The
Byzantine civil war of 1341–47, sometimes referred to as the
Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out after the death of
Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son and heir,
John V Palaiologos. It pitted on the one hand Andronikos III's chief minister,
John VI Kantakouzenos, and on the other the Empress-Dowager
Anna of Savoy, the
Patriarch of Constantinople John XIV Kalekas, and the
megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. The war polarized Byzantine society along class lines, with the aristocracy backing Kantakouzenos and the lower and middle classes supporting the regency. To a lesser extent, the conflict acquired religious overtones. Byzantium was embroiled in the
Hesychast controversy, and adherence to the
mystical doctrine of
Hesychasm was often equated with support for Kantakouzenos.