Palaiologan army
Encyclopedia
The Palaiologan army refers to the military forces of the Byzantine Empire
from the late thirteenth century to its final collapse in the mid fifteenth century, under the House of the Palaiologoi
. The army was a direct continuation of the forces of the Nicaean army, which itself was a fractured component of the formidable Komnenian army
. Under the first Palaiologan emperor, Michael VIII, the army's role took an increasingly offensive role whilst the naval forces of the Empire, weakened since the days of Andronikos I Komnenus was boosted to included thousands of skilled sailors and some 80 ships. Due to the lack of land to support the army, the Empire required the use of large numbers of mercenaries.
After Andronikos II took to the throne, the army fell apart and the Byzantines suffered regular defeats at the hands of their eastern opponents, although they would continue to enjoy success against the crusader territories in Greece. By c. 1350 the Empire's inefficient fiscal organization and incompetent central government made raising troops and the supplies to maintain them a near-impossible task, and the Empire came to rely upon troops provided by Serbs, Bulgarians, Venetians, Latins, Genoans and Turks to fight the civil wars that lasted for the greater part of the 14th century, with the latter foe being the most successful in establishing a foothold in Thrace. By the time the civil war had ended, the Turks had cut off Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire from the surrounding land and in 1453 the last decisive battle was fought by the Palaiologan army when the Capital was stormed on 29 May.
succeeded in assembling a garrison of 7,000 men (included 2,000 foreigners) to defend the city against the Ottoman army.
Byzantine troops continued to consist of cavalry, infantry and archers. Since Trebizond had broken away, Cumans and Turks were used for cavalry and missile units. In the Palaiologan era, the main term for a standing regiment was the allagion
. Palace and imperial guard units included the Varangian Guard
, the obscure Paramonai
and the Vardariotai
.
After Constantinople was retaken, Michael VIII army's continuous campaigning in Greece ensured that the Nicaean army, an offshoot of the expensive but effective Komnenian army remained in play. Under Andronicus II however, the army was reduced to destructively low numbers - mercenary troops were disbanded to save money and to lower taxes upon the disgruntled population. Instead the use of poorly equipped and ill-disciplined militia soldiers saw the replacement of the vitally important expert soldiers. The results were obvious; Byzantine losses in Asia Minor occurred primarily under Andronicus II.
In 1302 the center of military expenditure shifted back again towards mercenaries, notably the Catalan Company
, but after their leader was murdered the company returned to Thrace and Greece were they overthrew the Crusader Duchy of Athens
and seriously undermined Greek rule so that on both sides of the Bosporus the Empire suffered. Even so, mercenaries continued to be used after Andronicus II's reign. Ironically Andronicus' successor's policy of using many foreign fighters worsened Byzantium's fortunes in the same way that Andronicus had done so with their disbandment. The use of Serbs, Bulgarians and Turks of Aydin
and of the Ottomans opened Byzantium up to more foreign incursions. The deployment of up to 20,000 Turkish soldiers from the Ottoman realm to assist her nominal Greek ally only eased future conquests of the area.
Since Byzantium became increasingly incapable in raising a "loyal" Greek army, foreigners such as the Knights of Rhodes, Venetians, Genoans and Italians were added to Byzantium's fighting forces. Since the Imperial treasury was bankrupt after c 1350, these foreign fighters fought only for political reasons and often in civil wars, rather than to strengthen Byzantium's position.
Reconnaissance and ambushing enemy columns remained a favorite Byzantine tactic. At the Battle of Pelekanos, the Ottomans were successfully spied upon by the opposing Byzantine troops. Prudence remained an admirable virtue (as can be seen by John Cantacuzenus' advice to withdraw from Pelekanos).
More serious shortcomings in Byzantine strategy occurred in Asia Minor, particularly against the Ottoman Turks who would raid Byzantine lands and then retreat before any serious resistance could counter. The local population endured heavy burdens in providing officials with food and matériel, but such burdens were to difficult to take as the ravages of warfare were brought home by the Ottomans and their ghazi followers. At Magnesia, Nicomedia and Pelekanos the Byzantines suffered serious defeats at the hands of the Turks; since there were few troops to spare, the Empire was brought one step closer to peril with each defeat.
