John VII Palaeologus

John VII Palaiologos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 1370 – September 22, 1408) was Byzantine emperor for five months in 1390, from April 14 to September 17. A handful of sources suggest that John VII sometimes used the name Andronicus (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος ), possibly to honor the memory of his father., Andronicus IV Palaeologus.

Andronicus IV was the first-born son of Emperor John V Palaiologos and, therefore, had been the heir to the throne. After a failed rebellion in 1373, Andronicus IV was imprisoned and partially blinded, possibly the same punishment being carried out on John VII, who was then only three years old. Andronicus IV escaped in 1376 and successfully took Constantinople, ruling as emperor until 1379. John VII served as co-emperor during this time, possibly being appointed in 1377. Although deposed in 1379 by his brother Manuel II Palaiologos and his father John V, Andronicus IV He never gave up his claims. To avoid further conflict, it was agreed in 1381 that Andronicus IV would succeed John V, making John VII second in line to the throne.

After the death of Andronicus IV in 1385, John VII inherited his claims. Despite the previous agreement, John V considered Manuel II as the preferred successor. John VII rebelled against John V and successfully seized Constantinople in 1390. After only five months, Manuel managed to depose his nephew with the help of the Ottomans and the Knights Hospitaller. Upon the death of John V in 1391, Manuel II succeeded him as emperor. Even though he possessed a powerful network of allies, John VII never renounced his claim to be the legitimate emperor, and the tense relationship between him and his uncle brought the empire close to civil war several times. Although they were only honored to a limited extent by Manuel, several agreements were made regarding the status and line of succession between the two to avoid conflict, certifying that John VII remained co-emperor and was to succeed Manuel upon his death.

In 1394, Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I besieged Constantinople. Manuel II left the city in 1399 to travel through Western Europe in search of military aid, and commissioned John VII to serve as regent in Constantinople, overseeing its defense. Despite accusations of conspiring with the Ottomans, John VII loyally held the city for the entire duration of Manuel's three and a half year voyage, refusing to surrender it to Bayezid I. The threat to Constantinople ended with Bayezid's defeat against the Ottomans. Timurids at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. In the aftermath of this battle, John VII negotiated a favorable treaty with one of Bayezid I's sons, Süleyman Çelebi, which ensured that the important city of Thessalonica, lost to the Ottomans in 1387 due to the actions of Manuel II, was returned to imperial control. Despite John VII's loyal service, Manuel dismissed him in disgrace once he returned in 1403, and the two became enemies again. This dispute proved to be brief, as they were reconciled a few months later and a new agreement was reached, in which John VII was allowed to take possession of Thessalonica and was recognized with the full imperial title. From 1403 until his death in 1408, John VII ruled in Thessaloniki as 'Emperor of All Thessaly', with his own imperial court separate from him. The Thessalonians considered him an able ruler, and his work with local church affairs and the improvement of the city's defensive structures earned him a positive memory.

Biography

Background and early years

John VII Palaiologos was born in 1370 as the only son of Andronikos IV Palaiologos and Keratsa of Bulgaria, daughter of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria. Andronikos IV was the firstborn of Emperor John V Palaiologos and, therefore, the legitimate heir of the Byzantine throne.

The Palaiologan dynasty, in power from 1259/1261, was frequently plagued by infighting, and the emperors and princes of the family were often unable to cooperate with each other, to the detriment of the empire. The Byzantines' main enemy at the time was the Ottoman Empire, which over the course of the 14th century 14 conquered vast swaths of the ancient territory. imperial. John V had even agreed to serve the Ottoman sultan Murad I as a tributary vassal. At this time, despite geopolitical adversity, Byzantine and Ottoman aristocrats were in close contact with each other.

While John V was serving in an Ottoman campaign in Anatolia, according to his vassalage agreement with Murad I, Andronicus IV and one of Murad I's sons, Savci Bey, coordinated simultaneous revolts against their fathers. The two princes They were defeated, captured and imprisoned within a few months, as their fathers joined forces to quell the revolts. Andronicus IV and Savci Bey suffered harsh punishment. Savci was blinded and beheaded by Murad I, and although the sultan ordered John V also blinded his son, the Byzantine emperor was reluctant, only partially complying. Andronicus IV was only partially blind, apparently losing only one of his eyes. Some sources suggest that Andronicus's youngest son, John, the later John VII, who was only three years old at the time, was also partially blind in the same way. In addition, Andronicus IV lost his right of succession to the throne, and his younger brother, Manuel II Palaiologos, was appointed heir by John V in his place.

