PALÆOLOGUS, the name of an illustrious Byzantine family, first mentioned in history in the eleventh century, from which period it played an important part in the affairs of the empire till its downfall. The family of Palæologus occupied the throne of Constantinople without interruption from 1260 to 1453, when that city was taken by the Turks. (See CONSTANTINOPOLITAN HISTORY. A full account of this powerful house will be found in the Familia Byzantina of Ducange, pp. 230-348; and a stemma of the family is given under "Palæologen," in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopædie; also in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.)