John was a close friend and confidante of Andronikos III when he was still heir apparent to his grandfather Andronikos II and father Michael IX. John supported Andronikos III in his civil war against the latter's grandfather following the death of Michael IX for which Andronikos III was blame. Victorious, John became the megas domestikos of Andronikos and continued to enjoy the emperor's confidence. When Andronikos III died in 1341, John was left in charge of the government while Andronikos's widow, Anna of Savoy, was left in charge of the care of her son and Andronikos's heir, John V. Anna distrusted or was led to distrust John, and by September John was removed from his post. He was then declared emperor by the troops he commanded and the second Palaiologan civil war began. The war lastest nearly six years before John won in 1347. The peace gave John VI seniority as emperor to John V, but with John V still the heir. John V was able to remove John VI from power in 1354, and the latter retired to a monastery in the Peloponnese. During his monastic life, John wrote an apology for his reign and his oart in the civil war, which is the prism through which we are able to view his actions. He died three decades later at the age of 90.

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