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by benefactions and to do what good they could, even if they failed to attain the highest rank. But those who were completely carried away by resentment, because they were not deemed worthy of the patriarchal thrones, thought that there would be nothing else to counterbalance their labors and their zeal on behalf of the emperor, but, having completely separated themselves from the emperor and from the truth, they both spoke ill of him and corrupted the truth, advocating for falsehood and following in the footsteps of the perverse doctrines of Barlaam and Akindynos. But Isidore the patriarch, a short time after his consecration, having with him the other bishops who were present, the very ones who were there when, especially at the beginning of the war, Patriarch John had pronounced the excommunication against the Emperor Cantacuzenus contrary to all reason and what was proper, he also having these same men with him, ascended what is called the ambo, so that his voice might better reach everyone, and dissolved the excommunication in the hearing of all, although John 3.28 himself, immediately after the emperor had taken control of Byzantium, when he came before him, had also dissolved the excommunication in the hearing of many; but nevertheless it seemed best to Isidore to do the same things again for the sake of greater security. 4. Orchanes, the emperor's son-in-law, when he learned that the emperor had taken control of Byzantium and now held the entire Roman dominion securely, came with his whole household to the shore opposite Byzantium, which is locally called Scutari, to rejoice with him over the victory. And the emperor immediately crossed over to him in triremes; and for no few days they rejoiced with one another, occupying themselves with hunts and drinking parties and tokens of friendship. The emperor and his son-in-law Orchanes dined together at the same table, while his four sons, who were born to him by other women, were at another not far from the emperor's; the rest of the notable Persians and Romans were reclining on carpets to eat, close enough to be seen by the emperor. When they had rejoiced with each other for a sufficient time, Orchanes remained in the camp, but the emperor returned to Byzantium with his daughter Theodora, the wife of Orchanes, accompanied by Orchanes' children and the others of his household. She, having met with the empress her mother and her sisters for three days, then returned to Bithynia with the sons of Orchanes and the others who accompanied her, having been munificently benefited by the emperor her father. 3.29 On the thirteenth of the month of May of that same spring, in the sanctuary of the Mother of God at Blachernae, the Emperor Cantacuzenus was crowned again by Isidore the patriarch, with the empress Anna and the emperor John, his son-in-law, also being present; and all the customary rites of the festival were performed, with nothing omitted; then he himself also crowned the empress Irene according to the custom. And returning to the palace, they engaged in drinking parties and tokens of friendship and all the other things that are known to brighten a festival. And yet he himself had previously been crowned in Adrianople by Lazarus the patriarch of Jerusalem, and that anointing with the holy myron would have been sufficient for right-minded people; but so that there might be no pretext for the insolent, that he had not been crowned in Byzantium according to the ancient custom of the emperors, the second ceremony was performed again. On the eighth day after that, on the feast of the great emperors Constantine and Helen, the wedding of the new emperor was also celebrated in the same sanctuary of the Mother of God at Blachernae. For the church of the Wisdom of God, which surpasses all others everywhere in beauty and size and is like a common monument of the Roman dominion and an example of magnificence and love of beauty, had collapsed a year before the Emperor Cantacuzenus took Byzantium, when extraordinary earthquakes occurred—not completely, but both the 3.30 great arch near the bema and no small part of the roof, with more than two parts remaining. For this reason, the imperial ceremonies were performed in Blachernae, it having been the custom for them to be there before. The empress Anna therefore rebuilt the great arch with the bema, appointing Phakeolatos over the work; the

