John VI Kantakouzenos

John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (c. 1292 – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byzantine emperor in his own right from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian, who later wrote a history of the empire for the period 1320–1356.

Quotes

 * There is nothing more conducive to the destruction of a nation, whether it be republic or monarchy, than the lack of men of wisdom or intellect.
 * Letter to the ambassadors of Anne of Savoy, quoted in