Palaiologos
The House of Palaiologos, also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that rose to power and produced the last and longest-ruling dynasty in the history of the Roman Empire. Their rule as Byzantine emperors lasted almost two hundred years, from 1259 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The origins of the family are unclear. Their own medieval origin stories ascribed them an ancient and prestigious origin in ancient Roman Italy, descended from some of the Romans that had accompanied Constantine the Great to Constantinople upon its foundation in 330. It is more likely that they originated significantly later in Anatolia since the earliest known member of the family, possibly its founder, Nikephoros Palaiologos, served as a commander there in the second half of the 11th century. Over the course of the 12th century, the Palaiologoi were mostly part of the military aristocracy, not recorded as occupying any administrative political offices, and they frequently intermarried with the then ruling Komnenos family, increasing their prestige. When Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Palaiologoi fled to the Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine successor state ruled by the Laskaris family, where they continued to play an active role and occupied many offices of high rank.
In 1259, Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor to the young John IV Laskaris through a coup and in 1261, following the recapture of Constantinople from the Latin Empire, John IV was deposed and blinded. Michael's successors ruled the Byzantine Empire at its weakest point in history, and much of the Palaiologan period was a time of political and economic decline, partly due to external enemies such as the Bulgarians, Serbs and Ottoman Turks, and partly due to frequent civil wars between members of the Palaiologos family. By the beginning of the 15th century, the emperors had lost any real power, with the empire effectively having become a client state to the new Ottoman Empire. Their rule of the empire continued until 1453 when Ottoman sultan Mehmed the Conqueror conquered Constantinople and the final Palaiologan emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, died in the city's defense. During their rule as emperors, the Palaiologoi were not well-liked by their subjects, mostly on account of their religious policy. The repeated attempts by the emperors to reunite the Greek Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church, and thus place the Byzantine church in submission under the Papacy, was viewed as heresy and treason. Though Constantine XI died in communion with Rome, his death in battle against the Ottomans, defending Constantinople, made the Greeks and the Orthodox church remember him as a hero, redeeming popular opinion of the dynasty as a whole. The role of the Palaiologoi as the final Christian dynasty to rule over Greek lands also accorded them a more positive remembrance among Greeks during the period of Ottoman rule.
The last certain members of the imperial line of the Palaiologoi died out in the 16th century, but female-line descendants survive to the present day. A cadet branch in Italy, the Palaeologus-Montferrat, ruled the March of Montferrat until 1536 and died out in 1566. Because the family was extensive before it produced emperors, the name Palaiologos was legitimately held not only by nobles part of the actual imperial dynasty. As a result, many Byzantine refugees who fled to Western Europe in the aftermath of Constantinople's fall possessed the name and in order to earn prestige, some fabricated closer links to the imperial family. The genealogies of many supposedly surviving branches of the imperial dynasty have readily been dismissed as fantasy by modern researchers. Various lineages of non-imperial Palaialogoi, whose relation to the medieval Palaiologoi and each other are unclear, survived into the modern period and thousands of people, particularly in Greece, still have the last name Palaiologos, or variants thereof, today.
Origin
The origins of the Palaiologos family are unclear. According to several later oral traditions, the family had originated in Italy, supposedly in the city of Viterbo. As per this version, the family name Palaiologos was a Greek translation of vetus verbum, a dubious etymology of Viterbo. Such stories were popularized by later obscure Palaiologoi who had settled in northern Italy and were tempted to invent an ancestral link with the last Byzantine Emperors. Another tale maintained that the ancestors of Palaiologoi were among the Roman patricians who traveled to Constantinople accompanying Constantine the Great when the city was founded and designated as the Roman Empire's new capital in 330. This origin story is similar to the traditions of other Byzantine noble families, such as the Doukas or Phokas clans, who also used stories of ancient Roman descent to bolster their prestige and somewhat legitimize their claims to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire's medieval continuation.In contrast to these ancient and prestigious origin stories, the Palaiologoi probably actually originated relatively late in Anatolia, possibly in the Anatolic Theme. The etymology of their family name was believed to be "ragman" by Soviet-American Byzantinist Alexander Kazhdan, possibly referencing humble origins, whereas the French Byzantinist Jean-François Vannier believes the correct etymology to be "antique collector". The earliest known member of the family, possibly its founder, was Nikephoros Palaiologos, commander of the Theme of Mesopotamia in the second half of the 11th century, in the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas. Nikephoros supported the revolt of Nikephoros III Botaneiates against Michael VII, but his son, George Palaiologos, married Anna Doukaina and thus supported the Doukas family and later Alexios I Komnenos, Anna's brother-in-law, against Botaneiates. George served as the doux of Dyrrhachium in the reign of Alexios I and was accorded the title of kouropalates.
