Whether Anna, as the Greeks promptly7 christened her, would find Constantinople equal to the reputation of its splendour that still lingered in Europe may be doubted. The majority of the gorgeous palaces in which our earlier Empresses had moved were now heaps of ruins. From the roofs of the public and imperial buildings the copper8 had been torn to make coin, and the marble from their facades9 and halls had gone to deck the palaces of Venice and Genoa. Great stretches of desolate10, ruin-encumbered spaces existed within the crumbling11 walls, and the streets no longer glittered with a proud display of domestic treasure on the balconies as a royal cavalcade12 passed along. Some gold and silver299 may still have lingered in the reduced palaces before the disastrous13 civil war, but the display now made in the imperial households and processions was largely a display of imitation diamonds and gilded14 furniture. For the first time, in fact, we find Constantinople itself impressed by its visitors, even from the small Court in Savoy. The Count had sent with his sister a large escort of knights15, and, as the marriage was deferred16 for eight months, they had ample time to exhibit their skill in tournaments. Why the marriage was postponed17 from February (1326) to October must be left more or less to the imagination. Cantacuzenus observes that Anna was indisposed after her journey, but one may find more enlightenment in his casual remark that Andronicus was ill and, after receiving his betrothed18, went for some months into Thrace. It would probably be indelicate and impertinent to attempt a diagnosis19. He returned in the autumn, married and crowned Anna, and permitted her train of knights to return to Savoy.
Since Byzantine history is too full of large and tragic20 matters to recount the small details of domestic life, and since the Empresses would in their early years, if they were fortunate, be confined to these small domestic interests, we pass lightly over the youth of Anna of Savoy. In the spring after their marriage she accompanied Andronicus to Didymoteichus, and would be faintly interested in the conferences of Andronicus and his mother with the King of Bulgaria. In the following year Andronicus dethroned his grandfather, and Anna found herself mistress of the Empire. The scene at Didymoteichus during the illness of her husband two years afterwards would complete her introduction to Byzantine politics, and make her realize the importance of Cantacuzenus and his friends.
Andronicus was, however, still a comparatively young man, and it was probable that he would outlive the older intriguers about him. He was only thirty-four years old at the time of his dangerous illness, and he returned to300 his boisterous23 sports and gaieties. In 1332 Anna, who was at Didymoteichus, gave birth to a son, and Andronicus came on the scene in a mood of wild rejoicing. His Olympic games and Western jousts24 alarmed and scandalized elderly ministers, who shuddered25 to see the sacred breast of an Emperor expanded boldly to meet a lance. But he laughed at etiquette26, told his courtiers to put away the kind of silk-covered mitres that they had hitherto been compelled to wear at Court, and allowed them to have any dress or headgear they pleased. Fun and good-fellowship were his ideals. He kept, to the despair of the imperial treasurer28, a vast number of hounds, horses and hawks29, and there was no better way to secure a favour than to present him with a good dog or horse.
It is just to add that Andronicus made a sincere attempt to improve the administration of justice in the Empire, but apart from this one sincere and fruitless effort at reconstruction30 he danced down the road of death like all his frivolous31 subjects. A little war, the suppression of a rebellion or two, and mighty32 hunting and jousting33 filled the thirteen years of his single reign34. The Turk drew nearer and nearer, and received no very serious check. The city of Nic?a had now fallen into the hands of the Turks, and the crescent flashed on the shores of the Sea of Marmora. Andronicus could do little more than trust the old Byzantine weapon—intrigue22, ruse35, diplomacy36. His sister Anna, who had married the Prince of Epirus, assassinated37 her husband and invited her brother to annex39 the territory. His daughter Irene, who had married the Emperor of Trebizond and found him unfaithful, assassinated her husband, and sent to Andronicus for a ruler. He was endeavouring to profit by these assassinations40 when death overtook him. Earlier in his reign the veteran Sir Janni had rebelled. Andronicus, knowing the mettle42 of his opponent, had fortified43 and victualled the palace, where he left Anna and her boy, and gone out to the301 field; but he removed the danger in the end by deception44 and assassination41. At length, in the early summer of 1341, Andronicus became alarmingly ill. He shrewdly put off his stained purple and retired45 to a monastery46, in preparation for death, and he passed away on 15th June, leaving Anna with two boys of nine and four years. Then began the romance of Anna of Savoy.
