ANDRONICO III PALEOLOGO, emperor of BISARATO. - The second son of Michele IX, who was the son and co-emperor of Andronico II, he remained the presumed heir of his grandfather when his father died in 1320. The young A.'s licentious conduct soon gave rise to a serious conflict with the aged Andronico II, who considered disinheriting his grandson. A group of opponents of the old emperor, led by Giovanni Cantacuzeno, took part in the dispute, and civil war soon ensued, ending with the abdication of Andronico II. But the new emperor (1328-41) entrusted the government to Cantacuzeno, who began to prepare his own accession to the throne, despite the opposition of the empress Anna di Savoia. The internal Byzantine crisis encouraged the growth of Serbian power, led by Stefano Duscian (1331-1355), while the Ottomans seized the principal Byzantine cities in Asia, reaching the shores of the Sea of Marmara and threatening Thrace and Constantinople.
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Emperor of Byzantium
BIBL.: J. Parisot, Cantacuzène, homme d'Etat et historien, Parigi 1845; N. Jorga, Geschichte des osmanischen Reichs, Gotha 1908; O. Tafrali, Thessalonique au XIVe siècle, Parigi 1911; A. Vasiliev, Histoire de l'empire byzantin, Parigi 1932; G. Ostrogorsky, Geschichte des byzantinischen Staates, Monaco 1940.
Cite this article
“ANDRONICO III PALEOLOGO, IMPERATORE DI BISARATO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I (1948), p. 742. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/andronico-iii-paleologo-imperatore-di-bisarato.