John of Trebizond

John of Trebizond, born John Phocas and later romanized as Ioannes Flavius Phocas (c. 1388 - 8 July 1423) was a Roman-Byzantine statesmen that famously organized the Great Conspiracy under the Roman Emperors Manuel II and John VIII.

When Manuel II attempted to cede more religious authority to the Catholic Church in hopes of a crusade against the Ottomans, the Conspirators attempted to seize power, and subsequently failed. After fleeing Constantinople in 1423, John taught his squire, a young Lucius, in the ways of diplomacy and swordsmanship, before meeting with his fellow conspirators in the court of the Bulgarian king and being murdered on the orders of John VIII, who had just succeeded his father.

Although John of Trebizond himself failed to fulfill the Conspiracy, his death would inspire Lucius to do so exactly 30 years later, in the aftermath of the Battle of Constantinople. Ironically, historians often note, John succeeded in his mission and beyond, as in the years following Lucius' intervention, the Roman Empire would enter an unprecedented age of reconquest, repopulation and cultural rebirth.