John Angel

The names of John's parents are unknown, but he was adopted by the Protestorate Andronik Paleolog ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

John Angel was a relative (nephew or cousin, more likely) of John VI Cantacuzine ^{[1] [4]} , a close friend and associate of Emperor Andronicus III (pr. 1328–1341), and later began to rule Byzantium under the name of John VI (pr. 1341-1354) ^[5] . In his memoirs, Kantakuzin stated that he himself taught John the Angel martial art ^[3] .

Servant of the Empire

Emperor Andronic III Paleolog

John Angel was first mentioned in 1328 , when he was the ruler of the city of Kastoria ^[3] . In 1335, the despot Epirus John II Orsini died, and Emperor Andronicus III seized his possessions in Thessaly, as well as Epirus and Albania ^[6] in 1337. In 1336/1337, the angel received the post of governor ( mullet ) of Ioannina with the title Pinkernes ^{[3] [7]} . The local population took over the new government ^[8] , but in 1339 the son of John II Nicephorus II Orsini arrived in Epirus. Soon, power was lost over several key cities, including the capital of Epirus, Artu . This year, the angel was sent by the emperor along with the governor of Thessaly, Michael Monomakh, at the head of the vanguard. Andronicus and Kantakuzin arrived in the summer of 1340 . The order was put in place by the end of the year, and John began to rule the region from Arta. ^[9] .

Civil War

John was governor of Epirus until the death of Andronicus III in June 1341. After that, he was deprived of his post, and together with a delegation of aristocrats, he went to visit Cantacuzine in Didimotik . Since the outbreak of the Civil War, he supported his relative and was present at his proclamation as emperor on October 26, 1341 ^[10] . In the summer of 1342, the Angel accompanied John in his unsuccessful campaign against Thessalonica and in the subsequent flight to the Serbian ruler Stefan Dusan (pr. 1331–1346) ^{[11] [12]} .

But this year, the Thessalian archons offered Kantakuzin their support, and he appointed Angel the ruler of Thessaly by special chrisovula . Despite the rank of sevastocrat and autonomy, John's power was limited, and he was in fact the representative of the emperor ^[13] . In this post, he proved himself to be excellent: taking advantage of the weakening of the Catalans from the Duchy of Athens , he seized neighboring southern possessions and later occupied Epirus and Akarnania. With these actions, he helped his patron ^{[12] [14] [15]} , and in early 1343, at the head of the Thessaly cavalry, Angel participated in an unsuccessful attack on Thessaloniki ^[16] .

John Angel continued to rule Thessaly (possibly also Epirus and Aetolia and Akarnania) until 1347. In the autumn of 1347, the Serbs occupied Epirus, and a few months later - Thessaly, which began to rule General Gregory Prelub ^[17] . John Angel himself died from the black plague in the following year 1348 ^{[3] [12] [18]}

Very little is known about John's personal life. His wife was one of the daughters of the Protestorate Andronik Paleolog, sister of the ruler of Epirus Anna Paleolog ^{[3] [15]} . It is not known whether they had children, although some authors indicate that the Pinkernaya brothers, acting in Epirus in the 15th century, were his descendants ^[19] .