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εὐεργεσίαις καὶ εὖ ποιεῖν τὰ δυνατὰ, εἰ καὶ τῆς πρώτης ἀπετύγχανον ἀξίας. οἱ δὲ καθάπαξ ἀπαχθέντες τῇ μνησικακίᾳ, ὅτι μὴ τῶν πατριαρχικῶν ἠξίωντο θρόνων, οὐδὲν ᾤοντο ἕτερον ἔσεσθαι ἀντίῤῥοπον πρὸς τοὺς πόνους καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ βασιλέως σπουδὴν, ἀλλὰ καθάπαξ ἑαυτοὺς βασιλέως καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποστήσαντες, ἐκεῖνόν τε ἔλεγον κακῶς καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διέφθειρον, τῷ ψεύδει συνηγοροῦντες καὶ τοῖς Βαρλαὰμ καὶ Ἀκινδύνου διαστρόφοις δόγμασιν ἑπόμενοι κατ' ἴχνος. Ἰσίδωρος δὲ ὁ πατριάρχης ὀλίγῳ μετὰ τὴν χειροτονίαν ὕστερον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τῶν ἀρχιερέων ἔχων, ὅσοι παρῆσαν, ἡνίκα κατὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς τοῦ πολέμου μάλιστα Ἰωάννης ὁ πατριάρχης κατὰ βασιλέως τοῦ Καντακουζηνοῦ ἐξεφώνει τὸν ἀφορισμὸν παρὰ πάντα τοῦ δικαίου λόγον καὶ προσήκοντα, τοὺς αὐτοὺς δὴ καὶ οὗτος ἔχων, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἄμβωνος λεγομένου ἀναβὰς, ἵνα μᾶλλον διὰ πάντων διικνοῖτο ἡ φωνὴ, τὸν ἀφορισμὸν διέλυε πάντων ἀκουόντων, καίτοι καὶ Ἰωάν 3.28 νης αὐτὸς εὐθὺς μετὰ τὸ βασιλέα Βυζαντίου κεκρατηκέναι, ἐπεὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον παρεγένετο, ἔλυε καὶ αὐτὸς πολλῶν ἀκουόντων τὸν ἀφορισμόν· ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐδόκει καὶ αὖθις Ἰσιδώρῳ τὰ ἴσα πλείονος ἕνεκα ἀσφαλείας πράττειν. δʹ. Ὀρχάνης δὲ ὁ βασιλέως γαμβρὸς, ἐπεὶ ἐπύθετο βασιλέα κεκρατηκότα Βυζαντίου καὶ πᾶσαν ἤδη τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν ἔχοντα βεβαίως, πανοικησίᾳ ἦλθε πρὸς τοῦ Βυζαντίου τὴν περαίαν, ὃ Σκουτάριον ἐγχωρίως ὀνομάζεται, συνησθησόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτίκα τριήρεσιν ἐπεραιοῦτο πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ ἐφ' ἡμέραις οὐκ ὀλίγαις συνήδοντο ἀλλήλοις, θήραις σχολάζοντες καὶ πότοις καὶ φιλοτησίαις. συνήσθιον δὲ βασιλεὺς μὲν καὶ Ὀρχάνης ὁ γαμβρὸς ἐπὶ τραπέζης τῆς αὐτῆς, οἱ υἱοὶ δὲ τέτταρες ὄντες, ἐξ ἑτέρων γυναικῶν αὐτῷ γεγενημένοι, ἐφ' ἑτέρας οὐ μακρὰν τῆς βασιλέως· τῶν ἐπιφανῶν δὲ Περσῶν οἱ ἄλλοι καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἐπὶ ταπήτων ἦσαν ἀνακεκλιμένοι πρὸς τὸ ἐσθίειν, ὅσον ὁρᾶσθαι ὑπὸ βασιλέως. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐφ' ἱκανὸν συνήσθησαν ἀλλήλοις, Ὀρχάνης μὲν ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, βασιλεὺς δὲ μετὰ τῆς θυγατρὸς Θεοδώρας τῆς Ὀρχάνη γυναικὸς, ἑπομένων καὶ τῶν Ὀρχάνη παίδων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας, εἰς Βυζάντιον ἀνέστρεφεν. ἣ συγγενομένη βασιλίδι τῇ μητρὶ καὶ ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς ἐπὶ τρισὶν ἡμέραις, ἔπειτα ἀνέστρεφεν εἰς τὴν Βιθυνίαν μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ὀρχάνη καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐφεπομένων, εὐεργετηθέντων φιλοτίμως παρὰ βασιλέως τοῦ πατρός. 3.29 τρίτῃ δὲ ἐπὶ δέκα Μαΐου ἱσταμένου ἦρος τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ τῆς θεομήτορος τεμένει τῶν Βλαχερνῶν βασιλεὺς ὁ Καντακουζηνὸς ὑπὸ Ἰσιδώρου τοῦ πατριάρχου ἐστέφθη αὖθις, Ἄννης τε τῆς βασιλίδος παρούσης καὶ βασιλέως Ἰωάννου τοῦ γαμβροῦ· καὶ πάντα ἐτελεῖτο τὰ νενομισμένα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ, οὐδενὸς παραλειφθέντος· ἔπειτα καὶ αὐτὸς Εἰρήνην ἔστεφε τὴν βασιλίδα κατὰ τὸ ἔθος. καὶ εἰς τὰ βασίλεια ἐπανελθόντες πότους καὶ φιλοτησίας καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ἐξεπλήρουν, ὅσα φαιδρύνειν οἶδε τὴν ἑορτήν. καίτοιγε αὐτὸς ἐν Ἀδριανουπόλει ὑπὸ Λαζάρου τοῦ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων πατριάρχου πρότερον ἐστέφθη καὶ ἀπέχρησεν ἂν ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου μύρου χρίσις ἐκείνη παρ' εὖ φρονοῦσιν· ἵνα δὲ μηδεμία εἴη πρόφασις τοῖς ὑβρισταῖς, ὡς ἄρα μὴ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ κατὰ τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῶν βασιλέων ἔθος ἔστεπτο, καὶ τὸ δεύτερον αὖθις ἐτελεῖτο. ὀγδόῃ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ἀπ' ἐκείνης κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου καὶ Ἑλένης μνήμην τῶν μεγάλων βασιλέων καὶ οἱ τοῦ νέου βασιλέως ἐτελοῦντο γάμοι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τεμένει τῆς θεομήτορος τῶν Βλαχερνῶν. ὁ γὰρ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ Σοφίας, κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει τοὺς ἁπανταχοῦ νικῶν καὶ ὥσπερ τι κοινὸν ἄγαλμα τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας ὢν καὶ δεῖγμα τῆς μεγαλουργίας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ καλὰ φιλοτιμίας, ἔτει ἑνὶ πρότερον ἢ Καντακουζηνὸν τὸν βασιλέα τὸ Βυζάντιον ἑλεῖν, σεισμῶν ἐξαισίων γενομένων, κατηνέχθη, οὐ καθάπαξ, ἀλλ' ἥ τε πρὸς τῷ βήματι 3.30 μεγάλη στοὰ καὶ τῆς ὀροφῆς οὐκ ὀλίγον, ὑπὲρ δύο μοίρας ἀπολειφθείσης. διὸ καὶ αἱ τῶν βασιλέων τελεταὶ ἐν Βλαχέρναις ἐτελοῦντο, ἐκεῖσε πρότερον εἰωθός. τὴν μὲν οὖν μεγάλην στοὰν μετὰ τοῦ βήματος ἡ βασιλὶς ἀνήγειρεν αὖθις Ἄννα, Φακεωλάτον ἐπιστήσασα τῷ ἔργῳ· τὸ