Andronikos IV Palaiologos

Andronikos IV Palaiologos or Andronicus IV Palaeologus (; 11 April 1348 – 25/28 June 1385) was the eldest son of Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos. Appointed co-emperor from 1352, he had a troubled relationship with his father: he launched a failed rebellion in 1373, usurped the throne in 1376–1379, and remained engaged in a bitter struggle with John V until his death in 1385. This civil war depleted Byzantium's scarce resources and greatly facilitated the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, most notably through the cession of Gallipoli by Andronikos. He was also the father of John VII. Life Born on 11 April 1348, Andronikos IV Palaiologos was the eldest son of Emperor John V Palaiologos by his wife Helena Kantakouzene. In 1352 he was already associated as co-emperor with his father, and when John V left for Italy in 1369 to affirm his submission to the Pope, John left Andronikos behind in Constantinople as regent, while his younger son Manuel II Palaiologos was sent to govern Thessalonica. During his stay in Italy, John attempted to settle his accounts with the Republic of Venice; this included not only John's own loans, but also the loan of 30,000 ducats (and the associated interest) that his mother, Anne of Savoy, had taken during the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, with the Byzantine crown jewels as collateral. John went in person to Venice, but he lacked the funds to pay off the loans, or even to secure a ship for his voyage home. As a result, he proposed to cede to the Venetians the island of Tenedos, strategically located at the entrance of the Dardanelles, in exchange for further funds and six warships. The Venetians accepted, but when news reached Constantinople, Andronikos IV, likely urged by the Genoese, Venice's commercial rivals, refused to honour his father's agreement. This left John stranded in Venice, effectively as a captive debtor of the Republic; when he suggested that funds be raised to secure his release by selling precious objects from the churches, Andronikos again refused, claiming that this was impious. In the end, it was only the intervention of Manuel, who went from Thessalonica to Venice in person, that secured John's release. It was not until October 1371 that the emperor returned to Constantinople. Andronikos IV rebelled when the Ottoman sultan Murad I forced John V into vassalage in 1373. On 6 May, Andronikos IV fled Constantinople and allied with Murad's son Savcı Bey, who was rebelling against his own father.