Manuel Kantakouzenos ( el, Μανουὴλ Καντακουζηνὸς) was a Greek rebel leader who started a revolt against 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 ...

family in the

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 ...

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

. He was the grandson of

Demetrios I Kantakouzenos Demetrios I Kantakouzenos ( el, Δημήτριος Καντακουζηνός; 1343 – 1384) was a governor of the Morea and the grandson of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. Demetrios was the son of Matthew Kantakouzenos, governor of Morea, and I ...

, the last

Kantakouzenos The House of Kantakouzenos ( Kantakouzenoi; el, Καντακουζηνός, pl. Καντακουζηνοί), Latinized as Cantacuzenus and anglicized as Cantacuzene, was one of the most prominent Greek noble families of the Byzantine Empire in t ...

governor of the Morea.Miller, pp. 426-427 Shortly after the fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Byzantine Emperor,

Constantine XI Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last List of Byzantine em ...

, Manuel with the local Greek population joined 30,000 Albanians in a revolt against the two brothers,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

and

Demetrios Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...

, rulers of the Byzantine Morea. It was public knowledge that the two brothers hated one another, and using this situation to his advantage, Manuel headed this revolt in 1453. He was soon proclaimed by the Albanians as a Despot and in order to please them, he took the Albanian name "Ghin" and also called his wife "Cuchia". His situation was favorable in the beginning, but that quickly changed. The Palaiologos brothers soon realized that they needed outside help to succeed and appealed to the Ottomans and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

to receive it. The Ottoman overlord of the Morea decided that the province would stay in the hands of Thomas and Demetrios and assisted the two brothers. With minimal Ottoman support, the brothers joined together and crushed the revolt the following year, in 1454.

References

Sources

* People of the Despotate of the Morea 15th-century Byzantine people 15th-century Greek people Byzantine rebels Manuel {{Byzantine-bio-stub