Demetrios I Kantakouzenos

Demetrios I Kantakouzenos (Greek: Δημήτριος Καντακουζηνός) was a governor of the Morea and the grandson of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. Demetrios was the son of Matthew Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea, and Irene Palaiologina. Demetrios was given the title of sebastokrator by Emperor John V Palaiologos in December 1357 and went to the Peloponnese with his father and grandfather in 1361.[1]

One of the two sons of Matthew Kantakouzenos, he disputed the succession to the Despotate of the Morea with Theodore I Palaiologos, the son of John V between 1380 and 1384. Our only information for this event is a cryptic reference in the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos' Funeral Oration for his brother Theodore, who remarks on the insubordination of the "son" of Matthew Kantakouzenos, who had usurped the government on the death of Manuel Kantakouzenos in 1380. The traditional view is that this son was John, not Demetrios; however D.A. Zakythenos, a historian of the Despotate of the Peloponnese, was inclined to believe that the son was Demetrios.[1] According to the Byzantinist Donald Nicol, "This problem can hardly be satisfactory be solved on the basis of the documentary evidence available".[2]

Children

His exact number of children or further descendants is unknown. The list of possible children includes:[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) ca. 1100-1460: a Genealogical and Prosopographical Study (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1968), p. 158
  2. Nicol, Byzantine Family, p. 159
  3. From the list compiled in Nicol, Byzantine Family, p. 176
  4. Thierry Ganchou has more recently argued that Helena is a phantom, and never existed. "Une Kantakouzènè, impératrice de Trébizonde : Théodôra ou Héléna?" Revue des Etudes byzantines, 58 (2000), pp. 215-229
Demetrios I Kantakouzenos
Palaiologos dynasty
Born: unknown Died: unknown
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Matthew Kantakouzenos
Despot of the Morea
1383
Succeeded by
Theodore I Palaiologos
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