John VIII Palaiologos

John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor. Ruling from 1425 to 1448, he attempted to bring about the reunification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches and prioritized the protection of Constantinople against the Ottoman Empire. He was succeeded by his brother, Constantine XI.

John VIII Palaiologos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Detail from The Middle King by Benozzo Gozzoli, in the Magi Chapel of Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence, 1459–1461. It is widely believed to represent John VIII.
Byzantine emperor
Reign	21 July 1425 – 31 October 1448
Coronation	19 January 1421
Predecessor	Manuel II Palaiologos
Successor	Constantine XI Palaiologos
Proclamation	c. 1407 as co-emperor
Born	18 December 1392
Died	31 October 1448(1448-10-31) (aged 55)
Spouse	Anna of Moscow ​ ​ (m. 1414; died 1417)​ Sophia of Montferrat ​ ​ (1421⁠–⁠1426)​ Maria of Trebizond ​ ​ (m. 1427; died 1439)​
Dynasty	Palaiologos
Father	Manuel II Palaiologos
Mother	Helena Dragaš
Religion	Eastern Catholic Previously Eastern Orthodox

Biography

John VIII was the eldest son of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš, the daughter of the Serbian prince Constantine Dragaš. He was associated as co-emperor with his father before 1416 and became sole emperor on 1 July 1425, although he had already assumed full power on 19 January 1421.

In June 1422, John VIII Palaiologos supervised the defense of Constantinople during a siege by Murad II, but had to accept the loss of Thessalonica, which his brother Andronikos had given to Venice in 1423. To secure protection against the Ottomans, he made two journeys to Italy in 1423 and 1439. During the second journey he visited Pope Eugene IV in Ferrara and consented to the union of the Greek and Roman churches. The union was ratified at the Council of Florence in 1439, which John attended with 700 followers including Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople and George Gemistos Plethon, a Neoplatonist philosopher influential among the academics of Italy. The union failed due to opposition in Constantinople, but through his prudent conduct towards the Ottoman Empire he succeeded in holding possession of the city.

John VIII Palaiologos named his brother Constantine XI, who had served as regent in Constantinople in 1437–1439, as his successor. Despite the machinations of his younger brother Demetrios Palaiologos his mother Helena was able to secure Constantine XI's succession in 1448.

John VIII died at Constantinople in 1448, becoming the last reigning Byzantine emperor to die of natural causes, and was buried in the Pantokrator Monastery.

Marriages

John VIII Palaiologos was married three times. His first marriage was in 1414 to Anna of Moscow, daughter of Grand Prince Basil I of Moscow (1389–1425) and Sophia of Lithuania. She died in August 1417 of plague.

The second marriage, arranged by his father Manuel II and Pope Martin V, was to Sophia of Montferrat in 1421. She was a daughter of Theodore II, Marquess of Montferrat, and his second wife Joanna of Bar. Joanna was a daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar, and Marie de Valois. Her maternal grandparents were John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia.

His third marriage, arranged by the future cardinal, Bessarion, was to Maria of Trebizond in 1427. She was a daughter of Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene. She died in the winter of 1439, also from plague. None of the marriages produced any children.

Representation in art

John VIII Palaiologos was famously depicted by several painters on the occasion of his visit to Italy. Perhaps the most famous of his portraits is the one by Benozzo Gozzoli, on the southern wall of the Magi Chapel, at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, in Florence. According to some interpretations, John VIII would be also portrayed in Piero della Francesca's Flagellation. A portrait of John appears in a manuscript at the Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula.

Gallery

• 
  Portrait of John VIII Palaiologos from a manuscript at Saint Catherine's Monastery c. 1440
• 
  Medal of the Emperor John VIII Palaiologos during his visit to Florence, by Pisanello (1438). The legend reads, in Greek: "John the Palaiologos, basileus and autokrator of the Romans".
• 
  Sketches of John VIII Palaiologos during his visit at the Council of Florence in 1438, by Pisanello
• 
  Piero della Francesca's Flagellation, possibly depicting John VIII Palaiologos as Pontius Pilatus (the leftmost figure)
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  Device of the Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, featuring the double-headed eagle with the sympilema (family cypher) of the Palaiologos dynasty
• 
  Portrait of John VIII Palaiologos from Mutinensis gr. 122

Ancestry

Ancestors of John VIII Palaiologos
8. Andronikos III Palaiologos 4. John V Palaiologos 9. Anna of Savoy 2. Manuel II Palaiologos 10. John VI Kantakouzenos 5. Helena Kantakouzene 11. Irene Asanina 1. John VIII Palaiologos 12. Dejan 6. Constantine Dragaš 13. Theodora of Serbia 3. Helena Dragaš

See also

• List of Byzantine emperors

Sources

• Barker, John W. (1969). Manuel II Palaeologus (1391-1425): A Study in Late Byzantine Statesmanship. Rutgers University Press.
• Çelik, Siren (2021). Manuel II Palaiologos (1350–1425): A Byzantine Emperor in a Time of Tumult. Cambridge University Press.
• Chasin, Martin (1989). "The Crusade of Varna". In Hazard, Harry W.; Zacour, Norman P. (eds.). A History of the Crusades:The Impact of the Crusades on Europe. Vol. 6. University of Wisconsin Press.
• Nicol, Donald M. (1992). The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans. Cambridge University Press.
• Runciman, Steven (1965). The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

• Harris, Jonathan, The End of Byzantium. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-11786-8
• Kolditz, Sebastian, Johannes VIII. Palaiologos und das Konzil von Ferrara-Florenz (1438/39). 2 Vol., Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann Verlag 2013–2014, ISBN 978-3-7772-1319-4.
• Lazaris, Stavros, "L’empereur Jean VIII Paléologue vu par Pisanello lors du concile de Ferrare – Florence", Byzantinische Forschungen, 29, 2007, p. 293-324 [1]
• Nicol, Donald M. (1993) [1972]. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521439916.