After the Imperial army suffered defeat in Asia Minor, Andronikos III saw Anatolia as a lost cause and began reorganizing the Byzantine fleet; as a result the Aegean remained an effective defense against Turkish incursions until Gallipoli was at last captured by the Turks in 1354. From then on, the Byzantine military engaged in small scale warfare against her weak Crusader opponents, mixing in diplomacy and subterfuge, often exploiting civil conflict amongst their Ottoman opponents. In the Peloponnese, territory continued to be re-conquered by the Byzantines against the weak crusaders until the mid 15th century, when the Byzantine enclave in Morea was finally conquered by the Ottomans.
, and he married two of his daughters (conceived through a mistress, a Diplovatatzina) to Mongol kings: Euphrosyne Palaiologina, who married Nogai Khan
of the Golden Horde
, and Maria Palaiologina, who married Abaqa Khan
of Ilkhanid Persia. In 1282, Nogai Khan provided Michael VIII with 4,000 Mongols
whom he sent against Thessaly
. His alliance with the Mongols would also benefit his son Andronicus II; in 1305 Ilkhan Oljeitu promised Andronicus II 40,000 men, and in 1308 dispatched 30,000 men to recover many Byzantine towns in Bithynia
.
However, the Ottomans eventually defeated the Ilkhanates. After their defeat, the Byzantines were unable to extract any more assistance from the Ilkhanates, who began to adopt Islam and were facing threats to their rule throughout Iran
.
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Weapons amongst the Byzantine army greatly varied, as did the composition of the soldiers. Shields and spears were as always the most common weapon. However as the 13th century progressed into the 14th, the crossbow emerged as an incredibly important anti-personnel weapon
. This was in line with Europe's own military thinking, which saw the rise in importance of the Genoan crossbow and the Welsh Longbow in the 14th and later 15th centuries. However, as the Empire shrunk, its resources and ability to fight declined; when Constantinople was besieged in 1453, its walls were unable to bear any cannon (the recoil of the guns would shake their own walls down) and the Empire was not able to utilize this piece of technology.
Byzantine military strategy relied heavily on fortifying towns and cities. Walls consisted of stonework with layers of thick bricks in between, perhaps allowing for absorption of an attack. Later, as artillery became increasingly more effective, sloped walls came into play. The walls would be augmented by towers, evenly spaced out and running the length of the walls. The walled towers were designed to cover the entire town.
Supplying towns and forts became Byzantium's worst problem and, though the Turks initially lacked the expertise to take walled towns, they could not be defeated on land nor their blockade broken. Cities such as Nicaea and Nicomedia fell after a few years or more. Even so, this was a longer period of time then the Crusaders in the Levant were able to hold out where impressive forts such as Krak des Chevaliers surrendered relatively quickly. Worse still were the Crusader forts in the Aegean, which often surrendered to the Byzantines and the Turks without a fight.
The Byzantine army regained an increasingly offensive role against the crusaders in the mid to late 13th century but many fortifications regained by the Byzantines fell out of use; a lack of manpower and multiple pressing fronts relegated these castles to abandonment. Some of the castles captured in Greece were used to control the local hostile Greek, Albanian, Vlach or other tribal peoples that opposed Frankish rule and since the Byzantines were both Greek and Orthodox, the threat that the Crusaders had to contend with existed on a lesser scale for the Byzantines, giving them another reason not to repair them. Constantinople's fortifications remained formidable, but repairing them proved impossible after 1370 due to the destructive nature of an ongoing civil war
. By the time the Byzantines emerged from it, they were forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, who threatened military action if any repairs were made to the millennium
-old Walls of Constantinople
. Heavily outnumbered, the walls of the capital provided the defenders in 1453 with 6 weeks of defense.
. Later in 1320, he realized the necessity of a navy and planned on resurrecting the fleet by constructing 20 galleys, but this attempt failed.
