Empire of Nicea
| Empire of Nicaea | ||||||||||
| Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων | ||||||||||
| Exiled court of the Byzantine Empire | ||||||||||
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 The Latin Empire, Empire of Nicaea, Empire of Trebizond, and the Despotate of Epirus-the borders are very uncertain.
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| Capital |
Nicaea (de jure) Nymphaion (de facto) |
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| Languages | Greek | |||||||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodox Church | |||||||||
| Government | ||||||||||
| Emperor | ||||||||||
| • | 1204–1222 | Theodore I Laskaris | ||||||||
| • | 1222–1254 | John III Doukas Vatatzes | ||||||||
| • | 1254–1258 | Theodore II Laskaris | ||||||||
| • | 1258–1261 | John IV Laskaris | ||||||||
| • | 1259–1261 | Michael VIII Palaiologos | ||||||||
| Historical era | High Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Established | 1204 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | July 1261 | ||||||||
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The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade. Founded by the Laskaris family, it lasted from 1204 to 1261, when the Nicaeans restored the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople.
In 1204, Byzantine emperor Alexios V Ducas Murtzouphlos fled Constantinople after crusaders invaded the city. Theodore I Lascaris, the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos, was proclaimed emperor but he too, realizing the situation in Constantinople was hopeless, fled to the city of Nicaea (today İznik) in Bithynia.
The Latin Empire, established by the Crusaders in Constantinople, had poor control over former Byzantine territory, and Byzantine successor states sprang up in Epirus, Trebizond, and Nicaea. Trebizond had broken away as an independent state a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople. Nicaea, however, was the closest to the Latin Empire and was in the best position to attempt to re-establish the Byzantine Empire.
Theodore Lascaris was not immediately successful, as Henry of Flanders defeated him at Poimanenon and Prusa (now Bursa) in 1204, but Theodore was able to capture much of northwestern Anatolia after the defeat of Latin Emperor Baldwin I in the Battle of Adrianople, Henry was recalled to Europe to defend against invasions from Kaloyan of Bulgaria. Theodore also defeated an army from Trebizond, as well as other minor rivals, leaving him in charge of the most powerful of the successor states. In 1206, Theodore proclaimed himself emperor at Nicaea.
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Wikipedia