In Portugal:
John I. Born Apr. 11, 1357, in Lisbon; died there Aug. 14, 1433. He became king in 1385 and was founder of the Aviz dynasty.
The illegitimate son of the Portuguese king Pedro I, John was master of the Order of Aviz. Following the death of Ferdinand I in 1383 the Cortes selected John of Aviz as king and not the Castilian king, the other pretender to the Portuguese throne.
John I went on to solidify his authority, defeating the Castilian troops at Aljubarrota in August 1385 and thus securing Portugal’s independence from Castile. He sought to carry through a policy of centralization of the state, in the process using the service nobility and towns as a counterpoise to the feudal aristocracy. The conquest of Ceuta in 1415 initiated the policy of Portuguese expansion in Africa.
John II. Born May 3, 1455, in Lisbon; died Oct. 25, 1495, in Alvor. He became king in 1481. John II restricted the property and jurisdiction of the feudal nobility. A supporter of active expansion to lands beyond the seas, he contributed to the expeditions along the west coast of Africa (voyage of B. Diaz). At his initiative an agreement was concluded between Portugal and Spain (Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494) demarcating spheres of colonial conquest in the western hemi-sphere.
John IV. Born Mar. 19, 1604, in Vila Vigosa; died Nov. 6, 1656, in Lisbon. He became king in 1640 and was founder of the Braganza dynasty. From 1630 to 1640 he was duke of Braganza. John IV was elevated to the throne as a result of a general uprising of the Portuguese in 1640 that put an end to Spanish domination in Portugal. The Cortes recognized him as king in January 1641. In 1654 he succeeded in ousting the Dutch from Portuguese colonies in Brazil.
John VI. Born May 13, 1767, in Lisbon; died there Mar. 10, 1826. He became king in 1816. From 1799 to 1816 he was regent (he actually ruled the country from 1792 because his mother, Maria I, was mentally ill). A supporter of absolute monarchy, John VI was forced to maneuver between the liberals and absolutists. In foreign affairs he adhered to a pro-English line. In 1793 he joined the first anti-French coalition. With the invasion of Portugal by troops of Napoleon I in 1807, he went to Brazil. After his return to Lisbon he was forced in 1821 to recognize Portugal’s liberal constitution (it went into force in 1822). In 1825, John recognized Brazil’s independence.
Byzantine emperors. The most important are John I, John II, John III, and John VI.
John I Tzimisces.Born circa 925, in Hierapolis; died Jan. 10, 976, in Constantinople. Byzantine emperor from 969.
A member of the aristocratic Armenian Curcuasae family from Asia Minor, John I seized the throne as the result of a revolt by the aristocrats. He made a number of concessions to the Byzantine church, such as abolishing the antichurch legislation of Nicephorus II Phocas. He succeeded in driving the forces of the Kievan prince Sviatoslav out of Bulgaria (971) and in subjugating the northeastern part of Bulgaria. In 974–75 Byzantine armies occupied Tiberias and other Syrian cities. John I put down a revolt of the Byzantine feudal aristocracy, led by the Phocas family.
John II Comnenus.Born Sept. 13, 1087, in Constantinople; died 1143, in Cilicia. Byzantine emperor from 1118.
A member of the Comnenus dynasty, John II relied on the support of the feudal aristocracy but especially the support of the large Comnenus family and its vassals. He succeeded in defeating the Pechenegs (1122), Serbs (c. 1124), Hungarians (1129), and Seljuks (1135), smashing Cilician Armenia (c. 1136), and subjugating Antioch (1137). John IPs government carried out a reform of the navy, aimed at centralizing its administration.
John III Ducas Vatatzes.Born 1193, in Didmoteikhon, Thrace; died Nov. 3, 1254, in Nymphaeum. Emperor of the Nicaean Empire from 1222.
In his struggle against the Latin Empire, John III relied on the city dwellers and free peasantry in the mountainous regions of Asia Minor. By 1225 he had driven the Latins from almost all of their holdings in Asia Minor, as well as from Samos, Lesbos, and other islands. In 1235 he established himself in Thrace, allying himself with the Bulgarian tsar Ivan II Asen’. Thes-salonica recognized his sovereignty in 1242, and in December 1246 he entered the city without encountering opposition. In 1252 he forced the ruler of Epirus to become his vassal and to cede the lands of western Macedonia and Albanian Kruja to him. Under John Ill’s rule the Nicaean Empire became the strongest state on the Aegean Sea.
John VI CantacuzeneBorn circa 1293, in Constantinople; died June 15, 1383, in Mistra. Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1354.
During the reign of Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328–41), while he was grand domestic (commander in chief of the imperial armies), John concentrated all power in his hands and pursued a policy in the interests of the provincial aristocracy. After the death of Andronicus HI in 1341, he became regent for the young John V Palaeologus. In that same year he led a revolt against John V and was proclaimed emperor by the feudal magnates in October. In 1347 he seized Constantinople. John V was declared nominal coruler with John VI. In 1349, John VI put down the revolt of the Zealots. His domestic and foreign policies ran counter to the interests of the urban artisans, the merchants, and the entrepreneurs. In the struggles against his political opponents he relied on the help of the Ottoman Turks, allowing them to establish themselves on the European shore. General dissatisfaction with his rule forced John VI to abdicate, and in 1355 he became a monk.
John VPs History, which he wrote in a monastery, deals with the events of 1320–56, and despite its tendentiousness (in it, he seeks to justify his policies) it is one of the best works of late Byzantine historical writing. Its author, who stood at the center of the events he described, was very observant. Based on documents, the History contains much factual material.
G. G. LITAVRIN