John III Ducas Vatatzes, Byzantine Emperor
JOHN III DUCAS VATATZES, BYZANTINE EMPEROR
In Byzantine Church, St.; b. c. end of 12th century;d. Nicaea, Oct. 30, 1254. The son-in-law of Emperor Theodore I Lascaris, he ascended the throne in 1222 at Nicaea, the Byzantine capital during the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204–61). After the death of his first wife, he married Constance (Anne), daughter of the German Emperor frederick ii. Throughout much of his reign he carried on unionistic negotiations with Rome, chiefly with the object of recovering Constantinople. Generally considered one of the greatest of the Byzantine emperors, he pursued an effective economic policy and made significant territorial gains, largely at the expense of the Latins, all of which led to a regeneration of the empire and prepared the way for the reconquest of Constantinople. His interest in learning and his charitable measures made him so popular that soon after his death he was honored as St. John the Merciful.
Feast: Nov. 4.
Bibliography: h. g. beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (Munich 1959) 672–674. f. dÖlger, Corpus der griechischen Urkunden des Mittelalters und der neueren Zeit, series A, Regesten (Munich 1924–32) 3:1709–1822. Bibliotheca hagiographica Graeca, ed. f. halkin, 3 v. (Brussels 1957) 1:34–35. g. ostergorsky, History of the Byzantine State, tr. j. hussey, from 2d German ed. (Oxford 1956) 386–395.
[g. t. dennis]