The destruction of the fleet by Andronicus II was somewhat remedied by Andronicus III, his grandson, who revived the fleet and by 1332 had a navy of 10 ships. In 1329, the island of Chios was taken by the Byzantines after the Islanders rebelled against the Genoans. Still, the navy remained but one of many in the Aegean, which was also patrolled by Venetians, Crusaders, Turks and the Genoans, who evened the loss of Chios against the Greeks with the capture of Lesbos. From the death of Andronicus III the Empire's civil wars gave the Venetians and Genoans plenty of naval warfare to dominate whilst the lack of a central government and resources worsened the navy further. In 1453, the Empire's fleet consisted of 10 ships. At the conclusive siege of Constantinople, the navy numbered a mere 26 ships, 16 of which were foreign plus another three that arrived from Rome.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
from the late thirteenth century to its final collapse in the mid fifteenth century, under the House of the Palaiologoi
Palaiologos
Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...
. The army was a direct continuation of the forces of the Nicaean army, which itself was a fractured component of the formidable Komnenian army
Komnenian army
The Komnenian Byzantine army or Komnenian army was the force established by Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the late 11th/early 12th century, and perfected by his successors John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos during the 12th century. Alexios constructed a new army from the ground...
. Under the first Palaiologan emperor, Michael VIII, the army's role took an increasingly offensive role whilst the naval forces of the Empire, weakened since the days of Andronikos I Komnenus was boosted to included thousands of skilled sailors and some 80 ships. Due to the lack of land to support the army, the Empire required the use of large numbers of mercenaries.
After Andronikos II took to the throne, the army fell apart and the Byzantines suffered regular defeats at the hands of their eastern opponents, although they would continue to enjoy success against the crusader territories in Greece. By c. 1350 the Empire's inefficient fiscal organization and incompetent central government made raising troops and the supplies to maintain them a near-impossible task, and the Empire came to rely upon troops provided by Serbs, Bulgarians, Venetians, Latins, Genoans and Turks to fight the civil wars that lasted for the greater part of the 14th century, with the latter foe being the most successful in establishing a foothold in Thrace. By the time the civil war had ended, the Turks had cut off Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire from the surrounding land and in 1453 the last decisive battle was fought by the Palaiologan army when the Capital was stormed on 29 May.
Size and organization
The Byzantine army continued to use the same military terms with regards to numbers of troops and officers as did the Komnenian army. However there were fewer territories to raise troops from. In Anatolia, the locals support for the Ottoman conquerors grew daily whilst in Greece the ravaging by the Crusaders states, Serbia, Bulgaria and earlier on by the Angevin Empire ruined the region - most of Byzantium's source of Greek man power. After 1261, the central army consisted 6,000 men, while the number of total field troops never exceeded 10,000 men. The total number of troops under Michael VIII was about 20,000 men; the mobile force numbered 15,000 men, while the town garrisons totaled 5,000 men. However, under Andronicus II the more professional elements of the army was demobilized in favor of poorly trained and cheaper militia soldiers. The Emperor decreased the entire army's strength to 4,000 men by 1320, and a year later the Empire's standing army dropped to only 3,000 men. Even though the Empire had shrunk considerably by the time of Andronicus III's reign, he succeeded in assembling an army of 4,000 men for his campaign against the Ottomans. By 1453, the Byzantine army had fallen to a regular garrison of 1,500 men in Constantinople. With a supreme effort, Constantine XIConstantine XI
Constantine XI Palaiologos, latinized as Palaeologus , Kōnstantinos XI Dragasēs Palaiologos; February 8, 1404 – May 29, 1453) was the last reigning Byzantine Emperor from 1449 to his death as member of the Palaiologos dynasty...
succeeded in assembling a garrison of 7,000 men (included 2,000 foreigners) to defend the city against the Ottoman army.
Byzantine troops continued to consist of cavalry, infantry and archers. Since Trebizond had broken away, Cumans and Turks were used for cavalry and missile units. In the Palaiologan era, the main term for a standing regiment was the allagion
Allagion
The allagion was a Byzantine military term designating a military unit. It first appeared in the mid-to-late 10th century, and by the 13th century had become the most frequent term used for the Byzantine army's standing regiments, persisting until the late 14th century.-Origin of the term:The term...
. Palace and imperial guard units included the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
, the obscure Paramonai
Paramonai
The Paramonai were an obscure Byzantine guard regiment of the Palaiologan period.The name derives from the Greek verb παραμένω meaning "to stand near something". Unlike other major guard units in the Palaiologan army like the Varangian Guard, the regiment of the Paramonai was a native Byzantine...
and the Vardariotai
Vardariotai
The Vardariotai , sometimes Anglicized as Vardariots, were an ethnic and territorial group in the later Byzantine Empire, which provided a palace guard regiment during the 12th and 13th centuries.-History:...
