Reconquest of Constantinople
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Recapture of Constantinople
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_1.jpg) The Gate of the Spring (Pege) or Selymbria Gate, through which Strategopoulos and his men entered Constantinople on 25 July 1261 | |||||||
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The Reconquest of Constantinople was the recapture of the city of Constantinople in 1261 by the forces of the Empire of Nicaea, leading to the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty, after an interval of 57 years where the city had been the capital of the occupying Latin Empire that had been installed by the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Background
Following his victory at the
city walls, had promised to open a gate for the emperor's troops. He failed to do so, and so, Palaiologos launched an unsuccessful assault on Galata instead in that initial attempt.[2][3] To further his plans, Michael concluded an alliance with Genoa in March 1261, and in July 1261, as the one-year truce following after the failed Nicaean attack was nearing its end, the general Alexios Strategopoulos was sent with a small advance force of 800 soldiers (most of them Cumans) to keep a watch on the Bulgarians and spy out the defences of the Latins.[4][5]
Capture of Constantinople
When the Nicaean force reached the village of
Daphnousia in the Black Sea.[6] Strategopoulos initially hesitated to take advantage of the situation, fearing that his small force might be destroyed if the Latin army returned too soon, and because he would exceed the provisions of the emperor's orders, but eventually decided he could not squander such a golden opportunity to retake the city.[7]
On the night of 24/25 July 1261, Strategopoulos and his men approached the
Baldwin II downwards, hurriedly rushed to the harbours of the Golden Horn, hoping to escape by ship. At the same time, Strategopoulos' men set fire to the Venetian buildings and warehouses along the coast to prevent them from landing there. Due to the timely arrival of the returning Venetian fleet, many of the Latins managed to evacuate to the still Latin-held parts of Greece, marking the end of the Latin occupation with the city's restoration to the Byzantines.[8]
Aftermath
The recapture of Constantinople signalled the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, and on 15 August, the day of the
Dormition of the Theotokos, Emperor Michael VIII entered the city in triumph and was crowned at the Hagia Sophia. The rights of the legitimate emperor, John IV Laskaris, for whom Palaiologos had been ostensibly ruling for as a guardian, were brushed aside, and the boy subsequently was blinded and imprisoned.[9]
References
- ^ Nicol 1993, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Wolff 1969, p. 229.
- ^ Nicol 1993, p. 33.
- ^ Bartusis 1997, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Nicol 1993, pp. 33–35.
- ^ Bartusis 1997, p. 40.
- ^ a b Bartusis 1997, p. 41.
- ^ a b Nicol 1993, p. 35.
- ^ Nicol 1993, pp. 36–37.
Sources
- Bartusis, Mark C. (1997). The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204–1453. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1620-2.
- OCLC 1011763434.
- ISBN 978-0-521-43991-6.
- Wolff, Robert Lee (1969) [1962]. "The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1204–1261". In ISBN 0-299-04844-6.
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