John VI Kantakouzenos
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John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (c. 1292 – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian, who later wrote a history of the empire for the period 1320–1356.
Quotes[edit]
- There is nothing more conducive to the destruction of a nation, whether it be republic or monarchy, than the lack of men of wisdom or intellect.
- Letter to the ambassadors of Anne of Savoy, quoted in Norwich, J.J. (1995). Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. London: Viking. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-670-82377-2.