Imprisoned with his family in the Anemas prison in Constantinople, Andronikos IV escaped in July 1376, along with his wife and son, to Galata, a colony of the Republic of Genoa on the other side of the Golden Horn, where was received with enthusiasm by the Genoese. The Genoese preferred Andronicus IV to John V, because the latter had recently ceded the island of Ténedos to his rival, the Republic of Venice, thus harming their commercial interests. Andronicus IV also retained the support of a large part of the Byzantine society, despite his rebellious actions, and successfully took Constantinople on August 12 of that same year, with the support of the Genoese and Ottomans. John V and Manuel II were imprisoned, and Andronicus IV ruled as emperor. for three years before they escaped and deposed him. During his father's reign (12 August 1376 – 1 July 1379), John VII was proclaimed co-emperor, probably in 1377. Even after being deposed, Andronicus IV never renounced his right to the throne in Galata and openly declared his intentions to retake the capital.

The confrontation between Andronicus IV and the emperors of Constantinople lasted until 1381, when an agreement was reached that Andronicus IV and his son John VII would be John V's successors as emperors. In addition, Andronicus IV was once again recognized as minor co-emperor and allowed to retain and use the title basileus (emperor). Andronicus IV also received lands around Selimbria as a fief in 1382.

Andronicus predeceased John V, dying on June 25 or 28, 1385. John VII inherited his father's lands around Selimbria and, according to the agreement of 1381, also inherited the right to use the title of basileus., becoming a minor co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He also inherited his father's claim to be the legitimate heir of John V. From his position as minor emperor, John VII received the support of the Ottoman Empire, especially from the time of the accession of Bayezid I (1389) onwards, and of the Genoese. Genoese support did not escape the attention of John V. At some point between 1387 and 1391, John V is recorded as complaining to the Genoese that the inhabitants of Galata hailed and greeted John VII as if he were the main emperor, while denying John V the corresponding honors.

Usurpation of the throne and reign

Despite the agreement of 1381, which explicitly declared that John VII was the legitimate successor and that Manuel II had shown some rebellious tendencies, Manuel II remained John V's preferred heir and represented John VII's main obstacle in his way to the throne. When Manuel II was campaigning in Anatolia in 1390, the twenty-year-old John VII took advantage of the moment and proclaimed himself sole emperor, laying siege to Constantinople. According to the contemporary Russian chronicler Ignatius of Smolensk, 1390 had seen a strong current of opinion in favor of John VII. John VII had secured the support of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Genoese; Shortly before the siege (probably late 1389) he had even traveled to Genoa in person to rally support. While traveling back to the Byzantine Empire by land, John VII may have passed through Bulgaria, where he may also have sought help. of Ivan Esratsimir and Ivan Shishman, tsars of Bulgaria in Vidin and Tarnovo, respectively.

In addition to his external allies, a large percentage of the population of Constantinople also supported John VII, and may even have approved of the subtle Ottoman intervention in the succession. John VII entered the city on April 14, 1390, His brief siege ended when a group of commoners opened the Charisian Gate, without a fight, and let him in. Although some coercion was used, before long everyone in the city had recognized and hailed John VII as emperor, submitting to his government.

There is some contemporary evidence that John VII used the name Andronicus at the time of his usurpation. Ignatius of Smolensk, an eyewitness to the event, wrote that soldiers in the service of John VII shouted the acclamation "Polla ta eti Andronikou!", instead of the expected "Polla ta eti Ioannou!» and records of expense records in Galata in 1390 mention that the emperor in Constantinople at that time was Andronicus Palaiologos. It is possible that John VII changed his name to Andronicus after his father's death in 1385 to honor his memory, or adopted it only in 1390, in order to avoid confusion and facilitate his usurpation of the throne. If his soldiers and the people of Constantinople deposed an emperor named John and proclaimed another of the same name, the whole affair might be carried out in confusion. By using the name Andronicus, these problems would be avoided. During his actual reign as emperor, after successfully taking the throne, John VII does not appear to have used his middle name, reigning under his birth name. In the treaties he signed he is known as John, and contemporary Byzantine authors also consistently refer to him by his birth name, ignoring any middle name for him.

