![Seal of Constantine Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos, despotes and porphyrogennetos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Seal_of_Constantine_Doukas_Komnenos_Palaiologos%2C_despotes_and_porphyrogennetos.jpg)
Constantine Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos ( gr, Κωνσταντῖνος Δούκας Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος; 1278/81–1334/35) was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
prince of the
Palaiologos
The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...
dynasty, who received the supreme title of
Despot and served as provincial governor.
Constantine was the second son of Emperor
Andronikos II Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg
, caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia''
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328
, coronation = 8 Novembe ...
(r. 1282–1328) and his first wife, Empress
Anna of Hungary. He was born sometime between 1278 and 1281. As his father was already a reigning co-emperor alongside
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
, he was styled a ''
porphyrogennetos
Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...
'' ("purple-born"), as attested on his seals. In 1294 he was named
Despot, the highest court rank in the Byzantine Empire, on the occasion of his first marriage to Eudokia, the daughter of
Theodore Mouzalon
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
.
In 1305, he fought in the disastrous
Battle of Apros
The Battle of Apros occurred between the forces of the Byzantine Empire, under co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, and the forces of the Catalan Company, at Apros on July 1305.
The Catalan Company had been hired by the Byzantines as mercenaries ...
against the
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (Spanish: ''Compañía Catalana'', Catalan: ''Gran Companyia Catalana'', Latin: ''Exercitus francorum'', ''Societas exercitus catalanorum'', ''Societas cathalanorum'', ''Magna Societas Catalanorum' ...
. In 1317, he intercepted his half-sister
Simonida
Simonida Nemanjić ( sr-cyr, Симонида Немањић; c. 1294 – after 1336), born Simonis Palaiologina ( el, Σιμωνίς Παλαιολογίνα, sr. Симонида Палеолог, ''Simonida Paleolog''), was a Byzantine princes ...
, the
queen-consort of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, who wished to retire to a monastery after the death of her mother,
Irene of Montferrat
Yolande of Montferrat ( – 1317 in Constantinople) (also known as Violante, then Empress Irene) was the second wife of Andronikos II Palaiologos and thus Empress of the Byzantine Empire. She was the heir of the Margraviate of Montferrat.
Born i ...
, and handed her over to the Serbs. At about this time he married a second time, again to a Eudokia, but both his marriages were childless. He had one illegitimate son,
Michael Katharos. In 1319 he served as governor of
Avlona, and in 1321–1322 as governor of
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. It was in this position that the outbreak of the
Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328
The Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328 was a series of conflicts fought in the 1320s between the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos over control of the Byzantine Empire.
Prelude to the civil wa ...
found him; in 1322 he was imprisoned by his nephew,
Andronikos III Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos_III_Palaiologos.jpg
, caption = 14th-century miniature. Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek.
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 24 May 1328 – 15 June 1341
, coronation = ...
, at
Didymoteichon
Didymoteicho ( el, Διδυμότειχο, Didymóteicho ) is a city located on the eastern edge of the Evros regional unit of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town ...
. Constantine then became a monk, under the
monastic name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...
Kallistos. He died in 1334/35.
Sources
*
13th-century births
1330s deaths
14th-century Byzantine people
13th-century Byzantine people
Byzantine governors of Thessalonica
Byzantine prisoners and detainees
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
Porphyrogennetoi
Eastern Orthodox monks
Despots (court title)
Sons of Byzantine emperors
{{Byzantine-bio-stub