Warfare in the Histories of John 299

Chapter 14 Warfare in the Histories of John Kantakouzenos

Savvas Kyriakidis

The purpose of this paper is to examine the descriptions of military operations that can be found in the Histories of the megas domestikos and emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-54). The discussion of Kantakouzenos’ accounts of mili- tary operations contributes to the better understanding of his military thinking and provides a better insight to the nature of military conflicts in the Byzantine world in the first half of the fourteenth century. John VI Kantakouzenos is the only late Byzantine emperor who wrote a nar- rative of the political and military events of his period. His Histories cover the period 1320-1356, though some events, such as the temporary capture of Anhialos and Mesembria by John V (1341-91) date in the 1360s.1 Modern scholars describe the Histories either as an apologetic work for Kantakouzenos’ role in the civil wars of the fourteenth century which ruined Byzantium, or as memoirs.2 Regardless whether the distinction between memoirs and historiography can be applied in this case, Kantakouzenos’ agenda is easily discernible. He wanted to justify and explain his involvement in the civil wars and portray himself as a defender of the dynastic rights of the emperors of the Palaiologan .3 Kantakouzenos supported and financed the rebellion of Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328-41) against his grandfather Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-28). This rebellion led to a civil war which was fought intermittently from 1321 until 1328 and resulted in the deposition of the elder Andronikos. Kantakouzenos became the closest associate of Andronikos III, whose sudden death in 1341 caused a catastrophic civil war between Kantakouzenos, who claimed to be the rightful regent of the deceased emper- or’s son , and the regency which was established in and was led by Alexios , the patriarch John Kalekas and the widow of the deceased emperor, . In 1347, Kantakouzenos and his clan emerged victorious. However, Kantakouzenos ruled over an impoverished, disintegrated and fragmented state.

1 John Kantakouzenos, Historiarum libri IV, eds. Schopin/Niehbur, III, pp. 100-03, 362. 2 Angelou, ‘Duplicity and Subversion’, p. 263. 3 Dölger, ‘Johannes VI Kantakouzenos als dynastischer Legitimist’, pp. 19-30.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004362048_016 300 Kyriakidis

The Histories is one of the most important sources for the study of four- teenth-century Byzantium. Therefore, it is not surprising that a large number of studies dealing with the social, economic and political developments of the period rely on Kantakouzenos’ testimony.4 Moreover, the lack of surviv- ing Byzantine military manuals, which are indispensable for the study of Byzantine warfare from the sixth through the eleventh centuries, led modern scholars to view Kantakouzenos as the most important source for the study of the military history of the later .5 Kantakouzenos was in an ideal position to provide information for military matters. He participated in almost all the military operations he describes and before his accession to the throne he held the office of megas domestikos, the holder of which was the head of the .6 Consequently, he possessed a firsthand knowl- edge of the military organization of the empire, the composition of its armies and the tactics they followed on the battlefield. However, that he was an eye- witness author does not mean that the information he provides is reliable. His aim was neither to write a military manual, which would contain practical advice to military leaders, nor to provide an accurate record of the history of his time. Instead, Kantakouzenos wishes to reconstruct the events he describes and present them in the best possible light. Moreover, although the Histories is one of the longest pieces of historiography ever produced, military matters cover a relatively small part of Kantakouzenos’ narrative. Kantakouzenos affords the modern reader limited and incidental infor- mation about the military operations he describes. The length he dedicates to describe military events is irrelevant to their importance. For instance, he describes in length the sieges he led in Beroia, Edessa and Servia in 1350. These were short and small-scale operations. On the contrary, he provides a rather summary account of the large-scale siege of Philippoupolis which was conducted by Andronikos III in 1323 and lasted four months.7 Oftentimes, Kantakouzenos’s accounts of military conflicts focus on a particular event

4 For studies on the Histories of Kantakouzenos see Loenerz, ‘Ordre et désordre’, 222-37; Weiss, Johannes Kantakuzenos-Aristokrat, Staatatsman, Kaiser und Mönch; Kyrris, ‘John Cantacuzene, the Genoese, the Venetians and the Catalans,’ 331-56; Kazhdan, ‘L’Histoire de Cantacuzène en tant qu’ oevre littéraire’, 279-35; Hunger, ‘Thukydides bei Johannes Kantakouzenos’, 181-93; Miller, ‘The Plague in John VI Cantacuzenos and Thucydides’, 385-95; For a biography of Kantakouzenos see, Weills, Johannes Kantakuzenos-Aristokrat, Staatatsman, Kaiser und Mönch; Nicol, The Reluctant Emperor. 5 Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, p. 11; Kyriakidis, Warfare in Late Byzantium, pp. 4-5. 6 For the megas domestikos see Guilland, Recherches sur les institutions byzantins, I, pp. 405-25; Kyriakidis, ‘The role of the megas domestikos in the late Byzantine army’, 241-58. 7 John Kantakouzenos, Historiarum libri IV, eds. Schopin/Niehbur, III, pp. 119-31, I, 173-74.