The reluctant emperor : a biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine emperor and monk, c.1295-1383
This was the first biography in English of one of the most unusual Byzantine emperors in Constantinople who reigned from 1347 to 1354, and who subsequently spent thirty years as a monk. John Cantacuzene was unique in that he wrote his own memoirs and in his range of talents and interests as a soldier, scholar, and theologian.
Biographies
225 pages : illustrations, map, portraits
9780521522014, 9780521552561, 0521522013, 0521552567
59487573
List of plates; Introduction; List of abbreviations; 1. The political and social background; 2. The old order changes, 1321–1328; 3. Emperor in waiting, 1328–1341; 4. War for the throne, 1341–1347; 5. Emperor of the Roman, 1347–1351; 6. Emperor of the Roman, 1351–1354; 7. Monk, historian and theologian, 1354–1383; 8. Character, achievements and failures; Bibliography.
Originally published: 1996