Zealots of Thessalonica

From 1342 to 1350, a political movement known as the Zealots controlled Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second city. The Zealots emerged during the civil war between John Kantakouzenos and the regency governing for the young emperor John V. In Thessaloniki, as in other cities, much of the population supported the regency against Kantakouzenos, who was backed by the aristocracy. In 1342, the Zealots drove out the city's pro-Kantakouzenos nobles and took control, creating an independent government run largely by the people, not the aristocrats. They confiscated property belonging to the wealthy and to some monasteries, and there were outbreaks of violence against the upper classes, notably in 1345, when many nobles were killed. Historians have long debated the nature of the movement. Some saw it as an early social revolution, while others emphasize local rivalries and the chaos of civil war. Even after Kantakouzenos won the civil war in 1347, the Zealots held out in Thessaloniki. In 1350, Kantakouzenos's forces finally regained control of the city, ending the Zealot government.