The chief person? of the romance, apart from the Empress, are the ambitious intriguers we have previously47 seen about the sickbed of Andronicus: the courtly and cultivated Cantacuzenus, the meaner though less hypocritical financier, Apocaucus, and the mother of Cantacuzenus. Theodora Paleologina was, as her name implies, herself a member of the Paleologi family. She was a descendant of Martha, the sister and counsellor of Michael Paleologus, the virile48 lady who had been put in a sack with cats by Theodore Lascaris: a strong and able and ambitious woman, although, since her husband’s death, she had worn the robe of a nun49. There was a complete understanding between her and her less resolute51 son. Apocaucus, on the other hand, an active, restless, unscrupulous little man, who slept little at nights, was prepared to ally himself with either Anna or the Cantacuzeni, as seemed most profitable.
We have no reason to doubt the statement of Cantacuzenus that, when Andronicus lay dying, Apocaucus urged him, directly and through his mother, to seize the crown, and that he refused. He was not in the habit of acting52 so promptly. He went to the palace in which Anna wept with her boys, assured her that he would protect them, and placed five hundred guards about the palace. It may have occurred to Anna that there was no one, except himself, from whom they needed to be protected. Andronicus died on the following day, and she went (as Cantacuzenus would have foreseen) to spend the customary nine days in mourning by the remains53 of her husband. What Cantacuzenus might have done while she kept her dreary302 vigil in the monastery we cannot say, for his plans were interrupted. On the fourth day Anna surprised him by breaking the sacred custom and returning to the palace. It argues some strength of character in her that she should take this step, though it was not an original inspiration. Apocaucus had changed sides, and had gone to warn Anna that his rival aimed at the throne and she must return to watch him. But Cantacuzenus was even more surprised and baffled when the patriarch now came forward with the will of the late Emperor, and read from it that he, the patriarch, was to be guardian55 of the young princes and their Empire.
The maze56 of intrigue that followed can very well be imagined, and is fairly described in the chronicles. In fact, Gregoras and Cantacuzenus profess57 to give verbatim reports of the very lengthy58 speeches which, it seems, took the place of conversation in those days. The three aspirants59 to power besieged60 the chamber61 of Anna in turns, and each spent many hours in assuring her of his loyalty62, and of the disloyalty of all the others. Though the strain made the Empress ill, she seems to have acted almost throughout with good judgment63. The patriarch was her safest supporter, since each of the other two really aimed at the throne, and to the patriarch she clung, only tempering his advice by a fear of angering the two nobles and driving them to a coalition64, which would be fatal to her. The patriarch urged her to crown her elder boy John at once; it would be an effective step, but when Cantacuzenus and Apocaucus protested that it could not be done in a time of mourning, she thought it best to refrain. At last some kind of settlement was reached. Cantacuzenus was to be the Magnus Domesticus (or “major-domo” on an imperial scale), and to lead out the troops to check the advancing Bulgarians and Turks in Thrace.
Apocaucus was dissatisfied, and, as soon as his rival had departed, he made a bold attempt to seize power. He had on the fringe of the city, by the seashore, a303 strongly fortified house, or castle, in which he could withstand an attack even of troops. It was impregnable, except to a large force, on the land side, and a galley65 waited always at its private wharf66 on the other side to convey him by sea in case of need. His plan was to carry off John to this castle and then dictate67 his terms to the Empress. Anna, however, was warned in time. The young prince was actually in the hands of the schemer, when her servants were sent to the rescue and Apocaucus fled to his fortress68 and barred the doors. Cantacuzenus returned in haste to the city, and set a troop of soldiers to watch the castle, but the Empress, on the advice of the patriarch, refused to take extreme measures. As long as the two deadly rivals were poised69 against each other, her position was more secure. We must not, of course, attribute this prudent70 policy entirely71, or mainly, to the inexperienced young Empress. The patriarch was its chief author; and, though the patriarch was by no means disinterested72, he could not aspire73 to the throne. There can be no doubt that, ill and weary as she was, Anna acted with good judgment.
