Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos

Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos (c. 1325–June 1383) was the son of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina. In 1347 his father gave him a Thracian appanage for his support against John V, and in 1353 he was proclaimed co-emperor as civil war broke out again.

From Thrace he warred repeatedly on the Serbs, but in late 1356 or early 1357 he was defeated and captured by Vojihna; John V ransomed him, held him on Tenedos and Lesbos, and forced him to renounce the throne. In 1361 he retired to the Morea, ruling it briefly as despot after his brother Manuel's death in 1380.