Andronicus II



         


Andronicus II Palaeologus (1260 - February 13, 1332), Byzantine emperor, was the elder son of Michael VIII Palaeologus, whom he succeeded in 1282.

He allowed the fleet, which his father had organized, to fall into decay; and the empire was thus less able than ever to resist the exacting demands of the rival powers of Venice and Genoa.

During his reign the Ottoman Turks under Osman conquered nearly the whole of Bithynia; and to resist them the emperor called in the aid of Roger de Flor, who commanded a body of Aragonese and Catalan adventurers known as Almogavares. The Turks were defeated, but Roger was found to be nearly as formidable an enemy to the imperial power. He was assassinated by Andronicus's son and colleague (sometimes referred to as emperor Michael IX, though he never ruled in his own name), in 1305. His adventurers (known as the Catalan Grand Company or Companyia Catalana in Catalan) declared war upon Andronicus, and, after devastating Thrace and Macedonia, conquered the Duchy of Athens and Thebes.

From 1320 onwards the emperor was engaged in war with his grandson Andronicus. He abdicated in 1328 and died in 1332.

This is a list of Byzantine Emperors.

Note: It is difficult to determine when exactly the Roman Empire ends and the Byzantine Empire begins; Diocletian split the Roman Empire into eastern and western halves for administrative purposes in 284. Candidates for the "first" Byzantine emperor include Constantine I (the first Christian emperor, who moved the capital to Constantinople), Valens (the Battle of Adrianople (378) provides one of the traditional cut-off events to mark the start of the medieval period), Arcadius (treating Theodosius I as the last emperor of a single Roman Empire), and Zeno I (as the last western emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed during his reign). Others date the beginning of the Empire even as late as Heraclius (who replaced the traditional Roman imperial title of "Augustus" with "Basileus", the Greek word for "Emperor", and discontinued the use of Latin by making Greek the official language). Numismatists note the monetary reforms of Anastasius I in 498, which used the Greek numbering system. Of course, the Byzantines themselves continued to think of their empire as "Roman" for over a millennium.

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Constantinian dynasty

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Non-dynastic

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Valentinian-Theodosian dynasty

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Dynasty of Leo

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Justinian dynasty

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Non-dynastic

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Heraclian dynasty

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Non-dynastic

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Isaurian dynasty

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Non-dynastic

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Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty

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Macedonian dynasty

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Non-dynastic

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Ducaian-Comnenan dynasty

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Angelan dynasty

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Lascaran dynasty (in exile in the Empire of Nicaea during the time of the Latin Empire)

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Palaeologan Dynasty (restored at Constantinople)

In 1453 Mehmed II overthrew the Byzantine Empire and claimed the title of Caesar; his successors continued this claim. See Osmanli for the complete list of Ottoman sultans.

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This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.







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