having used the title , variously translated as "Emperor of Thessaly", "Emperor of All Thessaly", "Emperor of all the Thessaly" or "Emperor of all of Thessaly". Though he had assumed this new title, John VII never stopped asserting his right to be the legitimate Byzantine emperor, continuing to use the titles autokrator and basileus, identical to the titulature of Manuel. In foreign correspondence, he was addressed in the same way as his uncle. Preserved treaties with the Italian republics refer to John VII as imperador di Griesi ("Emperor of the Greeks") and lo gran imperator Caloiani imperador di Griesi ("The great emperor Kalojoannes, Emperor of the Greeks"). John's entry into Thessalonica was commemorated in a Byzantine ivory pyxis (a cylindrical box with a lid). This pyxis, today held at Dumbarton Oaks, depicts both the imperial family of John VII (including his wife Irene and his son Andronikos V) and the imperial family of Manuel II (including his wife Helena Dragaš and his son, John VIII). At Thessalonica, John VII created his own treasury and issued his own coins with his own portrait rather than that of Manuel. He created his own imperial court and chancery, where documents were signed with his name rather than the name of Manuel. Throughout John's reign in Thessalonica, which lasted until his death in 1408, the Byzantine Empire thus experienced a period of dual rule, essentially divided into two. John's activities as emperor in Thessalonica consisted mainly of organising the city's defense and regulating local church property. He appears to have been content with his position; there are no further records of conflict between John VII and Manuel after the events of 1403. John VII's arrival in Thessalonica meant more to the Thessalonians than simply the arrival of an emperor. Through his 1403 treaty, John VII had liberated the city from the Ottomans and once more made it into the second city of the Byzantine Empire. Though Manuel had also been involved in some of the negotiations, the majority of the credit for ensuring Thessalonica's return to imperial control has to be given to John VII. As such, his arrival in the city was not just the arrival of a new governor, but of the city's liberator. Throughout his reign in Thessalonica, the Thessalonians continued to view John VII as an able ruler. According to Symeon of Thessalonica, John VII "fortified [the city] on all