Michael VIII
| Michael VIII Palaiologos | |
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Painting of Michael VIII
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| Emperor of the Byzantine Empire | |
| Reign | 15 August 1261 – 11 December 1282 |
| Predecessor | Baldwin II (Latin Empire) |
| Successor | Andronikos II Palaiologos |
| Emperor of Nicaea | |
| Reign | 1 January 1259 – 15 August 1261 |
| Predecessor | John IV Doukas Laskaris |
| Born | 1223 |
| Died | 11 December 1282 (aged 58) Pachomion, near Lysimachia |
| Spouse | Theodora Palaiologina |
| Issue | Manuel Palaiologos Irene Palaiologina Andronikos II Palaiologos Anna Palaiologina Constantine Palaiologos Theodora Palaiologina Eudokia Palaiologina Theodore Palaiologos Euphrosyne Palaiologina Maria Palaiologina |
| Dynasty | Palaiologos dynasty |
| Father | Andronikos Doukas Komnenos Palaiologos |
| Mother | Theodora Angelina Palaiologina |
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Η΄ Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl VIII Palaiologos; 1223 – 11 December 1282) reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire.
Michael VIII Palaiologos was the son of the megas domestikos Andronikos Palaiologos by Theodora Angelina Palaiologina, the granddaughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina. According to Deno John Geanakoplos, Michael's ancestry could be traced back to all three imperial houses that ruled the empire in the centuries before the capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade. His mother does not appear to have played a significant role in his early life; at least for a time he was brought up by his elder sister Martha, the wife of megas domestikos Nikephoros Tarchaneiotes, although she was only ten years older than he.
Michael rose to distinction at an early age, serving as the governor of the Thracian towns of Melnik and Serres under the command of his father Andronikos. However, in the fall of 1253 Michael was accused before the Emperor John III Vatatzes of plotting against the throne. The only way Michael was allowed to prove his innocence was through trial by ordeal, holding a red-hot iron. When the Emperor ordered him to take hold of the red-hot metal, the young Michael answered (to use Geanakoplos' words) "with the astuteness that was to characterize his later career as Emperor": if the Metropolitan Phokas of Philadelphia, who evidently supported this proposal, could take the iron from the altar with his own hands and place it in Michael's, he would gladly receive it in faith that the truth would be revealed.
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