ANDRONICUS III. (1296?-1341), eastern Roman emper or, grandson of Andronicus II. His conduct during youth was so violent that, after the death of his father, Michael, in 13 2o, 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, not withstanding 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 Serbia under Stefan Dugan. He did something for the reorgani zation of the navy, and recovered Lesbos and Chios from the Genoese. He died on June 15, 1341.