The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 broke out after the death of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (pictured). As his chief aide and closest friend, John VI Kantakouzenos became regent for the Emperor's young son and heir, John V Palaiologos. While Kantakouzenos was absent from Constantinople, a new regency was established with support from Empress-Dowager Anna of Savoy, which launched a persecution of Kantakouzenos' family and supporters. In response, Kantakouzenos was proclaimed co-emperor at Demotika on 26 October 1341. During the first years of the war, the forces of the new regency prevailed. Most of the cities in Thrace and Macedonia came under regency control, but Kantakouzenos reversed these gains with assistance from the neighbouring rulers of Serbia and the Turkish beyliks. Kantakouzenos was crowned in 1346, and entered Constantinople on 3 February 1347. By agreement, he was to rule for ten years as the senior emperor and regent for John V, until the boy came of age. Despite this apparent victory, a subsequent resumption of the civil war forced Kantakouzenos to retire to become a monk in 1354. The conflict proved disastrous for the Empire, as seven years of warfare, marauding armies, social turmoil, the loss of territory to neighbouring rulers, and the Black Death devastated Byzantium, reducing it to a rump state.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_civil_war_of_1341%E2%80%9347

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1708:

The final stone of St Paul's Cathedral (pictured), rebuilt after the original burned down in the 1666 Great Fire of London, was laid by the son of its architect, Christopher Wren. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral

1921:

The Chicago Theatre, which is the oldest surviving Neo-Baroque French-revival grand movie palace, opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Theatre

1944:

World War II: In one of the largest naval battles in modern history, Allied forces defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the seas surrounding the Philippine island of Leyte. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf

1977:

Somalian hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying symptoms in the last known case of naturally occurring smallpox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Maow_Maalin

1994:

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty settling relations between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_peace_treaty

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

antihero: (literature) A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antihero

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

these days you might feel a shaft of light make its way across your face and when you do you'll know how it was meant to be see the signs and know their meaning   --Natalie Merchant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Merchant