# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-vi-kantakouzenos
# Generated: 2026-09-01T07:04:20.467Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-vi-kantakouzenos"
name: "John VI Kantakouzenos"
slug: "john-vi-kantakouzenos"
description: "He won the throne through two civil wars, lost most of what remained of Byzantium's Balkan territories, handed the Ottomans their first foothold in Europe at Gallipoli, then got deposed by the boy he'd been regent for and spent three decades writing history in a monastery."
tagline: "Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354 (1292–1383)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/John_VI_Kantakouzenos.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "1292"
deathDate: "1383-06-15"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.62
  momentum:             0.1403349932095971
  historical:           24.04192
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "History"
    slug: "history"
  - name: "Royalty"
    slug: "royalty"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109482182"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_VI_Kantakouzenos"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/John%20VI%20Kantakouzenos"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuan_VI_Cantacuceno"
    title: "Chuan VI Cantacuceno"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%86%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B3_%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%86"
    title: "يوحنا السادس قانتاقوزن"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AD%D9%86%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B3_%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%86"
    title: "يوحنا السادس قانتاقوزن"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DA%A9%DA%A9%DB%8C%D8%B2%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AC%DB%8C_%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%86_(%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3)"
    title: "سککیزینجی ژان (بیزانس)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/VI_%C4%B0ohann_(imperator)"
    title: "VI İohann (imperator)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%86%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%BD_VI_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%B7%D1%96%D0%BD"
    title: "Іаан VI Кантакузін"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%99%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD_VI_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD"
    title: "Йоан VI Кантакузин"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_VI_Cantacuz%C3%A8"
    title: "Joan VI Cantacuzè"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_VI._Kantakuzenos"
    title: "Jan VI. Kantakuzenos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_VI._(Byzanz)"
    title: "Johannes VI. (Byzanz)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannes_VI"
    title: "Ioannes VI"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%99%CF%89%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%BD%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%A3%CE%A4%CE%84_%CE%9A%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B6%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%82"
    title: "Ιωάννης ΣΤ΄ Καντακουζηνός"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johano_la_6-a_Kantakuzeno"
    title: "Johano la 6-a Kantakuzeno"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_VI_Cantacuceno"
    title: "Juan VI Cantacuceno"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_VI_Kantakouzenos"
    title: "Johannes VI Kantakouzenos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_VI.a_Kantakuzeno"
    title: "Joan VI.a Kantakuzeno"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%B4%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%8C_%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%BE%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1_%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3"
    title: "ژان ششم، امپراتور بیزانس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_VI_Kantakuzenos"
    title: "Johannes VI Kantakuzenos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_VI_Cantacuz%C3%A8ne"
    title: "Jean VI Cantacuzène"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xo%C3%A1n_VI_Cantacuzeno"
    title: "Xoán VI Cantacuzeno"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%97%D7%A0%D7%9F_%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%99_%D7%A7%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%96%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A1%2C_%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%91%D7%99%D7%96%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%99%D7%AA"
    title: "יוחנן השישי קנטקוזנוס, קיסר האימפריה הביזנטית"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_VI._Kantakuzen"
    title: "Ivan VI. Kantakuzen"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/VI._I%C3%B3ann%C3%A9sz_biz%C3%A1nci_cs%C3%A1sz%C3%A1r"
    title: "VI. Ióannész bizánci császár"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_VI_Kantakouzenos"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%88%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_VI_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37084"
    title: "John VI Kantakouzenos"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_VI_Kantakouzenos"
    title: "Johannes VI Kantakouzenos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  John VI Kantakouzenos served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for the young John V Palaiologos before seizing the Byzantine throne for himself in 1347. His path to power required two ruinous civil wars that bled away much of the empire's remaining Balkan territory to the Serbs and Bulgarians, but the catastrophic loss was Gallipoli — ceded to the Ottoman Turks during the conflict, it became their gateway into Europe. By 1354 his former ward had grown up and forced him out. He retired to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos and turned historian, recording the empire whose collapse he'd accelerated. He died in 1383 at 90 or 91, the longest-lived Roman emperor on record.