John Tarchaneiotes

John Tarchaneiotes was a Byzantine aristocrat and general under Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. Although related by blood to the Palaiologos dynasty, he became notable as one of the main leaders of the "Arsenites", the supporters of the deposed Patriarch of Constantinople Arsenios Autoreianos, who challenged the dynasty's legitimacy. A capable soldier, he was released from prison in 1298 to take command against the Turks in Asia Minor. His administrative reforms and integrity shored up the Byzantine position, but aroused the ire of the local magnates, who forced him to abandon the province. Biography John Tarchaneiotes hailed from a distinguished family: his father, Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes, had served as (commander-in-chief of the army) under the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and had married Maria-Martha, the sister of Andronikos II's father, Michael VIII Palaiologos, whom he had supported in his rise to the throne. Following the coronation of Michael VIII, John and his brothers had lived in the imperial palace. Tarchaneiotes distinguished himself early on as a soldier, fighting under his uncle, the John Palaiologos, in the 1262 campaign against Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the ruler of Epirus. Nevertheless, Tarchaneiotes soon came to oppose the Palaiologoi, and by 1266 he had emerged one of the leaders of the Arsenites, the supporters of the former Patriarch of Constantinople Arsenios Autoreianos, who had excommunicated Michael VIII for usurping the rights and the blinding of his predecessor, John IV Laskaris. The Arsenites refused to recognize the Patriarch's subsequent deposition by the Emperor, and were savagely persecuted. They ipso facto refused to recognize the validity of Andronikos' claim to the throne as well, whom they regarded as "the son of the excommunicated usurper" (Nicol), and who had been crowned by an "illegitimate" patriarch, the anti-Arsenite Joseph I Galesiotes. After the failure of Andronikos' attempt at reconciliation with the Arsenites in the synod of Adramyttion in 1284, John Tarchaneiotes became the leader of the radical faction, while the moderates followed a monk, Hyakinthos. Consequently, Tarchaneiotes spent long periods in exile or in prison. He was banished to Chele in 1289, then placed under house arrest in Constantinople. Released , he was arrested again in 1297 and thrown in the palace prison.