Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Andronicus II.

ANDRONICUS II. (Palæologus), Emperor, was born 1260. He was the elder son of Michael Palæologus, whom he succeeded in 1283. During his reign the Turks under Osman conquered nearly the whole of Bithynia; and to resist them the emperor called in the aid of Roger de Flor, who commanded a body of adventurers. The Turks were defeated, but Roger was found to be nearly as formidable an enemy to the imperial power. He was assassinated in 1308. His adventurers declared war upon Andronicus, and after devastating Thrace and Macedonia, settled in the southern part of Greece. From 1320 onwards the emperor was engaged in war with his grandson, Andronicus, in whose favour he was compelled to abdicate, 1328. He retired to a convent, and died about 1334.