Thwarted74 and exasperated75, Cantacuzenus in his turn now meditated76 a coup77, and it was only the singular irresolution78 or hypocrisy79 of his nature and the boldness of the patriarch that prevented it from being successful. One day, while he was discussing the situation with Anna, they heard a tumultuous rush and angry voices in the hall without. Anna asked the cause, and Cantacuzenus, professing80 that he did not know and going to learn, lightly reported that a crowd of soldiers and young nobles had penetrated81 the palace and were hectoring the patriarch. They insisted, he said, that Cantacuzenus should be allowed to enter the palace on horseback (an imperial prerogative) when he called, and the patriarch opposed them. He had, he told the Empress, scolded the patriarch for even listening to the young fools, and had driven them from the palace, and he advised the Empress to admonish82 or punish them. It seems quite304 clear that in this case a rather weak, but deliberate, plot on the part of Cantacuzenus had been foiled by the patriarch. The Magnus Domesticus then returned to the field, leaving his mother to watch the Empress, and threatening that he would punish any man who gave her anxiety in his absence. Gregoras says that he took with him an enormous sum of money, and we may conclude that he went with a fairly clear intention to raise the provinces.
As soon as he had removed his troops to Thrace his rivals set to work in deadly earnest. Apocaucus was pardoned, at the instance of the patriarch, and promoted to the dignity of Grand Duke and Prefect of Constantinople. So far the policy was sound enough, but it was, no doubt, impossible for the ailing83 young Empress to maintain the equilibrium84 any longer in face of their passion and the perfidy85 of their opponent, and they plunged into civil war. Cantacuzenus was declared to be deposed86, and it was even understood in the city that the patriarch promised the open gate of heaven to any man who would assassinate38 him. His friends and relatives were alarmed and fled to the deserted88 meadows beyond the walls, where they passed the night; and, as they learned in the morning that their property had been confiscated89, they hurried to the camp at Didymoteichus with loud cries of “Cantacuzenus Emperor!” After a becoming parade of real or feigned90 reluctance91, the commander of the troops consented to accept the purple and prepared for civil war. An imperial outfit92 was hastily made at Didymoteichus—so hastily that, as the vain Cantacuzenus complains, the tunic93 was far too short, while the mantle94 hung about him like a sack—and the coronation took place. The ceremony gives us another Empress of a not uninteresting character. Cantacuzenus was married to Irene, daughter of a Court official of the former royal family of Bulgaria; her mother had been Irene Paleologina, daughter of Michael Paleologus and Theodora. She remained, tearful and anxious, at Didymoteichus305 while her husband led out his troops, but she would afterwards take a vigorous part in the struggle.
Irene’s mother-in-law was the first victim of her own and her son’s ambition, and of the hatred95 of his enemies. Cantacuzenus, who always speaks with respect, if not generosity96, of Anna, tells us that the Empress was not responsible for the barbarous treatment and death of his mother. She was imprisoned97 in one of the palace cells as soon as the trouble began, and from her dreary54 room she could hear the rabble98 of Constantinople shouting their customary obscene abuse of her and her son, and acclaiming99 Anna and John V. The young prince had been crowned at once by the patriarch. It was the early winter, and the aged100 Theodora was treated with studied insult and severity by her jailers. Her health soon broke, and she died in the palace dungeon101. Cantacuzenus relates that a royal nun who had assisted and, consoled his mother went to reprove Anna for the brutality102 to which she had been exposed, but he adds that Anna was ignorant of it and blameless. The close of the career of Theodora Paleologina is one of the many reminders103 that to the end the Byzantine Empire did not lack strong men and women; what it lacked was sound moral and patriotic104 feeling. The stock was not “outworn” and “enfeebled,” as historical writers are apt to say of decaying civilizations. Its strength was tainted106 and misdirected. The royal nun, I may add, who had visited Theodora in her cell was Theodora, daughter of Andronicus the elder, and widow of Michael of Bulgaria, who here is seen for the last time.
The course of the long civil war need not be followed here. It opened disastrously107 for Cantacuzenus. Anna, Cantacuzenus tells us, longed for peace, and proposed that he should hold the chief power in the Empire, though not wear the purple, and that his daughter Helena should marry her son, the Emperor John. It would have been the best settlement, but it did not suit the ambition of Apocaucus and the patriarch. Apocaucus306 urged the patriarch to live in the palace and bribed108 Anna’s servants to watch her day and night, in order to prevent her from communicating with Cantacuzenus. Later Cantacuzenus visited the famous monks109 of Mount Athos, and induced them to send a few of their community to plead with Anna to arrest this shedding of Christian111 blood. But the monks were intercepted112 by the patriarch, and converted to his view of the situation, before they reached the Empress.
