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Περίληψη : Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449-1453), Born in 1405, Son of Manuel II and the Serbian Princess Helena Dragas, Was the Last Byzantine Emperor

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Περίληψη : Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449-1453), Born in 1405, Son of Manuel II and the Serbian Princess Helena Dragas, Was the Last Byzantine Emperor IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Radic Radivoj Μετάφραση : Radic Radivoj , (γλωσσ.επιμ. αγγλ.) Lees Christopher (18/8/2008) Για παραπομπή : Radic Radivoj , "Constantine XI Palaiologos", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12317> Περίληψη : Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449-1453), born in 1405, son of Manuel II and the Serbian Princess Helena Dragas, was the last Byzantine Emperor. During his time, the Byzantine Empire encompassed only Constantinople and its immediate surroundings and parts of Greece. As regent, he took over for his brother John VIII on two occasions, 1423-1424 and 1437-1440, when John traveled to the West. He had the appanage on the Peloponnesus, which was the most vital part of the Byzantine Empire at the time. As an emperor, since 1449, for political reasons he was the advocate for the union believing that it was the only way to save the fragile empire. He married twice and was widowed both times, with no children. He was killed in 1453 while defending Constantinople from the Ottoman attack. Άλλα Ονόματα Constantine XI Dragas Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης January 8, 1405, Constantinople Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου May 29, 1453, Constantinople Κύρια Ιδιότητα emperor 1. Introduction Constantine XI Palaiologos was the fourth of the six surviving sons of Manuel II and the Serbian Princess Helena Dragas. Besides them, the imperial couple had two more sons and two daughters who died in childhood from plague (one of the deceased sons had also been named Constantine). He was born on January 8, 1405, in Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire, which during his time encompassed only Constantinople with its immediate surroundings and parts of Greece, was compared for many reasons to a frail body with a humongous head – Constantinople. If Michael IX is also considered, who had never been sole emperor but only a co- ruler with Andronikos II Palaiologos, Constantine XI was the tenth member of the Palaiologos family who inherited the imperial crown since his predecessor Michael VIII Palaiologos seized the throne in 1259. Besides his father’s surname Palaiologos, Constantine XI proudly bore his mother’s Serbian family name, Dragas. 2. The beginning of his career The preserved sources offer little information about the childhood and early years of Constantine XI. It is known for a fact that he was called the “porphyrogenitos”since he was born in the Purple chamber of the Imperial Palace and because he was very devoted to his mother, Helena Dragas. Already in his youth Constantine had a devoted friend in George Sphrantzes, the historian of the last of the Palaiologos, and this friendship and cooperation remained solid through the Emperor’s death. Constantine had good relations with his eldest brother John VIII, but not with the younger brothers Demetrios and Thomas. One of the Byzantine authors praised Constantine’s hunting, riding and combat skills, as well as his adventurous spirit, vivacity and courage.1 When in November 1423, John VIII Palaiologos departed on a journey to Venice and Hungary, he appointed his younger brother Constantine the Regent in Constantinople to rule in his absence. It was his first encounter with power and on that occasion he was awarded the title of despotes, the highest Byzantine title after the imperial one. He was only eighteen years old. Fortunately, his ill father Manuel II, although bedridden, was still able to assist his son, so after a few teething troubles, Constantine managed to sign a peace treaty with the Ottomans. Although the Treaty, signed on February 22, 1424, was unfavorable and even humiliating for the Empire, it still spared Constantinople of future Ottoman incursions, at least for a while. Under the circumstances of the Ottoman omnipotence, it was not possible to reach a more favorable treaty. In any case, Constantine did his duty well and with dignity, and Δημιουργήθηκε στις 29/9/2021 Σελίδα 1/5 IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Radic Radivoj Μετάφραση : Radic Radivoj , (γλωσσ.επιμ. αγγλ.) Lees Christopher (18/8/2008) Για παραπομπή : Radic Radivoj , "Constantine XI Palaiologos", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12317> John VIII returned in November 1424, with almost no success. 