Constantine XI Palaiologos

Constantine XI Palaiologos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
15th-century portrait of Constantine XI (from a codex containing a copy of the Extracts of History by Joannes Zonaras)
Byzantine emperor
Reign	6 January 1449[a] – 29 May 1453
Predecessor	John VIII Palaiologos
Despot of the Morea
Reign	1 May 1428 – March 1449[b]
Predecessor	Theodore II Palaiologos (alone)
Successor	Demetrios and Thomas Palaiologos
Co-rulers	Theodore II Palaiologos (1428–1443) Thomas Palaiologos (1428–1449)
Born	8 February 1404 Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died	29 May 1453 (aged 49) Constantinople
Spouse	Theodora Tocco ​ ​ (m. 1428; died 1429)​ Caterina Gattilusio ​ ​ (m. 1441; died 1442)​
Names Kōnstantinos Dragasēs Palaiologos Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος
Dynasty	Palaiologos
Father	Manuel II Palaiologos
Mother	Helena Dragaš
Religion	Eastern Christianity
Signature

Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos; 8 February 1404 – 29 May 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) emperor, reigning from 1449 until his death in battle at the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantine's death marked the definitive end of the Eastern Roman Empire, which traced its origin to Constantine the Great's foundation of Constantinople as the Roman Empire's new capital in 330.

Constantine was the fourth son of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš, the daughter of Serbian ruler Konstantin Dejanović. Little is known of his early life, but from the 1420s onward, he is repeatedly demonstrated to have been a skilled general. Based on his career and surviving contemporary sources, Constantine appears to have been primarily a soldier. This does not mean that Constantine was not also a skilled administrator: he was trusted and favored to such an extent by his older brother, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, that he was designated as regent twice during John VIII's journeys away from Constantinople in 1423–1424 and 1437–1440. In 1427–1428, Constantine and John fended off an attack on the Morea (the Peloponnese) by Carlo I Tocco, ruler of Epirus, and in 1428 Constantine was proclaimed Despot of the Morea and ruled the province together with his older brother Theodore and his younger brother Thomas. Together, they extended Roman rule to cover almost the entire Peloponnese for the first time since the Fourth Crusade more than two hundred years before and rebuilt the ancient Hexamilion wall, which defended the peninsula from outside attacks. Although ultimately unsuccessful, Constantine personally led a campaign into Central Greece and Thessaly in 1444–1446, attempting to extend Byzantine rule into Greece once more.

In October 1448, John VIII died without children, and as his favored successor, Constantine was proclaimed emperor on 6 January 1449. During his brief reign, Constantine would have to deal with three main issues. First, there was the issue of an heir, as Constantine was also childless. Despite attempts by Constantine's friend and confidant George Sphrantzes to find him a wife, Constantine ultimately died unmarried. The second concern was religious conflict within what little remained of his empire. Emperor Constantine and his predecessor John VIII both believed in the reunion between the Greek Orthodox and Catholic Churches proclaimed at the Council of Florence. They accordingly sought to secure military aid from Catholic Europe, but much of the Byzantine populace, led by Mark of Ephesus, opposed the transformation of the Greek Orthodox Church into the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church; one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Finally, the most important concern was the growing Ottoman Empire, which by 1449 completely surrounded Constantinople. In April 1453, the Sultan Mehmed II of the House of Osman laid siege to Constantinople with an army perhaps numbering as many as 80,000 men. Even though the city's defenders may have numbered less than a tenth of the sultan's army, Constantine considered the idea of abandoning Constantinople unthinkable. The emperor stayed to defend the city, which fell on 29 May 1453. On the night before Constantinople fell, the Emperor received Communion from Byzantine Catholic Cardinal Isidore of Kiev. Constantine died in battle on the following day. Although no reliable eyewitness accounts of his death survived, most historical accounts agree that the emperor tore off his Imperial insignia, led a last charge against the Ottomans, and died fighting.

Constantine was the last Christian ruler of Constantinople, which alongside his bravery at the city's fall cemented him as a near-legendary figure in later histories and Greek folklore. Some saw the foundation of Constantinople (the New Rome) under Constantine the Great and its loss under another Constantine as fulfillment of the city's destiny, just as Old Rome had been founded by a Romulus and lost under another, Romulus Augustulus. He became known in later Greek folklore as the Marble Emperor (Greek: Μαρμαρωμένος Βασιλεύς, romanized: Marmaromenos Vasilias, lit. 'Emperor/King turned into Marble'), reflecting a popular legend that Constantine had not actually died, but had been rescued by an angel and turned into marble, hidden beneath the Golden Gate of Constantinople awaiting a call from God to be restored to life and reconquer both the city and the old empire.

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