On the morning of April 13, 1204, Constantinople was under Frankish rule. A committee of officials officially welcomed the Latin conquerors, in an attempt to prevent the sacking of the City. The Latins accepted the delegation, but at the same time allowed their men to freely plunder the City for three days. The greatest crime against world civilization was just beginning to be committed.
By April 15, the City was completely destroyed. Nothing was left of its former beauty and glory. Three days later, however, these scoundrels celebrated Palm Sunday, thanking God for the great victory he had given them! Then, the Franks elected Baldwin of Flanders emperor and divided Greece.
On the other hand, the Byzantines, army and people had completely lost their morale. After all, there was no strong personality that would bring them out of their lethargy and compel them to fight. Meanwhile, the nobles were also making sure to leave the City. Among them was Theodoros Laskaris, who left for Asia Minor. There, Theodore would establish the Empire of Nicaea, the state-continuator of the Byzantine tradition, whose soldiers would liberate the city 57 years later.
The beginning of the renaissance
Theodoros Laskaris had married Anna, the daughter of Alexios III Angelos. He was the only commander who had succeeded in preventing the crusaders from capturing the part of the wall he was protecting during the siege of Constantinople. He had remained in Constantinople until the last moment, when all organized resistance had collapsed. His brother, Constantine, had been proclaimed emperor when Constantinople fell to the crusaders.
Theodore fled to the Asia Minor coast of the Bosphorus with his wife. He then settled in Nicaea in Bithynia, where other Byzantines slowly began to arrive, and a nucleus of resistance began to form. Theodore himself, however, officially took the title of emperor a year later, in 1205.
Nicaea is quite close to Constantinople and its location was ideal as a base for the recapture of Constantinople. However, Theodore's power was limited to the area around Nicaea and he could not hope for help from elsewhere. Sandwiched between the Latins, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and the hostile Empire of Trebizond, the state of Nicaea was at first in a difficult position.
The Latin Empire was founded in Constantinople with Baldwin of Flanders as the first emperor. The Latins proceeded to an agreement to divide the territories of the Byzantine Empire. A division, led by Henry of Flanders, brother of the "emperor" Baldwin, landed in Asia Minor with the aim of occupying those lands as well. Theodore tried to confront them, but was defeated in two battles, at Poimaninos and at Bursa in the autumn and winter of 1204-1205.
But he was saved thanks to his diplomatic acumen, causing the Bulgarians to invade Thrace. In the battle fought near Adrianople, in 1205 the Latins were defeated and Baldwin was captured. The Latins temporarily abandoned the advance into Asia Minor and their troops withdrew to defend Constantinople and Thrace from the Bulgarians.
Theodoros gained time and made the most of it. In 1207 he defeated David Komnenos of Trebizond, finally calming down from this danger. In the same year he signed a two-year truce with the new Latin emperor, Henry. At the same time, he decided to legitimize his imperial title. On Easter Sunday of 1208, Patriarch Michael crowned Theodore emperor in Nicaea.
This fact was considered a provocation by the Latins, who, violating the agreement, invaded Asia Minor, led by Peter de Bruxelles. But Theodore rebuffed them. In 1210, Alexios III Angelos fled to the court of the sultan of Rum and asked him for his help against Theodore. Together with Alexios, the sultan moved with large forces and in 1210 invaded the territories of Nicaea. The Turkish troops arrived outside the walls of Antioch of the Maeander and besieged the city. Theodore hastened to confront them.
There Theodore achieved an amazing victory. Alexios himself was captured and imprisoned by Theodore in a monastery. However, this victory had cost Theodore almost his entire army. Thus, when the following year the Latins invaded his state, he did not have serious forces to oppose him and he was fatally defeated, in October 1211, in the battle of the river Ryndakos. Finally, in 1214 the "Treaty of Nymphaeum" was concluded between the two states. The Latin Empire was winning Troas and a large part of Mysia and Bithynia.
By 1214, Theodore had consolidated his authority as far as Paphlagonia. The remaining years until his death, Theodore dealt with the internal organization of his empire, making his state the natural successor of the Byzantine Empire. In 1219 he made his third marriage, marrying Maria of Courtenay, thus aspiring to exercise the regency in the Latin Empire of Constantinople. But his plans were blocked by the Venetian vailo of Constantinople and the Latin patriarch.
Ioannis Vatatzis
In 1222 Theodore died. To his son-in-law and successor, Ioannis Doukas Vatatzis, he handed over a strong and stable state. The brothers of the dead Theodore, Isaac and Alexios, refused to recognize him as emperor and asked for help from the Latin emperor, Robert of Courtenay, to take the throne. Robert accepted and at the beginning of 1223 his army was dispatched to Asia Minor, led by the Byzantine apostates.
John gathered his army and hastened to face them. The battle was fought in 1244 near the fortress of Poimanon, which was held by the Latins (2nd Battle of Poimanon). The Byzantines routed the Latins and killed most of them. The two traitors were captured and blinded, while those who followed them were executed.
Taking advantage of his victory, John recaptured all the Latin lands in Asia Minor and proceeded to build a fleet. He then liberated Chios, Lesbos, Samos, Ikaria, Kos and other smaller islands. The rest of the Dodecanese accepted the suzerainty of John in 1233. But, thanks to his fleet, John also took the decisive step, crossing into Europe. He liberated the peninsula of Gallipoli, creating a stable bridgehead on the European coast.
