Demetrios Palaiologos

   Despot of the Morea (q.v.) from 1449-1460, son of Manuel II (q.v.). The black sheep of the sons of Manuel II, he possessed a restless ambition combined with an unscrupulous character. With his brother John VIII (q.v.) he attended the Council of Ferrara-Florence (q.v.) in 1438-1439, although he styled himself as a champion of the anti-union party. He established connections with the Ottomans (q.v.) and in 1442 he attacked Constantinople (q.v.) with the help of Ottoman troops in a vain effort to depose his brother. Despite being forgiven by John VIII, when Manuel II came to the throne Demetrios was shipped off to govern Selymbria on the Black Sea (qq.v.). In 1449, he left to administer the despotate of the Morea (q.v.) with another brother, Thomas Palaiologos (q.v.), with whom he quarreled incessantly. In 1460 he was forced to surrender Mistra (q.v.) to the Ottomans, but he continued to be treated favorably at the sultan's (q.v.) court in Adrianople (q.v.), where he died as a monk in 1470.