ABSTRACT
John VI Kantakouzinos’ abdication from the throne at the end of 1354 took place in the midst of the turmoil of civil wars, which made the advance of Ottomans easier. The emperor had entrusted to his son Manuel the administration of Byzantine Morea. Manuel was ruling with prudence and made good efforts to reorganize the province. He encountered, however, constant opposition from many archons, who belonged to the local aristocracy and never stopped rebelling against him, as when he attempted to organize a local naval force. After John’s resignation, his son-in-law and sole Emperor John V Palaiologos, decided to remove the rule of the Despotate from Manuel and sent the brothers Asan in his place in 1355. They managed to come into accordance with the archons in the Morea and prepared to act against him. ‘Apart from one city’, a city which nature and human craft had shaped to become extremely strong, which also had a garrison and offered Manuel the assistance he needed. Thus, the despot managed to impose his authority and continued to rule in the Morea until his death in 1380. John Kantakouzinos, who relates these events, does not give the name of the city which supported his son, but it is clear that the city which combined natural with man-made defences and could put at the despot’s disposal the garrisonwhichwas available, could be no other than Monemvasia.