Unfortunately, this development brought him into conflict with the other great successor state of the Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of Epirus , who also aspired to recapture Constantinople and liberate the Byzantine Empire. The occupation of Adrianople gave the occasion for the latent conflict to break out.
The inhabitants of the great Thracian city had revolted and succeeded in driving out the Latin garrison. Immediately afterwards they asked for John's help. He, without delay, sent an army. But the despot of Epirus, Theodore, also sent an army. In order not to cause a conflict, Ioannis Vatatzis retreated and the conflict was averted. Theodore of Epirus then seemed to dominate, but he too was involved in a war with the Bulgarians, was defeated, captured and blinded by them.
This defeat of his main antagonist allowed John to take another step towards fulfilling his goal, namely the recovery of the City. To create additional problems for the Latins, he allied himself with the Bulgarians. However, the joint operations of the Byzantines and the Bulgarians, against the Latins, were not crowned with success and the Bulgarian king, John, broke his alliance ties with the Byzantines and turned to the Latins.
The latter also had the help of the Venetians and the prince of Achaia, Godefrigus Villeardouinus. At that time, however, a great invasion of the Mongols took place, which reached Bulgaria, weakening another opponent of John Vatatzes, the Bulgarians.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Vatatzis crossed with an army to Europe and liberated large areas of Macedonia, from Serres to today's Skopje. In 1246 he did not enter Thessaloniki in triumph. After these successes, even the new despot of Epirus, Michael, was forced to recognize Vatatzis as emperor.
Furthermore, Vatatzis liberated almost all of Thrace from the Latin yoke, but his attempt to liberate Constantinople was not crowned with success. In 1251, however, Michael of Epirus, influenced by the Latins, attempted to occupy Thessaloniki, breaking the treaty he had concluded with the state of Nicaea. However, his army mutinied and joined forces with his opponents.
Vatatzis, not wishing to open a new front, accepted the "repentant" Michael and a new treaty was concluded between them. This was also the last success of Ioannis Vatzis, who two years later, in 1254, died leaving his son, Theodore, on the throne, who lived only four more years. During this time he crushed the Bulgarians (in Thrace and in the straits of Kleidi), who had unnecessarily attacked a series of Greek cities in Thrace and Macedonia. He also became involved in a war with the Despotate of Epirus and captured some fortresses.
From Theodoros Vatatzis to Michael Paleologos
Later, a new treaty was signed between the two states, which were also linked by kinship ties. However, the despot of Epirus never really accepted the supremacy of the state of Nicaea and went so far as to ally even with the Latins. In the meantime, Theodore fell seriously ill – his mental health was already disturbed.
During crises that tormented him he had threatened to kill the Great Contostavlos, general Michael Palaiologos. The situation soon became even worse for Theodore, as the despot of Epirus attacked Nicaea's possessions. Shortly afterwards the emperor Theodore died, aged 36, leaving the throne to his eight-year-old son, John. However, the army rebelled against the commissioner of the minor king John, Georgios Mouzalons. Mouzalon was assassinated, on August 25, 1258, and the best general of the empire, Michael Paleologos, was imposed as commissioner, by force of arms of the army.
The situation facing the Empire of Nicaea at the time was critical. The despot of Epirus, Michael had openly allied himself with the Latins, marrying his daughters to Manfred, the king of Sicily and to William Villearduino of Achaia. Reinforced, Michael of Epirus had conquered all of Macedonia, west of Axios and was preparing to move towards Thessaloniki, with the aim of removing all the European possessions of the Empire of Nicaea.
There is no doubt that Michael Palaiologos was behind the military revolt, wishing to seize the throne. However, it turned out to be the best option at the time. Initially, Michael Paleologos took the title of despot and at the beginning of 1259 he was declared co-regent of the minor John. Later he proclaimed himself emperor alone, simultaneously eliminating the Lascari dynasty.
Michael, from the moment he ascended the throne, set as his goal the recovery of the City and the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire. That is why he sought to end the rivalry with the Despotate of Epirus. But the despot Michael, having secured the alliance of the Latin king of Sicily, the Latin prince of Achaia and the Latin "emperor" of Constantinople, thought that he could crush the state of Nicaea.
Thus, Michael Paleologos decided to impose his will. In the battle of Pelagonia in 1259, the Byzantines won a great victory. They liberated a large part of Greece and also took in exchange for the liberation of Villeardouinus three castles in the Peloponnese, Mystras, Main (Manis) and Monemvasia. From there began the saga of the Despotate of Mystras and the liberation of the Peloponnese from the Frankish yoke.
The city is free
But the most important event of Michael VIII's reign was the recovery of Constantinople. Michael had excluded the Latins within the City, having dominated all the suburbs and the whole of Thrace. In the summer of 1261 he had sent a small detachment of 800 men, led by the brave and experienced general, Alexios Stratigopoulos, to Constantinople, with the aim of intimidating the Latins and preventing them from leaving the City.
Some of Stratigopoulos' men, however, came from the city and knew the place. They learned from the Greeks within the City that the Latin garrison had left the City to take part in a raid against the island of Propontis, Daphnosia. 15 Byzantine soldiers passed through a passage in the wall. Tiptoeing, they scaled the wall and knocked down a Latino guard before he could shout.
Then, they broke the lock of a gate and the rest of Stratigopoulos' body entered. The Latins were completely taken by surprise, as Stratigopoulos, together with the Greek inhabitants, rushed into the city. Without even thinking of resisting they fled to the harbor, boarded the ships and left. It was July 15, 1261. The City was free again