John VI

John VI (John Cantacuzene) , c.1292-1383, Byzantine emperor (1347-54). He was chief minister under Andronicus III, after whose death he proclaimed himself emperor and made war on the rightful heir, John V. He was aided by the Ottoman Turks. The war allowed Stephen Dušan to build his Serbian empire. John's reign briefly quieted civil and religious strife within the empire. In 1354 he abdicated in favor of John V and retired to a monastery, where he wrote a history of the period 1320-56. A defender of the mystical theory known as Hesychasm, he was instrumental in its acceptance by the Orthodox Eastern Church.

John VI (1767–1826) King of Portugal (1816–26). Owing to the insanity of his mother, Queen Maria, he was effectively sovereign from 1792 and officially regent from 1799. In 1807, he fled to Brazil to escape the invading French and did not return to claim the throne until 1822, when he accepted the constitutional government proclaimed in 1820.

John VI (1769–1826) King of Portugal (1816–26). The son of Maria I and Peter III, he took over the control of the government in 1792 from his mother, who had become insane, and assumed the title of regent in 1799. A repressive monarch, he was submissive to Napoleon, who nevertheless forced him into exile in BRAZIL in 1807. In 1816 he was recognized as King of Portugal but continued to live in Brazil until 1822, when he returned to accept the role of a “constitutional monarch”. In the same year he overcame a rebellion by his son Dom Miguel. In 1825 he recognized his other son, Dom Pedro, as emperor of an independent Brazil.