User:Ichthyovenator/John VIII Palaiologos

John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος; X – X), sometimes referred to as Kalojoannes (Kαλόιωάννης), was the penultimate Byzantine emperor, reigning from 1425 to his death in 1448.

Early life
John Palaiologos was born on XX as the son of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos ((r. undefined – undefined)1391–1425), the eighth emperor of the Palaiologos dynasty. John's mother was Helena Dragaš, the daughter of Serbian ruler Konstantin Dejanović. Unlike his younger brothers, John is at no point described as a Porphyrogénnētos ("born in the purple"), a distinction granted to sons born to a reigning emperor in the imperial palace.

John's father ruled a disintegrating and dwindling Byzantine Empire. Over the course of the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks had conquered vast swaths of once Byzantine territories and by 1405, they ruled much of Bulgaria, Serbia, Thessaly, Macedonia and central Greece. The Byzantine Empire, once extending throughout the eastern Mediterranean, was more or less reduced to the imperial capital of Constantinople itself, the Peloponnese and a handful of islands in the Aegean Sea, and was furthermore forced to pay tribute to the Ottomans.

As the empire dwindled, the emperors came to the conclusion that the only way to ensure that their remaining territory was kept intact was to grant some of their holdings to their sons, who received the title of despot, as appanages to defend and govern. As Manuel's oldest surviving son, John was raised to co-emperor and designated to succeed his father. The second son, Theodore, was designated as the Despot of the Morea (the prosperous province constituting the Peloponnese) and the third son, Andronikos, was proclaimed as Despot of Thessaloniki in 1408. The younger sons; Constantine, Demetrios and Thomas, were kept in Constantinople as there was not sufficient land left to grant them.

After an unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1422, the defenses chiefly led by John, Manuel II suffered a stroke and was left paralyzed in one side of his body. Though he would live for another three years, the government of the empire was now effectively in John's hands. The situation looked grim. Thessaloniki was also under siege by the Ottomans and to spare it from falling into their hands, John gave the city to the Republic of Venice. As Manuel II had once hoped years prior, John too hoped to rally support from Western Europe. John thus left Constantinople in November 1423, travelling to Venice and Hungary. Constantine, who John trusted the most out of his brothers, was given the title of despot and left to rule Constantinople as regent. With the aid of his bedridden father, Constantine drew up a new peace treaty with the Ottoman sultan Murad II, momentarily sparing Constantinople from further Turkish attacks. John returned from his journey in November 1424, having been unsuccessful in his search for help. On 21 July 1425, Manuel died and John became the senior emperor as John VIII Palaiologos.