Syrgiannes Palaiologos Philanthropenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and general of mixed Cuman and Greek descent, who was involved in the civil war between Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III.
13 Facts About Syrgiannes Palaiologos
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos was named after his father or possibly grandfather, a Cuman leader who became megas domestikos under Emperor Andronikos II.
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Conscious of the prestige of his mother's family name, young Syrgiannes Palaiologos chose to use that in order to advance himself in the imperial hierarchy.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos had a sister, Theodora, who married Guy de Lusignan, later King of Armenian Cilicia as Constantine II.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos makes his appearance in history in 1315, when he was placed as military governor of a Macedonian province near the Serbian border.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos led a large army towards the capital, forcing the old emperor to negotiate.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos was dissatisfied with the new arrangements, feeling that he had not been sufficiently rewarded for his support of Andronikos III.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos resented the greater favour shown by the young emperor to Kantakouzenos, and developed a fierce rivalry with the latter.
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The plot was foiled and Syrgiannes Palaiologos was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos was freed, and was able to restore himself to Andronikos's favour, to the extent that in late 1329 he was entrusted with the important governorship of Thessalonica, the Empire's second-largest city, and of western Macedonia and Albania.
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Syrgiannes Palaiologos lived in Thessalonica, and was supposed to keep an eye on Syrgiannes; instead, she became so infatuated with him that she had him adopted.
12.
Syrgiannes Palaiologos managed to escape and flee to the court of the Serbian ruler Stefan Dusan.
13.
The road was open for an advance towards Thessalonica, and Syrgiannes Palaiologos's army encamped before the walls of the city, facing a Byzantine relief force.