After three years of indecisive warfare113 Apocaucus was assassinated. He had at the beginning of the war filled the palace dungeons114 with prisoners, and he augmented115 their number continually with nobles or officials who ventured to dissent116 from his plans. In the summer of 1345 he was building a new and formidable prison in the palace grounds, and the prisoners looked with concern on the frowning edifice117 and readily believed that he was going to inflict118 all kinds of atrocities119 on them. One afternoon he went, without his usual company of guards, to see how the work progressed, and imprudently entered the yard where the prisoners were. One of them snatched a heavy piece of wood and felled him, and the others, seizing the axes and tools that lay about, ended his life and exhibited his head to the guards on the other side of the wall. Anna was alarmed and perplexed120, and allowed the wife of the dead minister to take a fearful vengeance121. The rowers of the fleet were armed and discharged upon the prisoners, and it is said that about two hundred of them were butchered.
Cantacuzenus now sent fresh proposals of peace, which were approved by the patriarch, and Anna made the grave and somewhat obscure blunder of rejecting them. Gregoras says that she was jealous of Irene, but Gregoras, for theological reasons which will appear presently, is not generous to the Empress. It is possible that Cantacuzenus insisted on retaining his crown. However that may be, the war continued for another year, and began to turn in favour of Cantacuzenus, who307 now detached a large body of Turks from the service of the Empress. Anna’s conduct, in fact, now becomes weak and blundering. She quarrelled with the patriarch, and allowed herself to be influenced by the meaner monks and bishops122 who opposed him. Apocaucus had so completely relieved her of the work of administration that she paid little attention to it after his death, and, as a new heresy123 now entered Constantinople and won her favour, she became absorbed in a theological quarrel, while her enemy crept nearer to Constantinople.
On 2nd February 1347 Anna convoked124 a large gathering125 of bishops and monks at the Blachern? palace. They met to judge and depose87 the patriarch John, who opposed the new heresy. Its tenets do not concern us, but, as it will complicate126 the story of the Empresses throughout the chapter, we may say that Palamism, as it was called, had discovered a plurality of “divinities” (in the sense of divine energies) in God, and its opponents retorted that this was a return to Polytheism. The discovery is said to have been made originally by some of the contemplative monks on Mount Athos, whose quaint127 device for raising themselves to a state of trance cannot with delicacy128 be described here. On this second day of February, therefore, Anna listened with delight, in her Blachern? palace, to the heated discussion of the light which was seen on Mount Thabor and other phases of the controversy129. None of the gifted seers were able to tell her that Cantacuzenus and his troops were only a few miles away, and that he had already bribed some of her soldiers to open the Golden Gate to him that very night. The patriarch was deposed, and Anna and her bishops sat down to a festive130 banquet and the making of “not very modest jokes,” says Gregoras, about their late archbishop. They were alarmed for a moment by a messenger who rushed in to say that Cantacuzenus and his army were approaching, but Anna concluded that this was a ruse of the patriarch, and the banquet continued merrily.
308 She was awakened131 in the grey dawn the next morning to hear that Cantacuzenus was master of the city. He had marched with a thousand picked men by an unaccustomed route, had been admitted by the Golden Gate at midnight, and was making for the palace. It was at once closed and fortified, and such guards as there were took up a position in its lower approaches. Anna had returned from the light on Mount Thabor to a very vigorous concern about earthly things. Cantacuzenus sent to her a proposal that she should share the imperial title with him; her name would come first in announcements and acclamations, but the real administration should be entrusted132 to him. She drove out his messengers angrily and abusively, and sent her servants to raise the citizens against him and bring over the Italian soldiers from Galata. There was still a good deal of loyalty to her, though her conduct during the last year had alienated133 many, but the troops routed her supporters and even began to storm the palace. They were recalled by Cantacuzenus, who then sent the bishops to persuade her to yield. Cantacuzenus behaved with restraint and humanity in his hour of triumph. He was, we may recall, a refined and cultivated noble, though his singular mingling134 of ambition and moral pretentiousness135 invests his conduct, and especially his words, with a repellent hypocrisy. Anna refused the mediation136 of the clergy137, but, in the miserable138 night which followed, she saw the hopelessness of her position, called a council of her supporters, and decided139 to make peace. The prisoners were set free, and the gates of the palace thrown open. It is said that John, who was now a boy of fifteen, strongly pleaded for peace and weakened the determination of his mother.
