Editing Constantine XI Palaiologos (section)

=== Accession to the throne ===
[[File:Metropolis of Mystras, inside, imperial eagle.JPG|thumb|Marble relief of a [[double-headed eagle]] in the Church of St. Demetrios in [[Mystras]], marking the spot where Constantine XI was supposedly crowned]]
Theodore, once Despot of the Morea, died in June 1448 and on 31 October that same year, John VIII Palaiologos died in Constantinople.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=35–36}} Compared to his other living brothers, Constantine was the most popular of the Palaiologoi, both in the Morea and in the capital.{{Sfn|Hellebuyck|2006|p=41}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} It was well known that John's favored successor was Constantine and ultimately, the will of Helena Dragaš (who also preferred Constantine), prevailed in the matter. Both Thomas, who appeared to have had no intention of claiming the throne, and Demetrios, who most certainly did, hurried to Constantinople and reached the capital before Constantine left the Morea. Although many favored Demetrios for his anti-unionist sentiment, Helena reserved her right to act as regent until her eldest son, Constantine arrived, and stalled Demetrios' attempt at seizing the throne. Thomas accepted Constantine's appointment and Demetrios was overruled, though he later proclaimed Constantine as his new emperor.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=35–36}} Soon thereafter, Sphrantzes informed Sultan Murad II,{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=35–36}} who also accepted the appointment on 6 December 1448.{{Sfn|Hellebuyck|2006|p=42}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} With the issue of succession peacefully resolved, Helena sent two envoys, [[Manuel Palaiologos Iagros]] and [[Alexios Philanthropenos Laskaris]], to the Morea to proclaim Constantine as emperor and bring him to the capital. Thomas also accompanied them.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=|pp=35–36}}

[[File:162 - Constantine XI Palaiologos (Mutinensis - color).png|thumb|left|210px|15th-century portrait of Constantine XI (from the [[Mutinensis gr. 122]] codex containing a copy of the ''Extracts of History'' by [[Joannes Zonaras]])]]
In a small civil ceremony at Mystras, possibly in one of the churches or in the Despot's Palace, on 6 January 1449, Constantine was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans. He was not given a crown; instead, Constantine may have put on another type of imperial headgear, a {{transliteration|grc|pilos}}, on his head with his own hands. Although emperors were traditionally crowned in the [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople, there was historical precedent for smaller and local ceremonies: centuries ago, [[Manuel I Komnenos]] had been given the title of emperor by his dying father, [[John II Komnenos]], in [[Cilicia]]; Constantine's great-grandfather, [[John VI Kantakouzenos]], had been proclaimed emperor at [[Didymoteicho]] in Thrace. Both Manuel I and John VI had been careful to perform the [[Coronation of the Byzantine emperor|traditional coronation ceremony]] in Constantinople once they reached the capital. In Constantine's case, no such ceremony was ever performed. Both Constantine and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory III Mammas, were supporters of the Union of the Churches: a ceremony in which Gregory crowned Constantine emperor might have led the anti-unionists in the capital to rebel. Constantine's rise to emperor was controversial: although he was accepted on account of his lineage with few alternative candidates, his lack of a full coronation and support for the Union of the Churches damaged public perception of the new emperor.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|pp=37–38}}

Careful not to anger the anti-unionists through being crowned by Gregory III, Constantine believed that his proclamation at Mystras had sufficed as an imperial coronation and had given him all the constitutional rights of the one true emperor. In his earliest known imperial document, a chrysobull from February 1449, he refers to himself as "Constantine Palaiologos in Christ true Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". Constantine arrived at Constantinople on 12 March 1449, having been provided means of travel by a Catalan ship.{{Sfn|Nicol|1992|p=40}}

Constantine was well prepared for his accession to the throne after serving as regent twice and ruling numerous fiefs throughout the crumbling empire.{{Sfn|Hellebuyck|2006|p=7}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} By Constantine's time, Constantinople was a shadow of its former glory; the city never truly recovered from the 1204 [[Sack of Constantinople|sack]] by the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade. Instead of the grand imperial capital it once was, 15th century Constantinople was an almost rural network of population centers, with many of the city's churches and palaces, including the former imperial palace, abandoned and in disrepair. Instead of the former imperial palace, the Palaiologoi emperors used the [[Palace of Blachernae]], located considerably closer to the city's walls, as their main residence. The city's population had declined significantly due to the [[Latin occupation]], the 14th century civil wars, and outbreaks of the [[Black Death]] in 1347, 1409 and 1410. By the time Constantine became emperor, only about 50,000 people lived in the city.{{Sfn|Hellebuyck|2006|p=|pp=10–12}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}}