Theodore I Laskaris
Theodore I Laskaris | |
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Greek Orthodox |
Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris (
The
Greeks fleeing from the
Theodore's father-in-law did not abandon his claim to the throne. After being released from prison, Alexios III persuaded the Seljuqs to invade Nicaea, but Theodore defeated them in 1211. The Latin Emperor
Early life
Parentage
Theodore Komnenos Laskaris was born to a noble, but not particularly renowned, Byzantine family around 1175.[note 1][2] His parents' names are unknown. If Theodore followed the Byzantine custom of giving his father's name to his firstborn son, his father was called Nicholas.[3] Theodore's mother belonged to an unidentified branch of the imperial Komnenos family and he proudly adopted her surname.[4][5] Theodore had no less than six brothers—Constantine, George, Alexios, Isaac, Manuel and Michael. Manuel and Michael must have been born to a different mother, as they bore the surname Tzamantouros instead of Komnenos.[3] Theodore was also related to the aristocratic Phokas family, most likely through the marriage of one of his aunts.[6]
The
Early career
The contemporaneous historian
Emperor Alexios III, who had no sons, wanted to solve the problem of succession by marrying off his two eldest daughters.[9] Late in 1200, he gave his firstborn daughter, Irene, in marriage to Alexios Palaiologos, and her younger sister, Anna, to Theodore.[9] Palaiologos was elevated to the rank of despot, demonstrating his right to succeed his father-in-law on the throne.[9] When Palaiologos died before 1203, Theodore received the same title.[9]
Fall of Constantinople
To seize the Byzantine throne, Emperor Alexios III had blinded and imprisoned his elder brother, Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195).[12][13] Isaac's son, Alexios, fled from Constantinople to Germany to seek his Catholic relatives' assistance. He concluded an agreement with the leaders of the Fourth Crusade, promising a large sum, 800,000 hyperpyra, for their support.[14] The crusaders reached Constantinople and captured Pera on the opposite coast of the Golden Horn on 6 July 1203.[12] Theodore conducted raids against the invaders, but they laid siege to the Byzantine capital.[15] The walls of Constantinople were vulnerable, and Alexios III fled in panic to Thrace during the night of 17–18 July. He drained the treasury and took the imperial insignia with him.[14][16]
Isaac II was released and his son was crowned his co-emperor as Alexios IV.[16] Theodore was imprisoned after his father-in-law's flight, but he escaped in September 1203.[16][17] The details of his escape are unknown, but Choniates stated that Theodore left Constantinople "armed only with practical wisdom and a brave spirit".[18][19] For a while, Theodore was hiding in a church dedicated to Saint Michael.[18] Theodore himself claimed that God "miraculously removed" him from the prison and guided him across the Bosporus to Asia Minor. His wife and daughters accompanied him.[18] They reached Nicaea, but the burghers of the town only admitted his family, because they feared Alexios IV's revenge.[20] Theodore, as he later remembered, moved "from one region to another", avoiding the traps that his (unidentified) enemies laid for him.[21]
Alexios IV could not pay off the crusaders. They refused to leave Constantinople and raided and plundered the nearby Thracian villages. The Byzantines blamed Alexios IV for the crusaders' acts. The army rebelled and proclaimed the general Alexios Mourtzouphlos Doukas emperor on 28 January 1204.[16][22] Isaac II had already died, and the new emperor had Alexios IV murdered, providing the crusaders with an excuse to make a new assault on Constantinople again.[16] When they breached the walls on 12 April, Alexios V fled.[23] A group of burghers offered the imperial crown to Theodore's brother, Constantine, but he rejected it.[23][24] The crusaders captured Constantinople and plundered it completely.[25]
Although the Byzantine capital fell to the crusaders, neither Alexios III Angelos nor Alexios V Doukas abandoned their claim to the throne. A third claimant soon appeared on the scene: a grandson of Emperor
Resistance
By the time of Theodore's arrival, Asia Minor had been a centre of uprisings against the imperial government for decades.
