ANDRONICUS III  . (c . 1296-1341), eastern

Roman emperor, was the son of Michael, son of Andronicus II . His conduct during youth was so violent that, after the death of his father Michael in 1320, his grandfather resolved to deprive him of his right to the crown . Andronicus rebelled; he had a powerful party, and the first period of civil war ended in his being crowned and accepted as colleague by his grandfather, 1325 . The quarrel broke out again and, notwithstanding the help of the Bulgarians, the older emperor was compelled to abdicate, 1328 . During his reign Andronicus III. was engaged in constant war, chiefly with the Turks, who greatly extended their conquests . He annexed large regions in Thessaly and Epirus, but they were lost before his death to the rising power of Servia under Stephen Dugan . He did something for the reorganization of the navy, and re-covered Lesbos and Chios from the Genoese . He died in 1341 .