Άλλα Ονόματα Constantine XI Dragas. Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης January 8, 1405, Constantinople. Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου May 29, 1453, Constantinople

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1 Περίληψη : Constantine XI Palaiologos ( ), 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, and , 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 coruler 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 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 4/7/2018 Σελίδα 1/5

2 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 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 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 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 4/7/2018 Σελίδα 2/5

3 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. The Ottomans defeated him at the Hexamilion where he entrenched and heroically fought against them, and in their continued campaign they completely overtook and devastated Morea. There were many casualties, and Constantine and Thomas Palaiologos just barely managed to save themselves. The Italian humanist, Cyriacus of Ancona, visited Constantine in Mystras in At around that time, the despotes was trying to arrange his third marriage, but even though there were few attempts, he never remarried. In June 1448 Theodore Palaiologos died at his estate in Selymbria, and on October 31 that same year, John VIII passed away. Out of six sons of Manuel II only Constantine, Demetrios and Thomas were left, Andronikos having passed away earlier. Constantine was the oldest, and it was the wish of John VIII and the Empress-Mother Helena Dragas that precisely he be the heir to the throne, which in the end tipped the scale. 4. In the capital Although upon the death of John VIII, first Thomas, and later, Demetrios arrived in Constantinople, the throne was given to Constantine XI thanks to the influence of Helena Dragas. The Sultan Murad II ( ) received information on this, too. The Empress-Mother appointed two messengers to proclaim Constantine the emperor before the army, people and the aristocracy, while the coronation was, of course, supposed to take place in Constantinople. Constantine was awarded the imperial title in a civil ceremony, most probably in the Despotes Palace in Mystras, on January 6, That is why the late-byzantine historian Ducas wrote that Constantine had never been actually crowned emperor and that John VIII had been the last Byzantine emperor. 3 Constantine did not insist on coronation out of precaution since he was aware that this act could have caused disturbances because of his unionist policies. Besides, the then Patriarch Gregorios III ( ), as a unionist, was not very popular in Constantinople. However, in the charter from February 1449, Constantine XI Palaiologos signed it as an emperor: «Κωνσταντίνος ἐ ν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ πιστὸς βασιλεὺ ς καὶ αὐ τοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων ὁ Παλαιολόγος». 4 The new basileus arrived in the capital on March 12, 1449 and immediately confirmed peace with the Turks. His becoming an emperor reopened up the discussions over the possible heir, which lead to diplomatic activities with the aim of having the emperor remarry. George Sphrantzes left for Armenia and Georgia in October 1449, and he stayed on this journey for two years. Besides the princesses in these countries, one of the choices was also Mara Brankovic, widow of Murad II since 1451, but in the end the emperor did not remarry. His mother s death on March 23, 1450, affected Constantine XI greatly. In order to consolidate the almost perished finances, Constantine XI increased the taxes on imported goods to Constantinople, which affected Venice s economic interests. In August 1450, they lodged an official protest and warning that the focus of their trading would shift to some other port under Ottoman control. Constantine explained his reasons to the Doge in October 1450, stressing that the imperial coffers were empty, but these arguments did not convince the Venetians, and the disputes continued. Well-aware that the Venetians would always follow their pragmatic interests and that they would somehow cope even if the Ottomans conquered Constantinople some day, the emperor approached Dubrovnik, offering their merchants a part of the city where they would have their own consul and the guaranteed levied taxes. Despite his great efforts and lively diplomatic activities to stir the rulers in Western Europe to start the war against the Ottomans, Constantine achieved almost nothing. After the disastrous battle at Varna (1444), the West was under a bitter impression and their resolve to start any similar activity had substantially weakened. Besides, most of the rulers in the West were engaged in some other wars. Pope Nicholas V ( ) reprimanded the Emperor because the clergy and the people rejected the unification. It was probable that the Pope s emissary would arrive, who was supposed to minister the ceremonious service in the Church of Hagia Sophia in honour of the Unification Act in Florence. It did indeed happen in December 1452, and it caused noisy riots on the streets of the capital. The hatred towards the Latin Christians was as strong even at the eve of the Ottomans siege of Constantinople. Δημιουργήθηκε στις 4/7/2018 Σελίδα 3/5