.
Mercenaries
In 1302 the center of military expenditure shifted back again towards mercenaries, notably the Catalan Company
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company of the East , officially the Magnas Societas Catalanorum, sometimes called the Grand Company and widely known as the Catalan Company, was a free company of mercenaries founded by Roger de Flor in the early 14th-century...
, but after their leader was murdered the company returned to Thrace and Greece were they overthrew the Crusader Duchy of Athens
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....
and seriously undermined Greek rule so that on both sides of the Bosporus the Empire suffered. Even so, mercenaries continued to be used after Andronicus II's reign. Ironically Andronicus' successor's policy of using many foreign fighters worsened Byzantium's fortunes in the same way that Andronicus had done so with their disbandment. The use of Serbs, Bulgarians and Turks of Aydin
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
and of the Ottomans opened Byzantium up to more foreign incursions. The deployment of up to 20,000 Turkish soldiers from the Ottoman realm to assist her nominal Greek ally only eased future conquests of the area.
Since Byzantium became increasingly incapable in raising a "loyal" Greek army, foreigners such as the Knights of Rhodes, Venetians, Genoans and Italians were added to Byzantium's fighting forces. Since the Imperial treasury was bankrupt after c 1350, these foreign fighters fought only for political reasons and often in civil wars, rather than to strengthen Byzantium's position.
Strategy & Tactics
The Byzantine Empire's main strategy aimed to make maximum use of an often outnumbered army. The key behind this approach was the use of border fortifications that would impede an invading force long enough for the main Imperial army to march in to its relief. One example of this occurred on May 1281 when Tarchaneiotes was sent by Michael VIII to relieve the fort town of Berat, and succeeded in driving Charles of the House of the Angevins away. Nonetheless, this strategy was not in touch with the military situation of the day - forts and castles became increasingly less useful for defense and more so as a residence. In particular were Crusader forts, Byzantiums' major opponent in the west. These forts played little role in helping the Crusaders hold on to their territories and the battle was often decided on an open field; the castle of Thebes was lost twice, first by Crusaders and then by the Catalans in 20 years without a siege. What may have contributed to the relegation of castles in war was the fact that the Crusaders in Greece were desperately short of manpower and therefore the destruction of their army on the field left their castles defenceless - as was seen in Constantinople in 1261, where only a skeleton force was left to defend the Capital due to the Latin Empire's lack of man power.Reconnaissance and ambushing enemy columns remained a favorite Byzantine tactic. At the Battle of Pelekanos, the Ottomans were successfully spied upon by the opposing Byzantine troops. Prudence remained an admirable virtue (as can be seen by John Cantacuzenus' advice to withdraw from Pelekanos).
More serious shortcomings in Byzantine strategy occurred in Asia Minor, particularly against the Ottoman Turks who would raid Byzantine lands and then retreat before any serious resistance could counter. The local population endured heavy burdens in providing officials with food and matériel, but such burdens were to difficult to take as the ravages of warfare were brought home by the Ottomans and their ghazi followers. At Magnesia, Nicomedia and Pelekanos the Byzantines suffered serious defeats at the hands of the Turks; since there were few troops to spare, the Empire was brought one step closer to peril with each defeat.
Alliance with the Mongols
Michael VIII Palaiologos was anxious to establish an alliance with the Mongols, who themselves were highly favourable to Christianity, many of them being Nestorian Christians. He signed a treaty in 1263 with the Mongol Khan of the Golden HordeGolden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, and he married two of his daughters (conceived through a mistress, a Diplovatatzina) to Mongol kings: Euphrosyne Palaiologina, who married Nogai Khan
Nogai Khan
Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...
of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, and Maria Palaiologina, who married Abaqa Khan
Abaqa Khan
Abaqa Khan , also Abaga , or Abagha Khan, was the second Mongol ruler of the Persian Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Yesuncin Khatun, he reigned from 1265–1282 and was succeeded by his brother Tekuder Khan...
of Ilkhanid Persia. In 1282, Nogai Khan provided Michael VIII with 4,000 Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
whom he sent against Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
. His alliance with the Mongols would also benefit his son Andronicus II; in 1305 Ilkhan Oljeitu promised Andronicus II 40,000 men, and in 1308 dispatched 30,000 men to recover many Byzantine towns in Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
.
