The co-rulership of John V Palaiologos

Abstract

Despite the overall opinion that John V Palaiologos was not a co-ruler while his father, Andronikos III, was alive, this article tends to show that the successor of Andronikos the Younger was bestowed the title of βασιλeύς shortly after his birth. This would, in fact, be a rather logical act of Andronikos III, who, due to his fragile health, sought to secure the throne for his minor offspring. In addition, it seems that it was a practice of the Palaiologan emperors to proclaim their eldest sons as co-rulers, at a very early age, because of a strong need to ensure the legitimacy to the new ruling family, as well as to prevent the passing of the throne into the hands of the members of the side branch of the family. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]