The few recorded activities that took place during John VII's brief reign suggest that he believed he would rule for a long time. In June, he signed a commercial treaty with Venice and during his time as emperor he issued prostagmas (imperial decisions/orders) and minted coins. John VII is also recorded as supporting the restoration of Macarius to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Macarius had been Patriarch of Constantinople during the reign of John VII's father, in 1376-1379.

The reign of John VII ended the same year it had begun, when Manuel returned from his campaign. With the support of the Knights Hospitaller and the Ottomans, Manuel deposed John VII, who had ruled for just five months, the 17 September and restored the rule of John V. After helping Manuel II retake the city for his father, Sultan Bayezid I forced him to live at the Ottoman court, acting as a submissive vassal.

Governor in Selimbria and claims

John VII never renounced his claim to be emperor and continued to be a powerful political player in the Byzantine Empire for years after his deposition. Sometime before 1397, possibly as early as 1390, John VII married Irene Gattilusio, daughter of Francesco II Gattilusio, the lord of the island of Lesvos. After John V returned to the throne, Bayezid I summoned the two minor emperors, Manuel II and John VII, to join the sultan's campaigns. in Anatolia. Both were forced to participate in the Ottoman subjugation of Philadelphia, the last Christian city in western Anatolia. When John V died in 1391, Manuel II, at Bayezid's court at the time, quickly headed to Constantinople to anticipate John VII and claim the throne.

John VII continued to rule Selimbria after the death of John V and continued to aspire to become senior emperor following the accession of Manuel II. He ruled Selimbria as a vassal of Bayezid I, which meant he was forced to help to the sultan in new campaigns in Anatolia. According to the historian John W. Barker, John VII attempted to sell his right to the Byzantine throne to Charles VI of France. In 1397 at Selimbria, John VII supposedly entrusted the French nobles Henry of Bar and John of Nevers with negotiating with Charles VI, with John VII seeking a French castle and a generous pension in exchange for renouncing the title. Barker's hypothesis is based on a royal legal document signed on 15 July 1397, possibly in Saray rather than Selimbria, but the document itself contains no mention of the rights that John VII entrusted to French nobles or what they were. his exact intentions when negotiating with Charles VI. The idea that John VII intended to sell his claims is based on premature interpretations of the document itself and notes by nobles about a discussion with Francesco II Gattilusio about Lesbos, during which Gattilusio supposedly divulged what he believed were the intentions. of John VII.

John VII's hopes of reclaiming the throne continued to be supported by Bayezid I, who saw him as a more promising candidate than the staunchly anti-Ottoman Manuel II. By supporting John VII, Bayezid I hoped to turn the Byzantine Empire into an obedient vassal state, as it had almost been under John V. Although Bayezid I was an important ally, Manuel II used his open support for John VII in his efforts to delegitimize the claims of John VII. In some of Manuel II's early texts, he went so far as to state that John VII's final plan was to hand over Constantinople to the Ottomans.

Despite Manuel II's propaganda campaign, John VII still enjoyed considerable support, both within the empire and among its allies. In addition to Bayezid I, John VII continued to count on the support of the Republic of Genoa, with which he had commercial connections. Furthermore, John VII was also backed by a wide network of wealthy Byzantine aristocrats. His extensive support and wealth gave him a constant source of resources that he could use in the dispute with his uncle.

In addition to his support from certain aristocrats and their international allies, there was also a faction within Constantinople, composed mainly of commoners, who wished to restore John VII as senior emperor, as early as 1399. This faction opposed the government of Manuel II, believing that he did not care about the survival of the empire and ruled as a tyrant. As John VII had been constitutionally invested with the right to succeed to the throne in 1381, he was seen as the legitimate heir, not Manuel II, who was seen as a usurper more interested in his own power than anything else. This perception of Manuel II was used by John VII in his own propaganda.

Reconciliation with Manuel II and permanence as regent

Tensions between John VII and Manuel II intensified when Bayezid I began to threaten to conquer Constantinople. In 1394, Bayezid besieged the city. Encouraged by the French knight Boucicaut, who had been placed as leader of the defense of Constantinople and who had good relations with both John VII and Manuel II, the two emperors reached an agreement aimed at ending their dynastic feud in 1399. According to the Byzantine Monk Simeon of Thessalonica, John VII's attitude towards Manuel II only had changed because Bayezid I had attacked their lands around Selimbria in 1397. The agreement was that Manuel II adopted John VII, and that John VII in turn adopted Manuel II's sons and daughters, uniting the two branches of the family. Manuel II also formally recognized John VII as the first co-emperor, surpassing in rank Manuel II's own son, John VIII Palaiologos, who later became the second co-emperor.