However, the Ottomans eventually defeated the Ilkhanates. After their defeat, the Byzantines were unable to extract any more assistance from the Ilkhanates, who began to adopt Islam and were facing threats to their rule throughout Iran
Greater Iran
Greater Iran refers to the regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence. It roughly corresponds to the territory on the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains, stretching from Iraq, the Caucasus, and Turkey in the west to the Indus River in the east...
.
Weapons
Anti-personnel weapon
An anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to incapacitate people, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles.The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gave rise to weapons designed specifically to attack them, and thus a need to distinguish between those systems and...
. This was in line with Europe's own military thinking, which saw the rise in importance of the Genoan crossbow and the Welsh Longbow in the 14th and later 15th centuries. However, as the Empire shrunk, its resources and ability to fight declined; when Constantinople was besieged in 1453, its walls were unable to bear any cannon (the recoil of the guns would shake their own walls down) and the Empire was not able to utilize this piece of technology.
Fortifications & siege warfare
Supplying towns and forts became Byzantium's worst problem and, though the Turks initially lacked the expertise to take walled towns, they could not be defeated on land nor their blockade broken. Cities such as Nicaea and Nicomedia fell after a few years or more. Even so, this was a longer period of time then the Crusaders in the Levant were able to hold out where impressive forts such as Krak des Chevaliers surrendered relatively quickly. Worse still were the Crusader forts in the Aegean, which often surrendered to the Byzantines and the Turks without a fight.
The Byzantine army regained an increasingly offensive role against the crusaders in the mid to late 13th century but many fortifications regained by the Byzantines fell out of use; a lack of manpower and multiple pressing fronts relegated these castles to abandonment. Some of the castles captured in Greece were used to control the local hostile Greek, Albanian, Vlach or other tribal peoples that opposed Frankish rule and since the Byzantines were both Greek and Orthodox, the threat that the Crusaders had to contend with existed on a lesser scale for the Byzantines, giving them another reason not to repair them. Constantinople's fortifications remained formidable, but repairing them proved impossible after 1370 due to the destructive nature of an ongoing civil war
Byzantium under the Palaiologoi
The Byzantine Empire or Byzantium, the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, was ruled by the Palaiologoi dynasty in the period c...
. By the time the Byzantines emerged from it, they were forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, who threatened military action if any repairs were made to the millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
-old Walls of Constantinople
Walls of Constantinople
The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople since its founding as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine the Great...
. Heavily outnumbered, the walls of the capital provided the defenders in 1453 with 6 weeks of defense.
Navy
The Byzantine navy had always been one of the most powerful in the Eastern Mediterranean up to and including the era of the Komnenian period. However, the neglect under the Angeloi seriously reduced Byzantium's capabilities at sea. Michael VIII reversed the situation and began increasing the size of the navy to about 80 ships. Michael's efforts bore little fruit, however, as is testified by the fact that 32 Venetian ships defeated a Byzantine-Genoan fleet of 48 ships. Worse still was the fact that Michael VIII became increasingly reliant upon the Genoans for naval support, having hired 50-60 galleys in 1261. The Navy collapsed into worse shape still when Andronicus II, as part of his demilitarization of the Empire, disbanded the navy. The consequences did not simply mean an end to a Byzantine naval defense; it also meant an increased reliance on the unreliable Genoans and Venetians (who would consistently burn each other's property in the capital, thereby damaging the city) and left thousands of skilled sailors up for grabs by the Turks, who hired them to build their own fleets. By 1291, Andronicus II had hired 50-60 ships from the Republic of GenoaRepublic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
. Later in 1320, he realized the necessity of a navy and planned on resurrecting the fleet by constructing 20 galleys, but this attempt failed.