When Cantacuzenus entered the palace he found Anna and her sons standing50 under a picture of the Virgin140 which adorned141 the hall. The Empress was sullen142 and defiant143, and probably expected some vindictive144 action on the part of the victor, but that was never the way of the309 silken Cantacuzenus. He venerated145 the sacred picture, kissed the hand of the young Emperor, and swore on the Virgin that he had not, and had never had, any intention of hurting the imperial family. A general amnesty was granted, and the proposal to wed27 John and Helena was renewed. It was agreed between them that Cantacuzenus should have sole control of the Empire for ten years, and should relinquish146 it to John on his twenty-fifth birthday. These conditions were singularly moderate, and Cantacuzenus assures us that some of the troops could hardly be persuaded to subscribe147 to the new oath when it was found to include the name of John. Anna and John, moreover, were left in possession of the best palace, that at Blachern?, and Cantacuzenus repaired one of the decaying palaces for himself and Irene, who was summoned from Adrianople and graciously received at the gate by Anna.
Thus two royal families settled down once more to an unstable148 peace on the ruins of the once mighty Empire. The coronation of Cantacuzenus and Irene, which followed on 13th May, served only to exhibit the poverty and decay of Constantinople. St Sophia was partly in ruins from the great earthquake of the previous year, and there was no money to repair it. The ceremony had to be performed in the chapel149 at Blachern?, and in the banquet dishes of pewter and earthenware150 had to serve instead of the opulent gold and silver plate of earlier times. A week later the royal children—John was fifteen years old and Helena thirteen—were married, and a glittering group of two Emperors and three Empresses stood proudly on the balcony of the palace to receive the applause of the dwindling151 population; but it was commonly known that the stones which flashed from crown and mantle were almost all spurious, and that the apparent golden trappings were merely gilded leather. The treasury152 was empty; the nobility consisted, not of great lords of the land, but salaried officials; and the Empire that had once spread, under the Roman eagles,310 to the deserts of Arabia and the waters of the Euphrates was now restricted, on the Asiatic side, to so narrow a strip of the neighbouring coast that you could almost see from the ramparts of Constantinople the victorious153 crescent gleaming in the sun. On the west there still remained the greater part of what we now know as Turkey and Greece, but they were exhausted154 by the unceasing ravages155 of Turk, Servian and Bulgarian, and tens of thousands of Christian slaves passed yearly into the harems and workshops of the East.
In the midst of this desolation Cantacuzenus set up a Court of cheap and showy and incompetent156 dignitaries. Irene’s two brothers, John and Manuel, received the title of Sebastocrator, and were added to the imposing157 processions and the list of pensionaries. Money was urgently needed, and Cantacuzenus summoned to his palace all the wealthier citizens and eloquently158 appealed to them to fill his treasury. They refused to make the least donation. Cantacuzenus would have us admire the restraint with which he declined to extort159 the money from them, but we know that, if he shrewdly avoided violence, he did not scruple160 to obtain money in other irregular ways. A few years afterwards the Russian Church sent a large sum of money for the repairing of St Sophia, and Gregoras tells us that the Emperor appropriated it for the payment of his Turkish mercenaries. Two years later, again, when another army of Turks had to be paid to defend his throne, he seized a great quantity of the gold and silver vessels161 and jewels that remained in the churches and monasteries162.
We may assume that Anna watched without concern the troubles that now rained upon the head of the impolitic Emperor. In the year after his coronation his son Michael was persuaded to rebel, and set up a sovereignty over part of Thrace. Irene was sent to discuss the matter with him—Gregoras gives us a six-page speech which she is supposed to have made to him—and it ended in the father leaving his son in possession,311 though without the imperial title. Anna’s supporters naturally suggested that there had been collusion between Cantacuzenus and Michael, though that is not at all certain. When Irene returned from her mission, she was pained to learn that the plague had carried off her younger son during her absence. Even greater was her pain, however, the historian says, that her husband favoured the Palamite heresy. Gregoras was one of the chief protagonists163 of orthodoxy against the heretics, and it will give some idea of the superfluous164 confusion that was brought upon the affairs of the distracted Empire if I simply observe that some five hundred pages of the remainder of his chronicle are devoted165 to the controversy.
