Jean I the Holy Palaiologos
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign: 9 September 1427 - 4 March 1432
Predecessor: Symmachos I Ironside
Successor: Simon I
Holy Roman Emperor
Reign: 27 March 1422 - 4 March 1432
Co-monarch: Helene I
Predecessor: Gottschalk I
Successor: Simon I
Born: 5 December 1395, Constantinople, Roman Empire
Died: 4 March 1432, Constantinople, Roman Empire
Spouse: Helene I Wettin
Issue: Emperor Simon I,
Melusine,
Valeran
House: Palaiologos
Father: Symmachos I Ironside
Mother: Marguerite de Lusignan
Jean I Palaiologos or
Palaeologus (5 December 1395 - 4 March 1432) was the reigning Roman Emperor from 1427 to 1432 and reigning Holy Roman Emperor from 1422 to 1432.
Life Following His Ascension to the Roman Throne
Jean I succeeded his father upon his death in the Holy Land. Following the birth of his daughter, Melusine, in March, he headed to the Holy Land so that he too could fight for Jerusalem. In May the Salaamid heir, Ashraf ibn Haroun, was captured and 9 days later King Gerardo the Drunkard de Barcelona of Sardinia and Corsica was declared King of Jerusalem following the Salaamid surrender. His claim to the throne was inherited from the last Jerusalemite king, his brother, Giacomo. Despite his involvement in the Crusade, Pope Honorius V refused to lift the excommunication placed upon him and it would take indulgences, pleas for salvation, donations to the Hospitallers and huge bribes to get him dexcommunicated. Much of the Catholic world saw the Emperor as a paragon of virtue and thus his epithet was earned. This reputation would be the cause for him to receive the Ark of the Covenant from Ethiopian emissaries in September 1428. It is, however, debated as to the authenticity of the Ark.
As if a gift from God, the Caliph of the Muslim world, Tayyib the Blind, declared a jihad upon Gerardo I. Jean I raised his banners and prepared himself for the Holy Land so that he could defend Christ's honour and also maintain his reputation as a warrior of God. However, he would never reach the Holy Land for his death was an ironic one. On the 4 March 1432 he was stabbed to death by a French nun known only as Margot following what legends say was a game of chess. The Emperor was found upright in his seat with a thousand stab wounds. He was to be succeeded by his infant son, Simon.
