Demetrios Kydones

Who was Demetrios Kydones?

Demetrios Kydones, Latinized as Demetrius Cydones or Demetrius Cydonius, was a Byzantine theologian, translator, writer and influential statesman, who served an unprecedented three terms as Mesazon of the Byzantine Empire under three successive emperors: John VI Kantakouzenos, John V Palaiologos and Manuel II Palaiologos.

As Imperial Premier, Kydones' West-Politik effort during his second and third stints was to bring about a reconciliation of the Byzantine and Roman Churches, in order to cement a military alliance against the ever-encroaching Islam, a program that culminated in Emperor John V Palaiologos' reconciliation with Catholicism.

His younger brother and somewhat-collaborator in his efforts was the noted anti-Palamite theologian Prochoros Kydones.