Byzantine Civil War (1341–1347)

The Byzantine Civil War of 1341–1347 pitted supporters of the young John V Palaiologos against John VI Kantakouzenos, who claimed the throne after Andronikos III died.

John V Palaiologos: Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions, whose minority triggered a succession crisis. His supporters formed one side of the conflict while he was still a child.
Andronikos III Palaiologos: Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341 whose death left his nine-year-old son John V as heir. His sudden death without an adult successor exposed tensions within the governing elite.
Treaty of 1347: The settlement that ended the Byzantine Civil War by recognizing Kantakouzenos as senior emperor alongside John V. It formalized a fragile power-sharing arrangement rather than restoring uncontested rule.
Stefan Dušan: Serbian king from 1331 and emperor from 1346, who expanded Serbia across much of the Balkans. His intervention against Kantakouzenos linked the succession struggle to Serbian expansion.
John VI Kantakouzenos: Byzantine statesman and emperor who ruled from 1347 to 1354 after claiming power during John V's minority. His bid to protect his authority as regent became a claim to the throne.
Byzantine succession: The practices and political struggles through which rulers inherited or seized the Byzantine throne. The civil war arose from competing interpretations of authority during a minor emperor's succession.
Fall of Gallipoli: The Ottoman occupation of Gallipoli in 1354 after an earthquake damaged the city's defenses. Kantakouzenos's earlier alliance with the Ottomans helped facilitate their growing presence in Europe.
Umur Beg: The ruler of Aydin who led Turkish naval and military forces in the Aegean during the fourteenth century. He became a military ally of Kantakouzenos and helped him campaign against the regency.
Anna of Savoy: Byzantine empress consort and regent who governed for her son John V after Andronikos III's death. She led the regency opposing Kantakouzenos and sought allies for John V.
Byzantine Empire: The medieval continuation of the Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople until its fall in 1453. The war unfolded amid the empire's territorial contraction and weakened central authority.

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