Theodore Synadenos

Theodore Synadenos (c. 1277–1346), son of the megas stratopedarches John Synadenos, was one of the first and most committed supporters of the young Andronikos III against his grandfather Andronikos II. On Easter night 1321 he fled Constantinople with Andronikos and John Kantakouzenos to begin the revolt, and in 1328 the three took the capital without a fight through a gate whose guard had been bribed.

As protostrator he governed Constantinople, then Mesembria and Epirus from 1336. Rebels for Nikephoros II Orsini captured him at Arta in 1338 and held him until 1340.

In the civil war of 1341 he tried, as governor of Thessalonica, to hand the city to his friend Kantakouzenos, but the Zealots drove him out. He made terms with the regency, was given a high rank and put under house arrest, and died impoverished in 1345 or 1346.