General Notes

John VI Cantacuzene (circa 1292-1383), Byzantine emperor (1347-55). He was the
friend and first minister of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus,
after whose death he claimed the throne and went to war against the defenders
of the legitimate heir, nine-year-old John V Palaeologus. Cantacuzene
triumphed through the aid of the Ottoman Turks and is considered responsible
for their entry into Europe. He had reigned only seven years when Palaeologus,
having come of age, enlisted the aid of the Genoese and forced him to
abdicate. He subsequently became a monk and wrote his memoirs, one of the
major documents of Byzantine history. Cantacuzene also wrote a defense of
Hesychasm, a Greek mystical doctrine.