Theodore Paleologus (Junior)


Theodore Paleologus, usually distinguished from his his father of the same name by being referred to as Theodore Junior or Theodore II, was the second son of the 16th/17th-century soldier and assassin Theodore Paleologus, and the oldest son to reach adulthood. Through his father, he was possibly a descendant of the Palaiologos dynasty of Byzantine emperors.
Like his father, Theodore Junior was a professional soldier, first attested in this capacity when he was serving in the forces led by Algernon Percy, the Earl of Northumberland in the Bishops' Wars in 1640. At the outbreak of the English Civil War, Theodore sided with the Roundheads, or Parliamentarists, despite his friend Richard Grenville and his two brothers being Cavaliers, or royalists. Theodore did not survive the war, dying in 1644, probably of camp fever during the early stages of the Siege of Oxford. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his grave was one of the few Parliamentarist graves to survive unscathed after the English monarchy was restored in 1660.

Biography

Theodore Paleologus was oldest' surviving son of his father by the same name and Mary Balls. He was baptized on 30 April 1609.' Theodore's family might have been the last living members of the Palaiologos dynasty,' which ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to 1453. They claimed descent from Thomas Palaiologos, a brother of Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, through a son called John, whose existence can not be confirmed through contemporary sources. All other purported ancestors of the later Paleologus family can be verified through contemporary records, making their descent from the emperors plausible, but somewhat uncertain.'
In his youth, Theodore Junior lived with his father and his siblings at Tattershall in Lincolnshire, England, since his father served the hated and feared Earl Henry Clinton as Master of the Horse. When Clinton died in 1616 and their father left Lincolnshire, possibly being evicted by the new Earl, the whereabouts of the children are unknown. What likely transpired was that the children were placed in the service of some household of higher class, a common practice in regards to adolescents at the time. It is also possible that the family lived with Mary's relatives, the Balls family.'
In 1619, Theodore Junior's parents are known to have lived in Plymouth and documents confidently place Theodore Junior in the city as well, at least as early as 1623.' By 1628, Theodore Junior, aged nineteen, was again away from his family, making his own life elsewhere.' He is next attested in 1631, the same year his mother died, as a witness in a lawsuit against Richard Grenville. Theodore was apparently a friend of Grenville, described in court papers as "Theodore Palaeologus of Tavistock, gent, aged twentyone, who gave evidence that he had been present on 1 April the previous year when Sir Richard paid over money to redeem some jewels pawned by his wife Dame Mary". According to Theodore himself, he had known Grenville since 1623 and as he had been fourteen in 1623, the Grenvilles were likely the family he had served in his adolescence.'
Grenville was imprisoned, but fled to Germany, where he would earn the nickname "Skellum", derived from the German "scheim", meaning "scoundrel". Grenville returned to England years later, in order to join the 1640 army raised by King Charles I against the Scots during the Bishops' Wars. Serving in this army, he would have met Theodore again, as they are both listed as lieutenants of the army led by Algernon Percy, the Earl of Northumberland. Like his father before him, Theodore Junior now served as a professional soldier. The campaign against the Scots ended in defeat and Theodore is then listed, in the same year, as present in the regiment of Jacob Astley at Yorkshire.'
Soon thereafter, The English Civil War erupted, forcing nobles across the country to choose either to fight for the royalists or the Parliamentarists.' Even though Grenville and both of Theodore's brothers, John Theodore and Ferdinand, were Cavaliers, Theodore sided with the rebels. By June 1642, his name was on the Reformado List, the Parliament's list of officers who were entitled to be paid half their wage even when not employed. Soon after, a "Theo Paholigus" is listed as a captain lieutenant in a foot regiment raised in Oxford by Oliver, Lord of St John of Bletso.'
Theodore did not survive the war, dying in 1644, aged 35, by then having the rank of lieutenant colonel. Although his cause, time and place of death is unknown, by tracking the movements of his company, it can be assumed that he died of camp fever, a miserable way to die, during the early stages of the long Siege of Oxford.' He was buried in the St. Michael's Chapel' in Westminster Abbey, a distinguished burial site, on 3 May 1644.' The honorable burial probably had little to do with Theodore's imperial ancestry, instead being the result of his service towards the Parliamentarist cause' and possibly also because of the influence of Theodore's commander, Oliver St John.'

Legacy

Theodore's body was spared the fate of many of the burials conducted in the abbey by the Parliamentarists. Many graves were exhumed on the orders of Charles II after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, with the corpses suffering symbolic executions and their heads being impaled on spikes.' Theodore's grave was one of only seven Parliamentarist graves spared this fate, but whether it was because he was a simple soldier or because his grave was unmarked at the time is unknown.' The present marker for his grave, which reads "THEODORUS PALÆOLOGUS 1644", was laid down by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley in the 19th century.' Since then, Theodore Junior's grave has attracted some attention. In his 2004 book on Westminster Abbey, historian Richard Jenkyns wrote that "those inclined to Romantic fantasy may toy with the notion that the Abbey also contains a rightful Emperor of Byzantium, the heir of Augustus and Constantine: that is, the Palaeologi were the last Byzantine dynasty, and a floor slab in the north transept records 'Theodorus Palaeologus 1644'".'

Cited bibliography