empire of Nicaea

empire of Nicaea 1204-61. In 1204 the armies of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople, but the Crusaders' influence did not extend over the entire Byzantine Empire. Several Greek successor states, chief among them the empire of Nicaea, sprang up (see also Epirus, despotate of ; Trebizond, empire of ). The empire of Nicaea preserved the continuity of emperors, patriarchs, and institutions of Byzantium. Founded by Theodore I (Theodore Lascaris) in NW Asia Minor, with Nicaea as its capital, it played the decisive part in reuniting the Byzantine Empire. Theodore I and his successors of the Lascaris family expanded their domains, defeated their neighbors to the south, the Seljuk Turks, and in alliance with Ivan II of Bulgaria weakened their chief rivals, the despots of Epirus. They successfully warred against the Latins, and when the Mongol invasions weakened the Turks of Iconium, Nicaea became supreme in Asia Minor. Michael VIII (Michael Palaeologus), who usurped the throne of Nicaea in 1259, captured Constantinople from the Latins and restored (1261) the Byzantine Empire.

Nicaean empire (1204–61) A Byzantine principality comprising the territories centred on Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey). The Nicaean empire was established by Theodore I (1175–1222) following the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth CRUSADE; it adopted the institutions of the Byzantine empire, including emperors and patriarchs. Resisting the pressures of SELJUKS and Crusaders, Theodore I successfully annexed lands from the Komnenoi of Trebizond. His son-in-law John III sustained this miniature empire in exile but the early death of his son, Theodore II (1254–58), enabled MICHAEL VIII to dispossess and subsequently blind and imprison the infant heir, John IV Lascaris, after retaking Constantinople in 1261.