To this heretical taint105 Irene tearfully ascribed all the calamities166 which affected167 her husband’s reign. He had hardly arranged matters in Thrace, and was still detained by illness at Didymoteichus, when he learned that the Genoese of Galata had burned the fleet which he had laboriously168 collected money to build, and had attacked the capital. The Genoese had for some time farmed the revenues—in plainer terms, pocketed about four-fifths of the revenues—of Constantinople, and the Emperor had endeavoured to lessen169 their profit. During his absence they made a raid upon the shipping170 and the city, and Irene is said to have shown great energy in directing the defence. For the next year or two the Bulgarians and Servians ravaged171 his little Empire, and the Turks, whom he hired to meet them, could be paid only by permission to loot in their turn and carry off his subjects into slavery. In these circumstances Cantacuzenus saw a tide of disaffection rising against him, and the young Emperor John began to dream of independence.
Writing years afterwards in his quiet monastic home, Cantacuzenus says that Irene and he were weary of the unprofitable conflict and were both disposed to abdicate172 and take the black robe; that only the recurrence173 of trouble in the West and the danger to the Empire kept312 them “in the world.” This statement is easily refuted by his conduct. He built, not a monastery, but a stout174 citadel175 or fortress near the Golden Gate, as if in expectation of the time when John would claim his Empire, and hired a strong guard of Turkish and Spanish soldiers. Then when the Servian outbreak in the west, of which he speaks, took place, he insisted that John should accompany him. Anna vehemently176 protested. The youth was too young to be left in Thessaly she said, meaning that she distrusted the Emperor. Cantacuzenus smoothly177 replied that it was necessary for her son’s protection; that the sultan, wrongly thinking to oblige him, had sent a eunuch to cut the youth’s throat. Anna must have felt that the eunuch, if he existed, would have an easier task in Thessaly than in the Blachern? palace, but Cantacuzenus refused to yield, and John set out with him. John was now a good-looking and popular, if a somewhat dissolute and entirely worthless, prince of eighteen, and it would be dangerous to leave him in Constantinople. The Genoese across the water were partisans178 of the Paleologi.
In the course of the following year, 1351, Cantacuzenus returned to attack the Genoese, with the aid of their mortal enemies, the Venetians. As he seems to have intended from the beginning, he left John in Thessalonica, with the young Empress Helena, but he was alarmed and surprised in the following year to hear that the young Emperor was corresponding with the Kral of Servia. Gregoras says that, under pressure from the Kral, John engaged to divorce Helena and marry the Kral’s sister. When Cantacuzenus heard this, he went with Anna into the venerable chapel of the Virgin at Blachern?, and swore that he would resign the crown to John if he would abandon the Kral and bring Helena to Constantinople. The oath was committed to writing, and Anna herself conveyed it to Thessalonica. It says something for the singular character of Cantacuzenus that they implicitly179 trusted his oath, and the young313 couple returned to the capital. After a few weeks, however, John distrusted his colleague and returned to Thrace with Helena. Her father seems to have tried to detach her from John, but she protested, Gregoras says, that she would “rather die with John than live with her parents.”
In return, apparently180, for this fidelity181 John made a new compact with the Kral and received an army without abandoning his wife. He at once attacked Matthew, the Emperor’s son, in Adrianople, and let civil war loose once more upon the surviving province of the Empire; if, indeed, one can call “civil war” a contest in which hardly a single Greek soldier was enlisted182. For the sake of rival Byzantine ambitions Turk fought Servian and Bulgarian on land, and Venetian fought Genoese at sea, and the decrepit183 Empire sank into its last stage.
