}, ''Thomás Kantakouzenós'', modern pronunciation ''Thomás Kantakouzinós'', sr, Тома Кантакузин/''Toma Kantakuzin''; died 25 July 1463) 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 ...

aristocrat, a member of the

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 th ...

family, who became a Serbian magnate and general that served Despot

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Branković (; sr-cyr, Ђурађ Бранковић; hu, Brankovics György; 1377 – 24 December 1456) was the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456. He was one of the last Serbian medieval rulers. He was a participant in the battle of Anka ...

. He was the brother of

Irene Kantakouzene Irene Kantakouzene ( el, Ειρήνη Καντακουζηνή, ''Eiréne Kantakouzené'', modern pronunciation ''Eiríni Kantakouziní'' , sr, Ирина Кантакузин / ''Irina Kantakuzin''; 1400 – May 3, 1457), known simply as Desp ...

, Đurađ's wife.

Origin

The Byzantinist

Donald Nicol Donald MacGillivray Nicol, (4 February 1923 – 25 September 2003) was an English Byzantinist. Life Nicol was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to a Church of Scotland minister, and received a classical education at King Edward VII School in ...

, who researched the family's history, categorically identifies him as the brother of

George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos ( el, Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός; ca. 1390 – 1456/59.) was a Byzantine aristocrat, a member of the Kantakouzenos family, and adventurer. He is also known by the Turkish nickn ...

; Giovanni Musachi makes him the brother of

, wife 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 ...

n Despot

, but incorrectly states Thomas was the son of the Emperor

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under An ...

, an error DuCange repeats. Instead, he is more probably the son of

Theodore Kantakouzenos Theodore Palaiologos Kantakouzenos ( el, Θεόδωρος Παλαιολόγος Καντακουζηνός, Theodoros Palaiologos Kantakouzenos; after 1361 – 1410) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine nobleman and probable close relation to the Empe ...

.. Nicol had backed away from his initial identification of Thomas' and George's father being

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 Ire ...

; see hi
"The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos: Some Addenda and Corrigenda"
''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', 27 (1973), pp. 312f

Career

He was one of the many Greeks who entered the service of Despot Đurađ Branković following his marriage to

in 1414.

Ragusan Ragusan may refer to: * citizen of the Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate ...

documents show he was present at the Despot's court in 1433 and 1435. In 1439 he took part in the defense of the Smederevo castle against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

; historian

Doukas The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title ''dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzant ...

records that when the castle fell after a siege of three months, the defenders who subsequently did homage to Sultan

Murad II Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451. Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...

included Branković's son

Grgur Grgur ( sr-cyr, Гргур) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name, a variant of Greek ''Grēgorios'' (, la, Gregorius, English: Gregory) meaning "watchful, alert". It has been used in Serbian society since the Middle Ages. It may refer to: * G ...

and Thomas Kantakouzenos. Despite this ceremony, Kantakouzenos carried on the fight on behalf of his brother-in-law, leading the Despot's army to victory over Bosnian king Stephen Thomas on 16 September 1448, which restored

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being Salt mine, salt mining a ...

and

Višegrad Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav river. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,668 ...

to Serbian rule. In 1452 he led another Serbian army that invaded the

Principality of Zeta The Principality of Zeta ( sr, Кнежевина Зета, Kneževina Zeta) is a historiographical name for a late medieval principality located in the southern parts of modern Montenegro and northern parts of modern Albania, around the Lake of ...

, but was routed on 14 September by ''vojvoda''

Stefan Crnojević Stefan Crnojević ( sr-cyr, Стефан Црнојевић), known as Stefanica (Стефаница; 1426–1465) was the Lord of Zeta between 1451 and 1465. Until 1441, as a knyaz he was one of many governors in Upper Zeta, which at that t ...

. Despite his position, following Đurađ Branković's death Thomas was unable to shield his sister Irene from the cruelty of her son Lazar. On the night of Irene's death, 3 May 1457, he fled from Smederevo to Ottoman-ruled

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

with his niece Mara and his blinded nephew Grgur. Thomas was summoned to appear in court in

Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to: Places Croatia * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...

on 11 August 1459 and 18 March 1462, but Nicol doubts he answered the summons. The Serbian Annals record his death on 25 July 1463, immediately after the fall of the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

to the Ottomans.

References

Sources

* {{The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos Kantakouzenos family 1463 deaths 15th-century Byzantine people Year of birth unknown People of the Serbian Despotate Medieval Serbian military leaders 15th-century Serbian nobility