Editing Andronikos III Palaiologos (section)

==Life==
Andronikos was born in [[Constantinople]] on 25 March 1297.  His father, [[Michael IX Palaiologos]], began reigning in full imperial style as co-emperor {{Circa|1295}}.

In March 1318, Andronikos married [[Irene of Brunswick]], daughter of [[Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen]]. In {{Circa|1321}} she gave birth to a son, who died in infancy.

In 1320, Andronikos accidentally caused the death of his brother Manuel, after which their father, co-emperor [[Michael IX Palaiologos]], died in his grief.  The homicide and the general dissolute behavior of Andronikos III and his coterie, mostly the young scions of the great aristocratic clans of the Empire, resulted in a deep rift in the relations between young Andronikos and his grandfather, still reigning as Emperor [[Andronikos II Palaiologos]].

Emperor Andronikos II disowned his grandson Andronikos, who fled the capital, rallied his supporters in [[Thrace]], and began to reign as rival emperor in 1321. A few months after the rebellion began, Andronikos II relented and named Andronikos III his co-emperor. The concession was not enough to prevent intermittent [[Byzantine civil war of 1321–28|civil war]] between the two monarchs in the years 1321 to 1328.

Empress Irene died on 16/17 August 1324 with no surviving child.  [[Theodora Palaiologina, Empress of Bulgaria|Theodora Palaiologina]], sister of Andronikos III, married the new tsar [[Michael Shishman of Bulgaria]] in 1324. Andronikos III, then a widower, married [[Anna of Savoy]] in October 1326.  In 1327 she gave birth to Maria (renamed Irene) Palaiologina.

Andronikos III concluded the [[Treaty of Chernomen]] of 1327, an alliance with tsar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria against [[Stephen Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia]].  In 1328 the Byzantine civil war ended with the deposition of Emperor Andronikos II, who retired to a monastery.