- Thomas Palaiologos
Thomas Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Θωμάς Παλαιολόγος, "Thōmas Palaiologos") (1409 –
May 12 ,1465 ) was Despot in Morea from 1428 until the Ottoman conquest in 1460. After the desertion of his older brother to the Turks in 1460, Thomas Palaiologos became the most legitimate claimant to the Byzantine throne.Life
Thomas
Palaiologos was the youngest surviving son of theEastern Roman Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos [http://nauplion.net/CP-Manuel2-Portraits.html] and his wifeHelena Dragaš . His maternal grandfather was Constantine Dragaš. His brothers included the Byzantine emperorsJohn VIII Palaiologos [http://nauplion.net/CP-JOHN-VIII.html] and Constantine XI Palaiologos , as well asTheodore II Palaiologos andDemetrios Palaiologos , Despots of the Morea, andAndronikos Palaiologos , Despot ofThessalonica . As youngest son, Thomas was never expected to reign, but his children became the only surviving heirs of the defunct Palaiologan dynasty.Like other imperial sons, Thomas Palaiologos was made a Despot ("despotēs"), and from 1428 joined his brothers Theodore and Constantine in the Morea. After the retirement of Theodore in 1443, he governed together with Constantine, until the latter became emperor (Constantine XI) in 1448. Thomas remained Despot of the Morea, but was forced to share the rule with his older brother Demetrios from 1449. The Byzantine holdings in Morea had expanded considerably at the expense of the Latin
Principality of Achaea . After the last war in 1430 virtually the entire peninsula was under Byzantine rule, and Thomas marriedCatherine Zaccaria , the daughter of the last Prince of AchaeaCenturione II Zaccaria , succeeding to his father-in-law's possessions in 1432.After this period of success, the fortunes of Byzantine Morea declined, as the collegiate government by several brothers caused increasing friction. This became especially acute after the arrival of Demetrios, who took a pro-Ottoman stance as opposed to Thomas' pro-western orientation. From 1447 the Despots had become vassals of the Ottoman Sultan. At the onset of the
siege of Constantinople byMehmed II of theOttoman Empire , an Ottoman army was sent with orders to raid in the Morea, preventing help from being sent to The City. After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II onMay 29 ,1453 , to maintain thestatus quo , the Sultan ordered the two brothers to continue as joint rulers in Morea.This order had been accepted for the first two years because of the Kantakouzenos family's revolt which started in 1453 during the fall of Constantinople by
Demetrius I Kantakouzenos ' grandchild Manuel. Only in the next year did the forces of the Palaiologos brothers destroy the rebel forces.In these circumstances, and without Constantine XI to maintain peace in the family, Thomas sought western support against both the Ottomans and his competitive pro-Ottoman brother Demetrios. He allied with Genoa and the
Pope , and defeated Demetrios, who fled seeking help from the Ottomans in 1460. The Ottoman army duly attacked Morea and quickly breached the "Hexamilion wall " across theIsthmus of Corinth , which was too long to be effectively manned and defended by Thomas' forces. Thomas escaped with his family toItaly , where he had already been recognized as the legitimate heir to theByzantine Empire atRome .The commanders of the garrisons of the fortified cities in
Morea , deserted by their rulers, chose individually whether to fight or surrender, depending on their own will and circumstances. In the final battle of theRoman Empire in its Byzantine incarnation,Graitzas Palaiologos , the military commander of the city ofSalmenikos defeated Mehmed II, who after a month of siege returned home without conquering that "unimportant city". In the following year Graitzas received an offer to become general of theRepublic of Venice , which he accepted, thus leaving Salmenikos to the Ottomans.Imperial heirs
After the fall of Morea, Thomas lived in Rome, recognized throughout
Christian Europe as the rightful Emperor of the East. To create greater support for his situation Thomas changed his religion to Catholicism in his last years of life. After his death in 1465, the position of rightful Byzantine emperor fell to his older sonAndreas Palaiologos , born inMistra around 1453.Mehmed II conquered the
Empire of Trebizond , "de facto " the last free territory of the ancient Roman state, in the year 1461. Nevertheless, Mehmed had already proclaimed himself "Roman Emperor" upon capturing Constantinople in 1453.In an effort to reunite the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church,
Pope Paul II arranged in 1472 a marriage between the Catholic daughter of Thomas, Zoe Palaiologina (renamed Sophia), and Grand PrinceIvan III of Russia , with the hope of making Russia a Catholic country. This attempt to unite churches failed. Nonetheless, because of this marriage, Moscow began in the following century its imperial policy of "third Rome ". Moreover, Thomas' great-grandson wasIvan IV of Russia , the first emperor (tsar) of Russia to be crowned as such (the imperial title had already come into use under Ivan III and his sonVasili III of Russia ). The last known descendant of Zoe/Sophia wasMaria of Staritsa , wife ofLivonia 's king Magnus . She died in 1610.Portraits
Thomas Palaiologos [http://nauplion.net/CP-Thomas.html]Family
By his marriage with Catherine (Caterina) Zaccaria of Achaea, Thomas Palaiologos had at least four children:
#Helena Palaiologina , who married Prince Lazar II of Serbia.
# Andrew (Andreas) Palaiologos, who succeeded as claimant to the Byzantine throne
#Manuel Palaiologos .
# Zoe Palaiologina (renamed Sophia), who married Grand PrinceIvan III of Russia Ancestry
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1= 1. Thomas Palaiologos
2= 2.Manuel II Palaiologos
3= 3.Helena Dragaš
4= 4.John V Palaiologos
5= 5.Helena Kantakouzene
6= 6.Constantine Dragaš
8= 8.Andronikos III Palaiologos
9= 9.Anna of Savoy
10= 10.John VI Kantakouzenos
11= 11.Irene Asanina
12= 12. Dejan
13= 13. Theodora of Serbia
16= 16.Michael IX Palaiologos
17= 17.Rita of Armenia
18= 18.Amadeus V, Count of Savoy
19= 19. Maria of Brabant
20= 20.Michael Kantakouzenos
21= 21. Theodora Palaiologina Angelina Kantakouzene
22= 22.Andronikos Asen
26= 26.Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia
27= 27. Theodora of BulgariaReferences
*
George Sphrantzes , "The Fall of the Byzantine Empire", trans. Marios Philippides, Amherst MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980. ISBN: 0 87023 290 8
* Jonathan Harris, "Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400-1520", Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995. ISBN 1 871328 11 X
* Jonathan Harris 'A worthless prince? Andreas Palaeologus in Rome, 1465-1502', "Orientalia Christiana Periodica" 61 (1995), 537-54
* Donald M. Nicol, "The Immortal Emperor", Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 0 521 41456 3.
*"Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium ", Oxford University Press, 1991.
* Steven Runciman, "The Fall of Constantinople 1453", Cambridge University Press, 1965. ISBN 0 521 09573 5* Portraits [http://nauplion.net/CP-Pal-Portraits.html]
* Signature [http://nauplion.net/CP-Signatures.html]
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