Matthew Asanes Kantakouzenos

Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus (Greek: Ματθαίος Ασάνης Καντακουζηνός, Matthaios Asanēs Kantakouzēnos, Bulgarian: Матей Асен Кантакузин, "Matey Asen Kantakuzin" c. 1325 – 15 June 1383) was Byzantine Emperor from 1353 to 1357.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Kantakouzenos

Family

Matthew Asanes Kantakouzenos was the son of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina. In return for the support he gave to his father during his struggle with John V Palaiologos, he was given part of Thrace as an appanage in 1347, and was proclaimed joint emperor in 1353, when open civil war broke out again with John V.

The History of John VI Kantakouzenos records the marriage of Irene to Matthew Kantakouzenos in 1340 / early in 1341.

The couple had at least five children:[1]

1. John Kantakouzenos (c. 1342 – after 1361), despotēs.
2. Demetrios I Kantakouzenos (c. 1343 – 1383), sebastokratōr. Briefly ruled the Despotate of Morea.
3. Theodora Kantakouzene. Eldest daughter. The History records her being educated by her paternal grandmother Irene Asanina, under the monastic name Eugenia. Presumed to have become a nun herself.
4. Helena Kantakouzene. Married Count Luis Fadrique of Salona, a descendant of Alfonso Fadrique. She served as Regent of Salona from 1382 to 1394.
5. Maria Kantakouzene. Married John Laskaris Kalopheros, a man of senatorial rank from the Kingdom of Cyprus.
6. (possibly) Theodore Kantakouzenos (after 1361 – 1410), ambassador to France and Venice.[2]

Nicols wrote there were only TWO sons, John and Demetrios.

References

• Nicol, Donald M. (1968). The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus), ca. 1100–1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study. Dumbarton Oaks studies 11. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. OCLC 390843. GoogleBooks
• Nicol, Donald M. “The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos: Some Addenda and Corrigenda.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 27, 1973, pp. 309–315. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291347. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021.