Demetrius VIII Comnenus

Emperor Demetrius VIII Comnenus
Birth 20 March 1635 Accession 1 April 1660 Death 28 January 1677 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 VIII (sometimes called Demetrius the Fat) was the son of Emperor Constantine XX and Irene Angela. He was crowned co-emperor by his uncle Emperor John IX in 1660, and reigned with Emperor Isaac III, whose sister Helena he married later that same year. Demetrius' court was based in New Rome, although not in the Imperial Court of Christ Pantocrator, since he wasn't the senior emperor.

He had hopes to become senior emperor after the death of John IX in 1662, but those hopes were frustrated by the accession of the late emperor's frail son, Emperor Manuel III. It was during this period in which Demetrius began to grow morbidly obese, indulging himself in huge quantities of all sorts of food and drink. Demetrius disliked the decentralised system of rule with co-emperors, and sought out ways to centralise power into the hands of a single emperor, whilst distributing the heavy workload and administrative effort that went with governing Pantocratoria. In ancient times the Empire had a senate, but this was more a source of dissent than assistance. What was needed was a senate-type structure with a sense of legitimacy. Demetrius designed the Imperial Parliament to take on this role, but was years away from being able to put his plans into effect.

After Emperor Manuel III's long and drawn out death, Demetrius declared himself senior emperor, and in 1672 implemented his plans for the Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament. The obese emperor attended the opening of his Parliament on a large golden purple-cushioned bed - it being too difficult for him to sit upright in a throne. After successfully establishing a new form of government in Pantocratoria, he died of a heart attack, too heavy for his legs to support his own weight, in 1677.