John VIII Palaiologos
1392 – 1448 · Generation XL · Emperor (r. 1425–1448) · Palaiologos
John (AD 1392 – 1448). Emperor (r. 1425–1448). Son of Manuel II. He directed the defence of Constantinople against Murad II’s siege in 1422, though he could not save Thessalonica, which his brother had signed over to Venice. The great gamble of his reign was church union: he travelled twice to Italy and in 1439, with seven hundred followers behind him — the patriarch and the philosopher Plethon among them — accepted the reunion of the Greek and Roman churches at the Council of Florence. At home the union collapsed against fierce opposition, yet by treading carefully with the Ottomans he kept the capital in imperial hands. Married three times without children, he named his brother Constantine heir — a succession their mother Helena secured against the scheming of Demetrios. No emperor after him died a natural death on the throne, and Italian painters, Gozzoli among them, fixed his likeness in art.
One of 20 people of Palaiologos (1190–1503) in this archive. The last and longest-lived house — it retook the city in 1261 and lost it in 1453.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Theodora Komnene → Andronikos Angelos Doukas → Alexios III Angelos → Irene Angelina → Theodora Palaiologina → Michael VIII Palaiologos → Andronikos II Palaiologos → Michael IX Palaiologos → Andronikos III Palaiologos → John V Palaiologos → Manuel II Palaiologos → John VIII Palaiologos.
Parents
- Manuel II Palaiologos (1350 – 1425)
- Helena (1372 – 1450)
Siblings
- Constantine XI Palaiologos (1405 – 1453)
- Thomas Palaiologos (1409 – 1465)