The agreement allowed Manuel II to leave the city on a three-year mission to travel around Europe in an attempt to secure military aid, while John VII was tasked with remaining in Constantinople as regent, ruling the city in absentia. of Manuel. Although he had in effect become emperor-regent, John VII's responsibility was primarily the defense of Constantinople, not other matters normally handled by the emperor. Due to a lack of sources, John's regency VII in Constantinople is not well documented, and the extent of his power and how he exercised it is not entirely clear. It does not appear that the agreement of 1399 was fulfilled by Manuel II, since he sent his family (now apparently John's family) to his brother Theodore Palaeologus in the Morea. The only surviving textual records of John VII's activities in Constantinople are treaties with the Venetians and Genoese, and documentation of his decision to depose Patriarch Matthew I. Matthew I had many enemies in Constantinople, for reasons not entirely clear., and the anti-Matthew faction managed to persuade John VII to depose him. He would later be restored by Manuel II once he returned to Constantinople. In the Byzantine Empire, the ultimate authority to appoint patriarchs rested solely with the emperor.

While besieging the city, Bayezid I attempted to appeal to John VII's supporters by posing as a defender of John VII's legitimacy and offering peace on the condition that John VII be returned to the throne, terms that Manuel II had rejected before his departure, a decision that prolonged the siege. Once Manuel II abandoned the city, Bayezid I attempted to negotiate directly with John VII. Perhaps overlooking that he had supported the deposition of John VII by Manuel II in 1390, his own attack on John VII's lands in Selimbria in 1397, and the reconciliation between the two emperors, Bayezid I seemed to continue to believe that he could trust that John VII carried out his orders. Shortly after the departure of Manuel II from Constantinople, he sent the following message to John VII from Adrianople:

If I've really thrown Manuel from the city, I haven't done it for you, but for me. And if, then, you want to be our friend, get out of there and I'll give you a province, whatever you want. But if you do not, with God and his great prophet as a witness, I will not forgive anyone, but I will destroy everyone completely.

John VII refused to surrender the city and responded defiantly to Bayezid I's messenger, who said the following:

Retreat, inform your master: we are in poverty and there is no great power that we can flee, except the God who helps the powerless and dominates the powerful. So if you want something, do it!

The situation became grimmer as time passed and Manuel II's absence lengthened. Although Venice had promised to send military aid to lift the siege, the promised forces never arrived. Even though his forces were exhausted and the Timurids appeared in the eastern parts of his empire, Bayezid I refused to abandon the siege. During the six-year siege, the citizens of Constantinople suffered. Many of them chose to escape the walls to personally surrender to the Ottoman forces.

Despite having refused to surrender the city, John VII maintained some connections with Bayezid I. In early January 1401, John VII was away from Constantinople, attempting to sign an agreement with Bayezid I. Whatever he did, appears to have worked momentarily as the siege was lifted for a brief period in the summer. In 1402, John VII is recorded as present on an Ottoman military expedition in the Peloponnese. On June 1, 1402, when the siege was intensifying, John VII sent a letter to Henry IV of England, writing of the urgent danger that threatened Constantinople. About a month after this letter was sent, Bayezid I finally left the city, having to deal with the Timurids. The defeat and capture of Bayezid I at the Battle of Ankara on 20 July 1402, and the subsequent Ottoman civil war that broke out, ended the siege of Constantinople and saved the city.

John VII used the Ottoman defeat at Ankara to negotiate a treaty with one of Bayezid I's sons, Süleyman Çelebi, in which the city of Thessaloniki, as well as substantial territories in Thrace and Macedonia, were returned to the Byzantine Empire. John VII baptized and Christianized two of Bayezid's sons in 1403: İsa Çelebi and Yusuf Çelebi. It is possible that İsa was adopted by John VII, and Yusuf is recorded as continuing to live in Constantinople, there until 1413.

