Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/593

Rh JOANNES. than Manuel and Michael Lascaris abandoned him, went to Constantinople, and persuaded Robert to declare war against Vatatzes. Its issue was un- favourable to the Latins. In a pitched battle at Poemanene or Poemanium, in 1224, the Latin troops were completely defeated ; and such was the hatred of the Greeks against the foreign intruders, that they neither gave nor accepted quarter : the two Lascaris were taken prisoners, and payed their treason with the loss of their eyes. In consequence of this victory, the greater part of the Latin pos- sessions in Asia fell into the hands of the Greeks. On the sea the Latins were successful ; they block- aded the Greek fleet in the port of Lampsacus, and Vatatzes preferred burning his own ships to having them burnt by his enemy. However, Vatatzes had little to lose on the sea, and the Latin emperor was finally compelled to sue for peace, and to leave the greater part of his Asiatic possessions in the hands of Vatatzes. The peace was of short duration. The old John of Brienne, who after the death of Ro- bert, in 1228, exchanged his nominal kingdom of Jerusalem for the real though tottering throne of Constantinople, attacked Vatatzes in 1233, in Asia, but was routed in Bithynia, and hastened back to Thrace. Supported by the fleets of the Venetians, he could, however, renew his inroads wiienever he saw a favourable opportunity. Accordingly, Va- tatzes conceived the plan of making himself master of the sea, and had he succeeded, the national Greek empire would have been soon restored to its limits of 1204. Samos, Lesbos, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and many other islands, were conquered by the Greeks, but the main force of the Venetians was in Candia; and though Vatatzes conquered the greater part of that island, his progress was checked by the Venetian governor Marino Sanuti, the historian, who at last forced the Greeks to sail back to Asia. Baffled on the sea, Vatatzes renewed his con- tinental plans, and concluded, in 1234, an alliance with Asan, king of Bulgaria. Their united forces besieged Constantinople in 1235, by land and sea, but the superiority of the Latin mariners over the Greek led to a total defeat of the Greek fleet, and twenty-four Greek gallies fell into the hands of the victors, and were paraded in triumph in the port of Constantinople. Listening to the persuasions of Messire Anseau de Cahieu, who acted as regent in the absence of the emperor Baldwin II., Asan showed symptoms of defection, and forsook his ally in 1237, when they were just besieging Constan- tinople a second time. By land, however, Vatatzes was more successful, and conquered the rest of the Latin possessions in Asia. Tlie assistance which Baldwin II. obtained in Europe is mentioned in the life of that emperor ; but the formidable knights of France and Italy tried in vain to obtain a Arm footing in Asia, and Baldwin was reduced to such weakness, that he was unable to prevent Vatatzes from sailing over to Macedonia, and compelling the self-styled emperor, John Comnenus of Epeirus, Aetolia, and Macedonia, to cede him Macedonici, to renounce the imperial title, and to be satisfied with that of despot of Epeirus (1242). In 1243 Va- tatzes concluded an alliance with Gaiyath-ed-din, the Turkish sultan of Iconium, in order to resist the approaching Mongols ; and having thus secured his eastern frontiers, he renewed his attacks upon the Latins in Constantinople. His fame was then so great, that the Roman emperor, Frederic II., one of his greatest admirers, gave him his JOANNES. 579 natural daughter Anne in marriage, in 1244, the first wife of Vatatzes having died in 1240. Never despairing of putting an end to the Latin domination in tlie East, but obliged to give up the plan of eff'ecting it with the Bulgarian king, Vatatzes undertook to subdue the Bulgarian nation, and to force those warlike barbarians to serve under his banners against the intmders at Constantinople. In 1246 he had already conquered the south- western portion of Bulgaria, and given its govern- ment, together with that of Thessalonica (Mace- donia) to his Magnus Domesticus Andronicus Pa- laeologus, when his progress was checked by a com- bined attack of the Latins and Michael Comnenus, despot of Epeirus. The issue of a protracted war was favourable to Vatatzes, who took several of the towns of the Latins in Thrace, and made peace with Michael in 1253. The following years were peaceful, and Vatatzes employed his leisure in pro- moting the happiness of his subjects. He patronised arts and sciences, constructed new roads, distri- buted the taxes equally, and made himself beloved by every body through his kindness and justice. Michael of Epeirus having threatened a new war, Vatatzes set out against him, but was taken ill in Macedonia, returned to Asia, and died, after long sufi'erings, at Nymphaeum, on the 30th of October, 1255, at the age of sixty or sixty-two. Vatatzes is justly called one of the greatest emperors of the East ; and the merit of having put an end to the Latin empire belongs as much to him as to Michael Palaeologus, who carried out, in 1261, the plan which had been conceived and successfully begun by Va- tatzes. The successor of Vatatzes was Theodore Las- caris II. (The sources referred to in Balduinus II., among which Acropolita is the principal.) [W. P.] JOANNES IV. LA'SCARIS {'Iwduvrts 6 Aacr/fa/3is), emperor of Nicaea (a. D. 1259 — 1261), was the son of the second emperor of Nicaea, Theodore II., Lascaris, whom he succeeded in 1259, at nine years of age. He first reigned under the guardianship of the patriarch Arsenius and the Magnus Domesticus Muzalon. The latter was slain, with his adherent, in a revolt of the guards, kindled by Michael Palaeologus, who was pro- claimed emperor ; and after having taken Constan- tinople from the Latins, in 1261, he deprived the youthful emperor of his eyes, and sent him into exile, where he died in obscurity. [Michael VIII.] [W. P.] ^ JOANNES V. CANTACUZE'NUS {'Iwdppvs 6 Kaj/raKoi/f'Tjj'os), emperor of Constantinople (a. d. 1342—1355), often called Joannes VI. His full name was Joannes Angelus Comnenus Palaeologus Cantacuzenus. He was the eldest son of Joannes Cantacuzenus, the chief of a great Greek family, and Theodora Palaeologina, and was bom early in the beginning of the 14th century. [See the genealogical table of theCantacuzeni,Vol. I. p. 595.] His history is intimately connected with that of his ward and rival Joannes VI. Palaeologus. John Cantacuzenus, the subject of this article, early dis- tinguished himself in the service of his relative, the emperor Andronicus Palaeologus the elder, who appointed him prefect of the sacred bed-chamber. United, by friendship and harmony of sentiments, to the emperor's grandson, Andronicus the younger, he took the part of the latter in his rebellion against his grandfather ; and it was to his valour, wisdom, and exertions, that the younger Andronicus owed his final success and the undisputed crown of Con- pp 2