Demetrius VI Palaeologus

Emperor Demetrius VI
Birth 19 February 1530 Accession 24 December 1544 Death 30 June 1567 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 VI was the only son of Emperor Demetrius V Palaeologus. He was only fourteen when his father died unexpectedly in 1544, and he was immediately raised up onto the shields of the Varangian Guard and carried to the Cathedral of Christ Pantocrator for immediate coronation. Demetrius was forced to marry immediately, and picked the heiress of Drakopolis, Helena Drakos, even though she was only eleven. The two were married and crowned in a double ceremony on Christmas Day, 1544 (as depicted in the picture to the right).

The young emperor worked all his life to bring stability to Pantocratoria after the quick successions of his predecessors. Rebellions broke out across the country, which Demetrius constantly had to contend with. The most famous of his generals employed to this end was Constantine Comnenus, his cousin.

When he was twenty and his wife sixteen, he was blessed with an heir in the form of his only daughter, Irene. She would be his first and only surviving child - his wife miscarrying seven times. The miscarriages took a heavy emotional toll on the Emperor and Empress, and didn't assist the Emperor politically in his attempts to stabilise the empire.

When it became clear that the two would have no more children, let alone the longed for son, Demetrius saw to the stability of the succession by offering his daughter's hand in marriage to General Constantine Comnenus. The match would prove to be a good one, and his daughter and son-in-law would succeed in bringing stability to the Empire where he had failed. He died at the age of thirty seven of unknown causes.