Following Manuel II's return to Constantinople in June 1403, John VII returned power to him. Although some contemporary commentaries seem to suggest that everyone expected John VII to refuse to give up power, John VII appears to have been content to leave his responsibilities after ruling the Byzantine capital for three and a half years. Once Manuel II returned, he reversed several of John VII's decisions, for example, disavowing a treaty that John VII had made with the Ottomans, in which they had granted religious and economic privileges.

New tensions within the imperial family

After the return of Manuel II in 1403, relations between him and John VII were tense again. As he knew that John VII could no longer count on Ottoman support, Manuel II attempted to exclude him completely from the imperial hierarchy, stripping him of the title of basileum and depriving him of his promised lands in Selimbria and Thessalonica. Manuel II attributed the reasons for excluding John VII to rumors that John VII had begun negotiations in 1402 with Bayezid I regarding the surrender of Constantinople. The contemporary Castilian traveler Ruy González de Clavijo wrote that John VII and Bayezid I had agreed that If Bayezid I defeated the Timurids, John VII would surrender the city. It is doubtful that such an agreement would be reached, especially since John VII proved loyal during his tenure as regent and concluded a very favorable treaty with the Ottoman prince. Süleyman Çelebi. According to German historian Peter Wirth, it is possible that the reason for the resentment that was brewing again between John VII and Manuel II after Manuel II's return could be that Manuel II felt that he had been ignored and left out of these important negotiations.

John VII was sent to the island of Lemnos, apparently in disgrace, but fled to his father-in-law Francesco II in nearby Lesbos. Shortly afterwards, in September 1403, John VII and Francesco II launched a naval expedition against Thessalonica, although it appears to have had little or no results. The expedition was not an attempt to take the city from the control of Manuel II, but rather from liberate it from the Ottomans, as an Ottoman garrison was still present. John VII and Francesco returned to Lesvos, where Boucicaut was also residing at the time. Together with Boucicaut, they then traveled to Constantinople at the head of an army, with the intention of taking the city from Manuel II by force.

Although they ultimately chose not to attack the city, John VII's drastic actions demanded a new political agreement between the dynasties. The resulting 1403 agreement between John VII and Manuel II was similar to the one they had made in 1399. As Manuel II's adopted son, John VII remained the first co-emperor and Manuel's current son, John VIII, remained the second co-emperor. John VII's rights over Thessalonica were also asserted. Clavijo, present in Constantinople at the time, writes that both Manuel II and John VII were designated as full emperors and that John VII would reign only after the death of Manuel II, after which would be succeeded by Manuel's son, John VIII, who in turn would be succeeded by John VII's newborn son, Andronicus V Palaiologos. Contemporary reactions to the resolution appear to have been bitter. Clavijo wrote that he did not believe that the agreement was respected by any of the emperors.

Emperor in Thessalonica

The transfer of Thessaloniki from Ottoman control to the Byzantines was supervised by Manuel II's confidant, Demetrius Láscaris Leontario, who by agreement between the two emperors handed it over to John VII. According to preserved documents signed by John VII, it was probably He first arrived in Thessalonica in late 1403. Although John VII was accompanied on the initial journey by some of Manuel II's staunchest supporters, such as Leontario and Demetrius Chrysoloras, who were ordered to keep an eye on his activities, John VII immediately assumed the autonomy of Constantinople. Despite his agreement and John VII's de facto autonomy, Manuel II's texts claim that John VII "gave" Thessalonica to Manuel II, a phrase that suggests that Manuel II still He considered himself the superior of John VII. Although no surviving copies are known, a detailed oath was drawn up between Manuel II and John VII, which decided a well-defined border between the empires of Constantinople and Thessalonica. Some territories located closer to Thessaloniki than Constantinople, such as Mount Athos, remained sworn to Constantinople.

John was invested as despot of Thessalonica and was allowed to retain the full imperial title. While ruling Thessalonica, John VII is attested to have used the title Βασιλεύς ἀπάσης Θετταλίας, translated variously as "Emperor of Thessaly", "Emperor of All Thessaly", "Emperor of all Thessaly" or "Emperor of all Thessaly". Although he had assumed this new title, John VII never ceased to assert his right to be the legitimate Byzantine emperor, and He continued to use the titles autocrat and basileo, identical to the title of Manuel II. In foreign correspondence, he addressed her in the same way as his uncle. The treaties preserved with the Italian republics refer to John VII as imperador di Griesi ("Emperor of the Greeks") and lo gran imperator Caloiani imperador di Griesi ("The great Emperor Kalojoannes, Emperor of the Greeks). John's entry into Thessalonica was commemorated on a Byzantine ivory pyx (a cylindrical box with a lid). This pyx, now preserved at Dumbarton Oaks, represents both the imperial family of John VII (including his wife Irene and his son Andronicus V) and the imperial family of Manuel II (including his wife Helena Dragaš and their son, John VIII).

