Civil war and the Zealot movement

particular characteristic of the second civil war is that, through it, two antagonistic social groups, the nobility and the proletariat, expressed themselves, thus lending the conflict a social character. From the beginning of the war, John Kantakouzenos was supported by the nobility, a fact of which Alexios Apokaukos and the regency in Constantinople were quick to take advantage.

Apokaukos addressed himself to the proletariat and secured their support, at a time when the economic crisis that had followed the first civil war had aggravated the social conflict. He stirred up the populace and soon, in October 1341, in Adrianople as well as in other cities of Macedonia and Thrace, riots broke out against the nobility. The angry mob destroyed and confiscated the property of the aristocrats and temporarily took over power.

The governors of the cities sided with John V. Only the governor of Thessalonike, Theodore Synadenos, took the side of Kantakouzenos. He even offered to open the city gates for him if he wished it. Kantakouzenos hastened to take advantage of the situation and marched on Thessalonike in March 1342. But events had outpaced him: in the second city of the Empire, the rebels had prevailed. This victory, however, was not just temporary. The Zealots, as they called themselves, set up in Thessalonike a peculiar regime, without precedent at the time, which allowed for popular participation in the administration of the city. This regime lasted for seven years, until 1349.

The government of Constantinople accepted the developments, recognised the Zealot movement and appointed the son of Apokaukos, John, governor of Thessalonike. In actual fact, however, it was the leader of the Zealot party who exercised authority in the city.