Usurpation of Kantakouzenos (1347)

Timeline

1. 1346Adrianople (Edirne) · ThraceIn 1346 Kantakouzenos won a decisive military victory in Thrace; the resistance led by Anna of Savoy and Patriarch Callistus collapsed. Key cities such as Thessalonica successively defected to Kantakouzenos, creating the conditions for his entry into the capital.
2. 1347Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireIn February 1347, Kantakouzenos entered Constantinople escorted by Ottoman reinforcements and formally co-ruled with the young emperor John V. Anna of Savoy was stripped of the regency, and Kantakouzenos completed his transition from 'rebel grand domestic' to legitimate emperor, known in history as the 'Usurpation of Kantakouzenos'.
3. 1347–1348Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireNo sooner had Kantakouzenos consolidated power than the Black Death reached Constantinople by merchant ship. Kantakouzenos himself left a detailed account of the plague, describing mass deaths and the collapse of social order. The new regime faced a catastrophic blow to population and finances on top of the trauma of civil war.