Demetrius I Palaeologus

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Emperor Demetrius I
demetriusI.jpg
Birth
27 January 1439
Accession
23 March 1462
Death
17 September 1477
Titles
By the Grace of God, Emperor of Pantocratoria, Autocrator of the Romans, Caesar Augustus, Equal of the Apostles, God's Vicegerent on Earth, Sebastocrator, King of Kings Ruling over those who Rule

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Demetrius I was the bastard son of Demetrius Palaeologus, Despot of the Morea and brother of Emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus, and a lady in waiting. He became a Knight of the Order of the Pantocrator in 1455 at the age of 16, and accompanied the Order when it set out to sea, eventually landing in the archipelago which would be named Pantocratoria.

As the nearest male relative of the last Emperor of Constantinople, Constantine XI, when the survivors landed in Pantocratoria, Demetrius was crowned Holy Emperor of Pantocratoria in 1462 in the Church of St Mary of Constantinople in New Constantinople. He swore not to accept the offered title Emperor of the Romans until he reconquered Constantinople. He did however accept the title Autocrator of the Romans in recognition of his claim to the imperial diadem. He married his empress consort, Irene Calaphates, at the same time in a double coronation/wedding ceremony.

In 1467 he laid the first stone of the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator in the newly founded city of New Rome. The city became the passion of the rest of his life, and he oversaw the completion of the Old Palace (of which little remains) in the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator, and the beginnings of the Cathedral of Christ Pantocrator. The two are Pantocratoria's most famous buildings, and are amongst its oldest. He died in the city he loved so much in 1477, and was interred in the Imperial Crypt beneath the Cathedral of Christ Pantocrator.

Demetrius and his wife had three children. The eldest, Constantine, died seven years before his father before his seventh birthday. His middle son, Demetrius II Palaeologus, would succeed him, and his daughter, Irene, married a Knight of the Order of the Pantocrator named Alexius Comnenus. Their grandchild would become the first Comneni Emperor of Pantocratoria, Constantine XIII Comnenus.

Preceded by:
Constantine XI Palaeologus
Emperor of Pantocratoria
1462-1477
Succeeded by:
Demetrius II Palaeologus