John Asanes

John Asanes, elder son of Andronikos Asen and grandson of Tsar Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria, was a Byzantine commander; his grandfather had fled Bulgaria for the empire in 1280. His father governed the Morea and won towns from the Franks of Achaea.

In 1335 John and his brother Manuel were imprisoned on a charge of conspiring against Andronikos III, and released in 1341. Joining their brother-in-law John VI Kantakouzenos in the civil war, he campaigned in the west and became governor of Melenikon, then sebastokrator in 1347 and despot at Peritheorion in 1355.

He married a daughter of Alexios Apokaukos, Kantakouzenos's great rival in the civil war. His niece Helena later married John V, and her descendants wore the imperial crown.