3. In the Peloponnesus When Manuel II died on July 21, 1425, John VIII formally became the Emperor, and his younger brother Constantine was supposed to be given the appanage. Firstly, in 1425, he was given the lands north of Constantinople, from Mesembria in the north to Derkos in the south. It was a strategically important region, protecting northern access to Constantinople. Despotes Theodore from Mystras having expressed his wish to become a monk, the opportunity arose for Constantine to set firm foot in the Peloponnesus. However, Theodore soon changed his mind, and thus this opportunity disappeared for a while. John VIII tried to place his brother Constantine in the Peloponnesus, since he trusted him the most, which resulted in discord among the ruling house of the Palaiologoi. John VIII left Constantinople in 1427 and took with him his brother Constantine and George Sphrantzes, who had become the associate of the despotes. They arrived in Mystras on December 26 and hurried to Clarenza, an important town in the northwest of the Peloponnesus, which they put under siege from both the sea and the land. In the naval battle, the ships of the Count Carlo Tocco, lord of Cephalonia, were decimated, after which he denounced the territories he had recently seized, and thus the Byzantine territories in the Peloponnesus expanded. At the same time, on July 1, 1428, the twenty-three-year-old Constantine married Carlo’s niece Maddalena, daughter of Leonardo II Tocco, who was in Greek named Theodora, and he received the towns of Clarenza and Elis as dowry. Soon the three Palaiologos brothers found themselves in the Peloponnesus: besides Theodoros, who had been there earlier, Constantine and Thomas were also there but their relations were not exemplary. Together with John VIII, Constantine seized the important town of Patras in the northern Peloponnesus in 1429, which was triumphantly returned to the Byzantine Empire after 225 years. However, the joy over this success was ruined by the death of Constantine’s wife Maddalena-Theodora in November 1429. Constantine suffered greatly because of her death. Since John VIII had no children and because he wanted to proclaim his younger brother Constantine and not Theodoros the heir to the throne, there had always been tensions and disputes among them. Both of them, Theodoros and Constantine, were in Constantinople in 1435, and then returned to the Peloponnesus and with a lot of effort and mediation managed to suppress the animosity between them. Later on, the agreement was reached that Constantine should move to Constantinople, while Theodoros and Thomas should remained in the Peloponnesus. As John VIII was preparing for a journey to Italy, to sign the agreement on the Churches’unification, Constantine was again appointed as Regent, to oversee everything in his absence. That was the reason why he came to Constantinople in September 1437. It was also important for Constantine that he had the support of his mother, Helena Dragas. The Empress-widow had a big role in the political life of the contemporary Byzantine Empire, and Constantine was her favorite son. When it came to the unification of the churches, just like his brother, Constantine was neither fanatically for nor against it, but rather he looked at this issue from a pragmatic perspective, believing that it was the only way to help the Byzantine Empire, under a very serious threat from the Ottomans. Constantine’s regency in Constantinople ended in February 1440, when his brother returned from Italy. Nonetheless, he stayed in the capital until the end of 1440, because he wanted to remarry, having been widower for the past ten years. He chose Caterina Gattilusio, daughter of Dorino Gattilusio, the Genoan lord of the Island of Lesbos. The marriage took place in 1441. She stayed on the island, while Constantine went back to the Peloponnesus. However, he went back to Constantinople in 1442 because of the new threat. That same year, 1442, his wife Caterina became ill and died. Thus Constantine became a widower for the second time at the age of thirty-seven. Despite some later attempts, he never remarried. Theodoros Palaiologos was given appanage near Constantinople in 1443, and Constantine returned to the Peloponnesus. He reigned from Mystras over a greater part of the peninsula. His younger brother Thomas also held control over a part of the Peloponnesus. It should be stressed that Mystras, from an earlier period, had become the most important Byzantine cultural centre, with many intellectuals living and working there, most importantly George Gemistos – Plethon and Basil Bessarion, metropolitan of Nicaea and later cardinal of the Roman Church. It represented the so-called “last Byzantine Renaissance,”when the exhausted Empire once again found strength to proudly stand tall before the final fall towards the hard centuries of Ottoman rule. Δημιουργήθηκε στις 29/9/2021 Σελίδα 2/5 IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Radic Radivoj Μετάφραση : Radic Radivoj , (γλωσσ.επιμ. αγγλ.) Lees Christopher (18/8/2008) Για παραπομπή : Radic Radivoj , "Constantine XI Palaiologos", 2008, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Κωνσταντινούπολη URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12317> Constantine immediately started working and in 1444 he repaired the Hexamilion, the defense wall that protected the entrance to the Peloponnesus and which the Turks easily broke through in 1423, and in 1431 completely destroyed it. That same year he broke into central Greece and conquered Athens and Thebes, and since this was one of the rare Byzantine victories towards the end of the empire, the young despotes was compared to Themistocles.2 However, as early as 1446, the Turks began their counterattack and Constantine was forced to withdraw.
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