The Empress Irene once more endeavoured to make peace between the combatants. She went to Thrace and laid before the young Emperor a politic21 and admirable scheme—admirable, at least, on the supposition that Cantacuzenus is lying when he declares that he and Irene were minded to enter a monastery, which would have been the best solution. On the other hand, John does not command our sympathy and respect. In three years’ time he would be twenty-five, and might have laid claim to the throne with perfect right and more success. Irene proposed that John and Matthew should divide the western territory, and that Cantacuzenus should hold the remainder until his death. John refused the terms, Irene returned to Court, and the Turks and Servians flew at each other.
It is only necessary to say that in a comparatively short time John and Helena were flying on ships to the island of Tenedos, and Matthew was declared Emperor. The unceasing pendulum184 of Byzantine Court life had now thrust the young Empress Helena into obscurity, and brought a young rival into prominence185 and hope of the succession. John and Helena were declared to have314 forfeited186 the imperial title. Matthew and Irene Paleologina (granddaughter of the elder Andronicus) were crowned in 1354. But we have hardly time to glance at the new Empress before the pendulum swings back and Helena returns to the light and the throne. Cantacuzenus was now detested187 by all in Constantinople. His heresy, his broken oath, his feud188 with the Genoese, and the consistent record of disaster during his reign, united almost every class against him. Urgent appeals were made to John to come and displace him, and it was not long before a few ships were placed at his disposal and, during an absence of the Emperor, he descended189 on the capital. But Irene again vigorously defended the cause of her husband, and, after sailing round the walls, firing a few harmless volleys of abuse at the partisans of the Emperor who smiled on the walls, and spending a night with the Italians at Galata, John returned in dejection to his wife and child. Then a quaint type of wealthy adventurer chanced to touch at the port of Tenedos and confer with John, and he returned to power by one of the most singular of adventures.
One stormy night in December (1354), when the Emperor slept peacefully in his palace, the soldiers who lived in the tower which guarded one of the gates by the port were awakened by a heavy crash and loud cries for help. They flung open the gate and descended the stairs, and faintly perceived a few large vessels rolling in the heavy sea. The sailors cried that one of their vessels, which were laden190 with jars of oil, had been dashed against the walls, and the soldiers went to the water-edge to help them to moor191 the vessels. Scores of armed men then rushed from the holds, killed the guards, and occupied the tower; and before the citizens could grasp what was happening, the enterprising Genoese had lodged192 John in the tower, and were marching through the streets at the head of two thousand men, crying “Long live the Emperor John!” The citizens swarmed193 to the Hippodrome in the faint morning light,315 repeating the cry, and Cantacuzenus was awakened to hear that his enemy was in the city with an army.
It is worth while giving the explanation of this remarkable194 change in the fortunes of John and Helena. Their vigorous and resourceful ally was a Genoese noble of some wealth, who, with a small fleet, had sailed east in the hope of securing some fragments of the dismembered Empire. John offered him the island of Lesbos and the hand of his sister Maria if he would help him to gain the throne, and he consented. Two large triremes (galleys with two banks of oars) and sixteen uniremes (with one bank of oars) were not the kind of fleet one needed to carry Constantinople by storm, but Francesco Gattilusio was a strategist. He emptied the oil from the vessels on one of his boats, crept up to the wall in the darkness, and bade the sailors fling the great jars against the wall. This was the noise that awakened the warders of the tower by the quay195, and the stratagem196 succeeded as happily as in a romance. I may add that John afterwards carried out his compact, and Gattilusio became Prince of Lesbos and brother-in-law of the Emperor.
Cantacuzenus did not venture from his palace. He explains that he could easily have scattered197 the intruders, which is probably more true than he knew at the time, but he conferred with Irene and they decided that the time had come to enter a monastery. Gregoras says that he was afraid to leave the palace, and, as he was isolated198 from his citadel by the Golden Gate and would hardly know the strength of his opponent, one prefers this explanation. He was by no means anxious to enter a monastery. Drawing up his guards at the entrance to the palace, he entered into negotiations199 with John and succeeded in getting a promise that the imperial power would be divided. That solution, however, did not please the people, and for several days he was assailed200 with abuse and threats. He yielded to the “voice of God,” abdicated201 his dignity, and, under the name of Joasaph, retired to the monastic world, to write his316 flowing and elegant and mendacious202 chronicle of his times. Irene was now forced to take the veil, and her robust203 personality was converted into the black-robed figure of the royal nun Eugenia. We do not know when she died, but some years later we find her, in her monastery, guiding the education of her granddaughter, Theodora. Theodora’s parents, Matthew and Irene, continued the civil war for two or three years, but Matthew was then captured and was sent, with his ex-Empress, to spend the remainder of their lives in the island to which they had driven John and Helena.
