John Uroš

John Uroš
Ruler of Thessaly
Fresco of John and Athanasios of Meteora, in Megala Meteora, Greece
Reign	1370-1373
Coronation	1359
Predecessor	Simeon Uroš
Died	1422-1423
Issue	Constantine, Michael, Demetrios, Asanina, Helena, wife of Demetrios I Kantakouzenos
House	House of Nemanjić
Father	Simeon Uroš
Mother	Thomais Orsini
Religion	Serbian Orthodox

John Uroš Nemanjić (Serbian: Јован Урош, Jovan Uroš) or John Ouresis Doukas Palaiologos (Greek: Ιωάννης Ούρεσης Δούκας Παλαιολόγος, Iōannēs Ouresēs Doukas Palaiologos) was the ruler of Thessaly from c. 1370 to c. 1373, thereafter retiring as a monk. He died in 1422/3.

Life

John Uroš was the son of Emperor Simeon Uroš Palaiologos by Thomais Orsini. His maternal grandparents were John II Orsini and Anna Palaiologina.

Between 1369 and 1372 he succeeded his father as titular emperor of the Serbians and Greeks, although his rule was limited to Thessaly. He may have been associated on the throne by his father as early as 1359/60. After reigning for an uncertain number of years, John Uroš abdicated in favor of his relative, the Caesar Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos, and became a monk.

He joined the monastic community founded by his father at Meteora, where he is documented under his monastic name Joasaph in 1381. Although he had surrendered political power, John Uroš remained wealthy and influential. In 1384–1385 he helped his sister Maria govern Epirus after the murder of her husband Thomas II Preljubović. He endowed the monasteries at Meteora and eventually became the head of the local monastic community, rebuilding or establishing further monasteries in the area in 1388 and 1390. In the 1390s he visited Mount Athos, but was back in Meteora by 1401, and died there in 1422 or 1423.

John Uroš was the last emperor of Serbs and Greeks and the last Serbian ruler of Thessaly. His relative Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos succeeded him and recognized Byzantine suzerainty, and the area was lost to Bayezid I of the Ottoman Empire by his son Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos in 1394. John Uroš had a younger brother named Stephen Uroš, who may have held Pharsalos as his fief. Although he died long after his brother became monk, he did not succeed him as ruler of Thessaly.

Family

John Uroš married a daughter of Radoslav Hlapen, a Serbian lord in Macedonia. According to the manuscript Dell'Imperadori Constantinopolitani, preserved in the papers of Angelo Masarelli, the father of John's wife was "lord of Drima" ("l Signor Drimi"). John had five children:

• Constantine (Konstantin)
• Michael (Mihajlo)
• Demetrios (Dimitrije)
• Helena (Jelena) Ouresina Palaiologina, who married Theodoros Kantakouzenos, with whom she had Irene Kantakouzene
• Asanina

Ancestry

Family of John Uroš

16. Stephen Uroš I of Serbia               8. Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia                       17. Helena of Anjou               4. Stephen Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia                             18. George I Terter of Bulgaria               9. Anna Terter of Bulgaria                       19. Kira Maria Asenina of Bulgaria               2. Simeon Uroš                                   20. Constantine Palaiologos, porphyrogénnētos               10. John Palaiologos, despotes in Macedonia                       21. Irene Raoulaina               5. Maria Palaiologina                             22. Theodore Metochites, megas logothetis               11. Irene Metochitissa                       1. John Uroš                                         24. Richard Orsini               12. John I Orsini, despotes in Epirus                       6. John II Orsini                             26. Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas               13. Maria Komnene Doukaina Angelina                       27. Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene               3. Thomais Orsini                                   28. Michael (Demetrios) Komnenos Doukas, despotes in Epirus               14. Andronikos Angelos Palaiologos                       29. Anna Terter of Bulgaria               7. Anna Palaiologina                             30. Georgios Kokalas               15. X Kokala

Sources

• Nicolas Cheetham, Mediaeval Greece, Yale University Press, 1981.
• Brook, Lindsay L (1989): "The problemetic ascent of Eirene Kantakouzene Brankovic", Studies in Genealogy and Family History in Tribute to Charles Evans, published in Salt Lake City 1989
• George C. Soulis, The Serbs and Byzantium, Athens, 1995.

Preceded by Simeon Uroš

Ruler of Thessaly (Serbian throne) 1370–1373

Succeeded by Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos (Byzantine Empire)