Name

John VI Cantacuzenus (Ioasaph the Monk)

Original name

Ἰωάννης Καντακουζηνός (Ἰωάσαφ ὁ μονάχος)

Main activity

Politician

Secondary activity

Theologian, Writer

Title

Emperor of Byzantium, Monk

Name variations

Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός; Johannes Cantacuzenus; Ioan Cantacuzino"

Education place

Istanbul

Education institution

Activity place

Istanbul

Activity institution

Byzantine court; Mangana Monastery; Charsianites Monastery

Activity start date

1347

Activity end date

1354

Place of birth

Istanbul

Date of birth

1295

Place of death

Mystras

Date of death

1383

Bibliographical references

Alice-Mary Talbot, "John VI Kantakouzenos", in: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Vol. 2, ed. by A. Kazhdan (New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 1050-51; Klaus-Peter Todt, Kaiser Johannes VI. Kantakuzenos und der Islam. Politische Realität und theologische Polemik im palaiologenzeitlichen Byzanz (Würzburg / Echter: Altenberge / Oros Verlag, 1991); Donald M. Nicol, The Reluctant Emperor. A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295-1383 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); Klaus-Peter Todt, "John VI Cantacuzenus", in: Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, Vol. 5: (1350-1500), ed. by D. Thomas and A. Mallett (Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2013), 165-178.

Descriptive card

John VI Cantacuzenus was one of the most renowned Byzantine emperors, who remarked himself not only as a statesman but also as a fine theologian and historian. During his tumultuous reign (1347-1354) he engaged in close relations with the Ottomans and was involved into the Church Synods that affirmed the Orthodoxy of the Hesychast theology promoted by the Byzantine archbishop of Thessaloniki, Gregory Palamas. After his abdication in 1354, John VI took the monastic vows and entered the monastic community first of the Mangana Monastery and then of Charsianites Monastery, both located in Constantinople. Here he wrote his famous History and polemical works against Islam and the Jewish faith.

Entry author

Octavian Negoita