Helena had followed her victorious husband and, with warm and mutual204 embraces, joined him at the palace. We do not know how long she lived to enjoy her fortune. I find no further reference to her. Anna is not mentioned further in the Byzantine chronicles, but a little more may be gleaned205 about her from Italian writers. Du Cange quotes the Franciscan historian, Luke Wadding, as saying that she died about the year 1350, and her body was transferred for burial to the shrine206 of St Francis of Assisi, for whom she had had a great veneration207. I do not find this in Wadding—the reference, at least, is wrong—but Wadding does in other pages (at the years 1343 and 1349) refer to Anna. In 1343 she sent a Franciscan monk110 from the convent at Pera to confer with the Pope in regard to the union of the Latin and Greek Churches. It is clear that she remained Latin at heart, and no doubt she had brought with her from the West a veneration for the gentle saint of Assisi. Then the civil war and the triumph of Cantacuzenus put an end for a time to the project of union, but the correspondence was renewed in 1349. From a reference to her in one of the Pope’s letters we may deduce that she still lived in Constantinople in 1349, and it is the last reference. An Italian writer says that she died in that year, but I am unable to find in Wadding’s “Annales” the statement that she was buried at Assisi.
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1
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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facades
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| n.（房屋的）正面( facade的名词复数 )；假象，外观 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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16
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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17
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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18
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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jousts
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| （骑士）骑着马用长矛打斗( joust的名词复数 )； 格斗，竞争 | |
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25
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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26
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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30
reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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jousting
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| （骑士）骑马用长矛比武( joust的现在分词 ) | |
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34
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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38
assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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annex
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| vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物 | |
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40
assassinations
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| n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 ) | |
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41
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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42
mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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43
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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44
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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45
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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46
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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47
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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48
virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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49
nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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50
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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52
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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53
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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54
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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55
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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56
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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57
profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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58
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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59
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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60
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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62
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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63
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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64
coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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65
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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66
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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67
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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69
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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70
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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73
aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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74
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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77
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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professing
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| 声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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81
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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82
admonish
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| v.训戒；警告；劝告 | |
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83
ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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84
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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85
perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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86
deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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87
depose
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| vt.免职；宣誓作证 | |
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88
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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94
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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95
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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acclaiming
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| 向…欢呼( acclaim的现在分词 )； 向…喝彩； 称赞…； 欢呼或拥戴（某人）为… | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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102
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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103
reminders
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| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
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104
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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105
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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106
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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107
disastrously
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| ad.灾难性地 | |
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108
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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109
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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110
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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112
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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113
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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114
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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115
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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116
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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117
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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118
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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119
atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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120
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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121
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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122
bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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123
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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124
convoked
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| v.召集，召开（会议）( convoke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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126
complicate
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| vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂 | |
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127
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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128
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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129
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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130
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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131
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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132
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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134
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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135
pretentiousness
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| n.矫饰；炫耀；自负；狂妄 | |
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136
mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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137
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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138
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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139
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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140
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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141
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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142
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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143
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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144
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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145
venerated
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| 敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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148
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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149
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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150
earthenware
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| n.土器，陶器 | |
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151
dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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152
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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153
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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154
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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155
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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156
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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157
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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159
extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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160
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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161
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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162
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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163
protagonists
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| n.（戏剧的）主角( protagonist的名词复数 )；（故事的）主人公；现实事件（尤指冲突和争端的）主要参与者；领导者 | |
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164
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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165
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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166
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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168
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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169
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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170
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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171
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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172
abdicate
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| v.让位，辞职，放弃 | |
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173
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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175
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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176
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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177
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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178
partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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179
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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180
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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181
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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182
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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183
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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184
pendulum
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| n.摆，钟摆 | |
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185
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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186
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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188
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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189
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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190
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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191
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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192
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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193
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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194
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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195
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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196
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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197
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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198
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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199
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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200
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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201
abdicated
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| 放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位 | |
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202
mendacious
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| adj.不真的，撒谎的 | |
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203
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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204
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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205
gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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206
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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207
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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