In Thessalonica, John VII created his own treasury and minted his own coins with his own portrait instead of that of Manuel. He created his own imperial court and chancellery, where documents were signed with his name instead of Manuel II's name. Throughout the reign of John VII in Thessalonica, which lasted until his death in 1408, the Byzantine Empire thus experienced a period of dual government, essentially divided in two. John VII's activities as emperor in Thessalonica consisted mainly of organizing the defend the city and regulate local church property. He appears to have been satisfied with his position; There are no further records of conflict between John VII and Manuel II after the events of 1403.

The arrival of John VII in Thessalonica meant more to the Thessalonians than simply the arrival of an emperor. Through his treaty of 1403, John VII had liberated the city from the Ottomans and once again made it the second city of the Byzantine Empire. Although Manuel II had also been involved in some of the negotiations, most of the credit for ensuring the return of Thessalonica to imperial control must be awarded to John VII. As such, his arrival in the city was not only the arrival of a new governor, but the liberator of the city. During his reign in Thessalonica, the Thessalonians continued to see John VII as a capable ruler. According to Simeon of Thessalonica, John VII "fortified [the city] on all sides with triremes and external walls" and "adorned it with good regulations and institutions."

Shortly after arriving in Thessalonica, John VII crowned his son, Andronicus V, as co-emperor. John VII saw Andronicus V not only as his own legitimate successor, but as the future legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire. This can be deduced from the aforementioned pyx depicting Andronicus V more prominently than Manuel's heir, John VIII, as well as from the monodys composed after the death of Andronicus V. One such monody states that Andronicus's parents V had "gladly considered him as their successor." Andronicus V, who was named after his grandfather Andronicus IV, was according to the agreement of 1403 the legitimate heir to the empire, destined to be the heir of Manuel's son, John VIII. Any plans for Andronicus V's future failed when he died in 1407 at the age of seven. Some time after Andronicus V's death, John VII became a monk, assuming the monastic name of Joseph. John VII died in Thessalonica one year after Andronicus V, on September 22, 1408, at the relatively young age of 38. With the deaths of Andronicus V and John VII, the rival imperial lineage that had been established by Andronicus IV became extinct.

Legacy

John VII was remembered positively in Thessalonica. The city often did not completely obey Constantinople, and its leaders often went their own way in terms of administration. For the citizens of Thessalonica, the death of John VII was a significant blow to their autonomy. John VII's reign in Thessalonica was the last time the city served as a sort of counter-capital to Constantinople. Manuel II visited the city. city in 1409 and installed his son, Andronicus, as governor. While he found many citizens who approved of him, there were also many who opposed having a ruler from Constantinople imposed on them. That the Thessalonians had enjoyed the rule of a leader with a rebellious past, who like Manuel II bore the title of Basileus, had probably only stimulated the city's separatist tendencies.

A passage of praise in a eulogy of John VII, from the Synod of Thessalonica, says:

For our emperor John the Palaeologist fought almost on his knees with ferocity and courage in defense of the Romans at a time when the foreign peoples bowed to us [...] and when an indecently more powerful wave that had risen and threatened to destroy everything, and freed the emperor of slavery and assured our security by all possible means.

Another eulogy, probably written by Simeon of Thessalonica, contains this passage:

He led in a truly orthodox way throughout his life. He was a prominent advocate of the church and his sacred doctrines... When waves of unheard violence were lifted and threatened to swallow everything, he did not give up, but as a good conductor he took control of the Romans again. He recovered several cities of the hands of the barbarians, of which the first and greatest was our own Thessalonica, seeing the light of freedom after a long servitude. He established his residence in our city and, without neglecting anything, employed all the means to guarantee our security. He also won many victories and triumphs over his own sufferings; the great variety of diseases he suffered made him progress in virtue.

Other praise, as well as an equally praised monody by the contemporary Byzantine author Theodore Potamius, almost give the impression that a cult of John VII was beginning to develop in Thessalonica.

Ancestors

Sources

Notes

References

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