The destruction of the fleet by Andronicus II was somewhat remedied by Andronicus III, his grandson, who revived the fleet and by 1332 had a navy of 10 ships. In 1329, the island of Chios was taken by the Byzantines after the Islanders rebelled against the Genoans. Still, the navy remained but one of many in the Aegean, which was also patrolled by Venetians, Crusaders, Turks and the Genoans, who evened the loss of Chios against the Greeks with the capture of Lesbos. From the death of Andronicus III the Empire's civil wars gave the Venetians and Genoans plenty of naval warfare to dominate whilst the lack of a central government and resources worsened the navy further. In 1453, the Empire's fleet consisted of 10 ships. At the conclusive siege of Constantinople, the navy numbered a mere 26 ships, 16 of which were foreign plus another three that arrived from Rome.
Timeline
- 1259 - A Byzantine army of about 6,000 men participates in the Battle of PelagoniaBattle of PelagoniaThe Battle of Pelagonia took place in September of 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus, Sicily and the Principality of Achaea...
where the empire scored a victory over the FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. - 1261 - Alexios StrategopoulosAlexios StrategopoulosAlexios Strategopoulos was a Byzantine general during the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos, rising to the rank of megas domestikos and Caesar. He is most notable for leading the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latins in 1261.- Early life :...
leads a force of 800 men that succeeds in taking Constantinople without a siege. - 1263 - An army of 15,000 men was sent to conquer the Principality of AchaeaPrincipality of AchaeaThe Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica...
, but it was defeated near AndravidaAndravidaAndravída is a town and a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andravida-Kyllini, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population is about 4,300. Distance from Patras is around 63 km SW and 33 km NW of...
. Afterwards, 6,000 mounted troops were left to police the PeloponnesePeloponneseThe Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. - 1250 - 1280 Michael Palaeologus campaigns against the Latins, Serbians and Bulgarians, conquering Macedonia, northern Greece, and Bulgarian lands in Thrace.
- 1279 - Ivan Asen III was given a Byzantine army of 10,000 men by Michael VIII in order to claim the Bulgarian throne. He succeeded in capturing Tirnovo and overthrowing Ivailo.
- 1303 - In response to numerous Turkish raids, the Catalan Company of 6,500 men sell their services to the Byzantine Emperor.
- 1310 - 1340 Despite the assistance of the Golden HordeGolden HordeThe Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, IlkhanateIlkhanateThe Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
and AydinAydinAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
, the last Byzantine towns in Asia are lost. - 1321–1328 - Civil warByzantine civil war of 1321–1328The 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 war:...
between Andronicus II and his grandson Andronicus III, leads to the deposition of the former. - 1329 - Andronicus III and John VIJohn VI KantakouzenosJohn VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
led an army of 4,000 men against the Ottoman Turks, but was defeated at the Battle of PelekanonBattle of PelekanonThe Battle of Pelekanon also known by its Latinised form Battle of Pelecanum occurred on June 10-11, 1329 between an expeditionary force by the Byzantines led by Andronicus III and an Ottoman army led by Orhan I...
. - 1330-1340 Andronicus III conquers Epirus, the last of Byzantium's significant conquests.
- 1334 - Significant fortresses in northern Macedonia fall to the Serbs under the renegade Syrgiannes Palaiologos
- 1341–1347 - Civil warByzantine civil war of 1341–1347The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 was a conflict between supporters of designated regent John VI Kantakouzenos and guardians acting for John V Palaiologos, Emperor Andronikos III's nine-year-old son, in the persons of the Empress-dowager Anna of Savoy, the Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV...
between John VI Cantacuzenus and the regency for John V Palaeologus. Macedonia and Albania are lost to Stefan Dushan. - 1354 - Galipolli is occupied by the Ottomans after an earthquake.
- 1354 - 1390 The Byzantine Empire loses all of Thrace to the advance of the Ottoman troops.
- 1422 - The Walls of Constantinople hold out against a full-scale Ottoman siege.
- 1430 - Thessalonica is sacked by the Ottomans, despite Venetian command of the city.
- c. 1450 - Constantine XI defeats the Crusaders in the Morea, temporarily expanding Byzantine rule there. The Ottomans in reply launch their own offensive, nullifying the gains.
- 1453 - Constantine XI, last BasileusBasileusBasileus is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. It is perhaps best known in English as a title used by the Byzantine Emperors, but also has a longer history of use for persons of authority and sovereigns in ancient Greece, as well as for the kings of...
and commander of the Byzantine Empire, defending Constantinople with 7,000 men, is slain in battleFall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
.