In the 12th century, the Palaiologoi were mainly recorded as members of the military aristocracy, not occupying any administrative political offices. They are recorded numerous times as donors to monasteries, and intermarried several times with the Komnenos dynasty during its rule over the Byzantine Empire. When the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade took Constantinople in 1204 and overthrew the Byzantine Empire in favor of the new, Catholic, Latin Empire, the Palaiologoi followed Theodore I Laskaris to the Empire of Nicaea, where they played an active role and continued to occupy offices of high rank. Andronikos Palaiologos, father of the later emperor Michael VIII, was proclaimed megas domestikos, probably by Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes.
The Palaiologoi's many marriages with prominent Byzantine families was reflected in their choice of surnames, with earlier members of the imperial dynasty using the surnames of several of the previous ruling dynasties to reinforce their legitimacy. For instance, Michael VIII Palaiologos's full name was Michael Komnenos Doukas Angelos Palaiologos.
Imperial line
Path to the throne
Michael Palaiologos, born in 1223, was the son of Andronikos Palaiologos, megas domestikos in the Empire of Nicaea. Through the preceding century or so of Palaiologan marriages to other imperial families, his ancestry could be traced back to the three most recent dynasties that had ruled the empire before the Fourth Crusade. In his youth, Michael had served as the governor of the towns of Melnik and Serres in Thrace, and though he and his family were distinguished among the aristocracy, he was frequently mistrusted by the ruling Laskaris dynasty. In 1253, Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes accused him of plotting against the throne, though Michael escaped the accusation without punishment following a trial by ordeal of holding a red-hot iron. Though Michael continued to be mistrusted even after this, he married John III's grandniece Theodora Vatatzaina and was appointed as the megas konostaulos of the Latin mercenaries employed by the empire.After John III's death in 1254, Michael briefly took service with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, frequent enemies of the empire, and from 1256 to 1258 he was the commander of the Christian mercenaries fighting for the Seljuk Sultan Kaykaus II. John III's son and successor, Theodore II Laskaris, recalled Michael in 1258 and after they had exchanged guarantees of safety and oaths of loyalty, Michael returned to service within the empire. Theodore II died in that same year and was succeeded by his eight-year-old son John IV Laskaris. Just a few days after Theodore's death, Michael led a coup against the bureaucrat George Mouzalon, who had been appointed regent by Theodore II. Michael seized the guardianship of the child emperor and was invested with the titles of megas doux and despotes. On 1 January 1259, Michael was proclaimed as co-emperor at Nymphaion, probably without John IV being present.
On 25 July 1261, Nicene forces under general Alexios Strategopoulos recaptured Constantinople from the Latin Empire, restoring the city to Byzantine rule after almost sixty years in foreign hands. After the recapture of the capital and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, Michael took care to be crowned emperor in Hagia Sophia, as Byzantine emperors had been before the city was lost to the crusaders. John IV, the last representative of the imperial Laskaris dynasty, was pushed aside in order to consolidate the Palaiologos family on the throne. On John IV's eleventh birthday, 25 December 1261, the boy was deposed, blinded and confined to a monastery.' Once news of the act, the blinding of not only the legitimate emperor, but an underage boy, got out, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Arsenios Autoreianos, excommunicated Michael. The emperor's excommunication was not lifted until nine years into his reign, upon the appointment of Patriarch Joseph I.' The blinding of John IV was a stain on the Palaiologan dynasty. In 1284, Michael's son and successor Andronikos II Palaiologos visited the blinded and then 33-year-old John IV during a journey in Anatolia, hoping to demonstrate his disapproval with his father's actions.