor 1376-1379
- Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor 1391-1425
- Michael Palaiologos, despotēs
- Theodore I Palaiologos, despotēs in Morea
- Eirene Palaiologina, who married Halil, the son of Sultan Orhan of the Ottoman Empire
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