Andronikos II Palaiologos (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος B' Παλαιολόγος, c. 1192 – 1 April 1251, Rhaidestos) was a high-ranking Byzantine general and Grand Domestic under John III Doukas Vatatzes. During the Scythian Wars, Andronikos overthrew John III in a palace coup and reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1245 to 1249. His usurpation was challenged by several rival claimants, including John III's son Theodore II Laskaris. His reign was dominated by the Mongol and Bulgarian Siege of Constantinople , which lasted from 1246 to 1249, during which Andronikos successfully commanded the defense of the city alongside his son, Michael.
Although Andronikos II was an able war-time ruler and prevented Constantinople from falling to the Mongols against extreme odds, he was overthrown in 1249 by Theodore II Laskaris, who had marched on the capital and lifted the Bulgarian siege, being welcomed by the local population as their savior. Nevertheless, due to his role in the staunch defense of Constantinople, which made Andronikos II a hero in the eyes of the Byzantines, he was able to maintain his status and properties under the restored Laskarid regime.
Biography
Not much is known of Andronikos' early life. He was the second son born to Alexios Palaiologos and Irene Komnene around 1192, being the great-great-grandson of the family's founder George Palaiologos. He pursued a military career and eventually became a high-ranking general in the Byzantine army. He was named Grand Domestic of the Byzantine Empire, i.e. the overall commander of the armies, in the late 1220's, by emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes. He held the office of Grand Domestic for an unusually long time, still serving in that capacity by the time of the first Mongol invasion of the Byzantine Empire. It was in his capacity as Grand Domestic that he participated in the defense against the Mongol invasions. The Byzantine historian George Akropolites writes that he was given command of the field army by John III, who reportedly chose to remain behind at Constantinople on account of his increasingly poor health. Leading the Byzantine army, Andronikos inflicted the first defeat suffered by the Mongols in Europe at the Battle of Adrianople in 1240, halting their advance into Thrace and saving Constantinople from a siege. When the Mongols retreated following the death of Ögodei Khan, Andronikos returned as a victorious hero to Constantinople. Over the next years, as his legend grew, so did his political influence and ambition.
Reign
In 1244, at the outbreak of the second Mongol invasion of the Byzantine Empire, Andronikos heavily criticized John III's decision of luring the Mongols to besiege Constantinople and spend themselves against the strong and famed Theodosian Walls. Early the next year, when John III could not be dissuaded from that risky strategy, Andronikos Palaiologos staged a coup at Constantinople, storming the Palace of Boukoleon (where John III had taken residence, away from the walls), slaughtering the Varangian Guard and mortally wounding the emperor himself, who fled Constantinople into exile on an Aegean-bound galley. Andronikos was acclaimed emperor as Andronikos II in the Hippodrome of Constantinople by the gathered nobility, clergy and people. He immediately raised his son Michael to co-emperor and appointed his son-in-law Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes to succeed him as Grand Domestic.
For the first year of his reign, Andronikos II's authority was mostly restricted to the city of Constantinople and the province of Thrace, with the rest of the empire either falling to foreign invaders or pledging themselves to other imperial claimants. One of them, Alexios Angelos Gabras, who had been governor of Nicaea, crossed the Bosporus and laid siege to Constantinople, wishing to place pressure on Andronikos in order for him to cede him the throne. With the steady advance of Güyük Khan, who had reached the Eastern shore of the Marmara Sea by the end of 1245, Andronikos II and Alexios Angelos Gabras negotiated an agreement to bring an end to their dispute. Gabras and Andronikos II's son, Michael, would duel outside the walls of Constantinople, and whoever won would retain the imperial crown and marry the other's family. Michael Palaiologos, an expert soldier, defeated Gabras in the duel, forcing him to yield, and thus secured his father's reign. Gabras was allowed inside Constantinople, where he joined forces with the Palaiologoi against the incoming Mongols.
In early 1246, the Mongols under Güyük Khan and his ally Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria laid siege to Constantinople, trapping Andronikos II and his court and government inside the city as the massive Mongol army occupied the horizon as far as the eye could see. For the next three years, Andronikos II and Michael stood commanded the defense of Constantinople against the overwhelming besiegers. Andronikos II held overall command from the Palace of Blachernae, adjacent to the city walls, whereas his son Michael personally commanded the Byzantine defenders next to the Gate of St. Romanus, defending the walls against the Mongol onslaught and leading out sorties to weaken enemy morale. In this, both Andronikos II and Michael were successful. Despite their vastly superior numbers, the Mongols were unable to breach the walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines under Andronikos II's leadership were able to survive long enough to outlive Güyük Khan, who died from a disease contracted at camp, and hold out for long enough until the arrival of Theodore II Laskaris, who attacked the besieging army from behind and lifted the siege once and for all in late August 1249.
With the siege lifted, at first Andronikos II refused to open the gates of the city to Constantinople. However, his hand was forced when the population of Constantinople, sick and starved of three years of siege, rioted in the streets, demanding that the gates be opened and for peace to be restored. The Byzantine diplomat George Akropolites negotiated an agreement between Theodore II and Andronikos II that would allow the Palaiologos family to keep most of their property intact and avoid punishment altogether. Akropolites writes that Theodore was outraged at those generous terms, pressing for Andronikos II's execution instead, but was persuaded otherwise by Akropolites himself when he pointed out that both Andronikos and Michael were regarded as heroes and saviors by the population of Constantinople, who would not accept Theodore as emperor if he punished the Palaiologoi for having overthrown his father in 1245. Instead, just as Andronikos II, Theodore II saw himself forced to accept the arrangement. Andronikos retired to honorable exile, Michael maintained his generalship in the army and the Palaiologos property was mostly left untouched.
Later years and death
Andronikos retired to honorable exile to the port city of Rhaidestos, on the European side of the Marmara Sea. He was named governor of the city and received the high-ranking and prestigious title of Despot, which was second only to the Emperor himself in the Byzantine court hierarchy. Although Andronikos had been pardoned and nominally named governor, he was virtually kept in house arrest by the Byzantine high admiral and loyal supporter of Theodore II Alexios Doukas Philanthropenos, who had established himself and the remnants of the imperial fleet at Rhaidestos. A gilded prison was still a prison, however, and Andronikos would die in Rhaidestos on April 1st, 1251, at age 59. Following his death, his body was taken back to Constantinople and interred in the Palaiologos family monastery of St. Demetrius. Thousands of mourners accompanied Andronikos' burial, and Theodore II's chief minister George Mouzalon went as far as declaring an official period of mourning to be observed at the imperial court. Andronikos' sarcophagus was made of porphyry and inscribed with the epiteth "The Queen's Shield", making reference to Constantinople.
Family
Andronikos II married Theodora Palaiologina, a distant cousin, granddaughter of emperor Alexios III Angelos and niece of Theodore I Laskaris. She died in 1228. They had four children:
- Maria Palaiologina, who married the Byzantine general Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes, a Thracian magnate from Adrianople who suffered heavy punishment under Theodore II.
- Eirene Palaiologina, who married general John Kantakouzenos. Their daughter, Theodora Palaiologina Kantakouzene, married George Mouzalon.
- Michael Palaiologos, briefly co-emperor as Michael VIII, though he is not numbered, who married Euphrosyne Taronitissa, a niece of Alexios Angelos Gabras. He was executed by Skantarios Laskaris for high treason in 1281, after having overthrown and blinded John IV Laskaris in Skantarios' name. Michael had six children.
- John Palaiologos. He married a sister of Euphrosyne Taronitissa, Gregoria, and was exeucted alongside his elder brother in 1281. John had two children.