The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, C.1295-1383John Cantacuzene reigned as Byzantine emperor in Constantinople from 1347 to 1354. A man of varied talents, as a scholar, soldier, statesman, theologian and monk, John Cantacuzene was unique in being the only emperor to narrate the events of his own career. His memoirs form one of the most interesting and literate of all Byzantine histories. Following his abdication in 1354, he lived the last thirty years of his long life as a monk, a writer and a