4 Feeling desperate, Constantine XI sent Mehmed II a provocative message reminding him that Orhan, grandson of the late Suleiman I ( ), and besides the Sultan the only living member of the Osman dynasty, was living in Constantinople in exile. Besides, he requested that the tribute-money that Mehmed II was paying in order to keep Orhan in captivity be doubled. This risky move left the Ottomans thunder-struck. The Sultan only responded that he would review all the facts and make an honorable and just decision. In fact, he was preparing to attack Constantinople. At the narrowest part of the Bosporus, on the European side, Mehmed II erected the Rumeli Hisar fortress in Constantine XI was powerless, and the Sultan did not pay any heed to his objections. 5. The death and the legent of Constantine XI Palaiologos It was evident that Constantinople was at a turning point. The emperor was desperately seeking help from everyone, not hesitating to offer one of the remaining Byzantine cities as a reward in return. He even asked for help from Demetrios and Thomas from the Peloponnesus, but the Turks also attacked the peninsula and ravaged it, and thus his younger brothers were not able to help him. Only 700 Genoese arrived led by Giovanni Giustiniani Longo. After the two-month siege, the city fell on May 29, Constantine XI died heroically on that day. It was St. Theodosia Day, the day that should never have dawned, as was recorded in one Greek lament. With great precision, George Sphrantzes wrote down that Constantine XI died a martyr s death at the age of 49 years, 3 months and 20 days, and that he had ruled for 4 years, 4 months and 24 days. 5 The gullible Greeks at the end of the 15th century had convinced themselves that the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, would come to their rescue. He was not dead but merely asleep, awaiting the call from the heavens. Allegedly, he was turned into marble and became immortal. When the time came, an angel would awaken him, give him the sword he wore in battle and the Emperor would be brought back to life and would banish the Turks all the way to the red-apple tree. This myth echoed in Greek literature as well. Although Constantine died leaving no heirs in the centuries to come, from time to time, some strange individuals would come out with claims that they themselves were his heirs Lambros, S. P., «Έργα του Ιοάννη Δοκειανού», Παλαιολόγεια και Πελοποννησιακά 1 (1912), pp , esp Lambros, S. P., «Έργα του Ιοάννη Δοκειανού», Παλαιολόγεια και Πελοποννησιακά 1 (1912), p Grecu, V. (ed.), Ducas, Istoria turco-bizantina ( ), (Bucuresti 1958), p J. Zepos - P. Zepos (ed.), Jus Graecoromanum I (Αθηναι 1931), pp Maisano, R. (ed.), Giorgio Sfranze, Cronaca (Roma 1990), p Nicol, D.M., The Immortal Emperor. The life and legend of Constantine Palaiologos, last Emperor of the Romans (Cambridge 1992), pp Βιβλιογραφία : Setton K.M., The Papacy and the Levant ( ), 1: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, Philadelphia 1976 Papadopulos A., Versuch einer Genealogie der Palaiologen, , München 1938 Zakythinos D., Crise monétaire et crise économique à Byzance du XIIIe au XVe siècle, Athènes 1948 Δημιουργήθηκε στις 4/7/2018 Σελίδα 4/5

5 Χριστοφιλοπούλου Α., Εκλογή, αναγόρευσις και στέψις του βυζαντινού αυτοκράτορος, Αθήνα 1956 Ferjančić B., "Savladarstvo u doba Paleologa", Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta, 24-25, 1986, Zakythinos D., Le despotat grec de Morée. Histoire politique, I, Paris 1932 επαν. Variorum Reprints, επιμ. Ch. Maltézou, London 1975 Barker W.J., Manuel II Palaeologus ( ). A Study in Late Byzantine Statesmanship, New Brunswick New Jersey 1969 Vryonis S., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century, Berkeley Los Angeles London 1971 Runciman S., The Fall of Constantinople, 1453, Cambridge 1965 Ferjančić B., "Medjusobni sukobi poslednjih Paleologa ( )", Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta, 16, 1975, Caroll M., "Constantine XI Palaeologus: Some Problems of Image", A. Moffatt, Maistor: Classical, Byzantine and Renaissance Studies for Robert Browning, Canberra 1984, Δικτυογραφία : Constantine XI and Mehmed II: The fall of Constantinople Γλωσσάριo : despotes Title introduced in the 12th century. In administrative hierarchy, the office of despotes was under the emperor and the coemperor. From the 14 th century onwards, the title was given to the governors of the Byzantine Peloponnese. Πηγές Maisano, R. (ed.), Giorgio Sfranze, Cronaca (Roma 1990). Darko, E. (ed.), Laonici Chalcocondylae historiarum demonstrationes I II (Budapest ). Grecu, V. (ed.), Ducas, Istoria turco bizantina ( ) (Bucuresti 1958). Reinsch, D. R. (ed.), Critobuli Imbriotae Historia (Berlin New York 1983). Petit, L. Sideras, X.A. and Jugie, M. (ed.), Oeuvres complètes de Gennade Scholarios I VIII (Paris ). Schreiner, P. (ed.), Die byzantinische Kleinchroniken I (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 12.1, Wien 1975). Zepos, J. Zepi, P. (ed.), Jus Graecoromanum I (Αθηναι 1931) Lambros, S.P., «Έργα του Ιοάννη Δοκειανού», Παλαιολόγεια και Πελοποννησιακά 1 (1912), pp Δημιουργήθηκε στις 4/7/2018 Σελίδα 5/5