The crusaders set up a commission to
The Latins captured and publicly executed Alexios V in Constantinople. They also arrested Alexios III in Thessaly, forcing him to cede the imperial insignia to them early in 1205. A grandson of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180), Manuel Maurozomes, and Maurozomes's son-in-law, the deposed Sultan of Rum, Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw I, came to Nicaea.[35] Theodore detained them,[35] but they soon came to terms.[29] He lent money to Kaykhusraw to regain his throne in return for his promise of military support.[29] Kaykhusraw and Maurozomes hurried to Konya, the capital of Rum. They dethroned the underage Kilij Arslan in Kaykhusraw's favor in March 1205.[29][35]
By the end of 1204, the Latins had captured Thrace, Thessaly and northern Greece.[36] Emperor Alexios III's cousin, Michael Doukas, who organised the Greeks' resistance in Epirus, was forced to swear fealty to Pope Innocent III to secure his protection. Emperor Baldwin dispatched his brother, Henry, to conquer Asia Minor early in 1205.[34] Henry defeated Theodore Mangaphas and Theodore Laskaris' brother, Constantine, in the Battle of Adramyttion on 19 March 1205.[35] The Latins could not follow up their victory, because Tzar Kaloyan of Bulgaria stirred up a rebellion in Thrace and invaded the province.[32][37] Kaloyan's invasion forced Emperor Baldwin to withdraw his knights from Anatolia.[32][35] Kaloyan inflicted a crushing defeat on the Latin army in the Battle of Adrianople on 14 April 1205.[35] Louis of Blois and Stephen of Perche perished in the battlefield.[35] Baldwin was captured and died in captivity in Bulgaria.[38][39]
Theodore emerged as the main beneficiary of Kaloyan's victory.[34][40] The Latins' defeat revealed the fragility of their rule,[38] and secured Theodore's position.[41] Taking advantage of the moment, he expelled the Latin garrisons from most Anatolian fortresses,[42] and transferred his capital from Prussa to Nicaea.[40] Greeks were swarming to his realm from the European territories under Latin rule.[42] Mangaphas ceded Philadelphia to Theodore, and Asidenos's lands were also absorbed into Theodore's realm.[note 2][43][34] The local aristocrats supported Theodore against the rebellious magnates, and he awarded them with court titles.[44] Theodore extracted an oath of fealty from Michael I of Epirus's brother, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who had settled in Asia Minor, before allowing him to leave for Epirus.[45]
Reign
Coronation
David Komnenos dispatched an army to Bithynia, but Theodore defeated the invaders and their Latin allies at
Byzantine aristocrats, who had lost their Thracian, Thessalian or Peloponnesian estates, came to Nicaea and Theodore gave asylum to them.[note 3][43] He could only finance a simplified state administration, but he invited former high-ranking Byzantine officials to Nicaea.[48] His wife's uncle, the blind Basil Doukas Kamateros—a former logothetes tou dromou (minister of foreign affairs)—assisted him in setting up the new administrative system.[31][49] He hired a Calabrian pirate, John Steiriones, to command his fleet in the Sea of Marmara.[50] Theodore had great confidence in his brothers. He made them military commanders and rewarded them with court titles.[note 4][51]
Patriarch John Kamateros died in June 1206. The Orthodox clergy of Constantinople asked Pope Innocent III to authorize them to elect a new patriarch, but the Latin authorities opposed their plan.[17] The new Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Henry of Flanders, made an alliance with David Komnenos against Theodore. Theodore decided to capture Heraclea Pontica from David, but the Latins attacked his army from the rear when he was marching towards the town, and he had to abandon the campaign to chase the Latin troops off. The Latins invaded Asia Minor and captured Nicomedia and Cyzicus during the winter of 1206–1207. Theodore in turn allied himself with Kaloyan, who launched an incursion into Thrace, forcing Emperor Henry to recall his troops from Asia Minor.[52] After Theodore and his brothers had laid siege to Nicomedia, Henry agreed to sign a two-year truce, authorizing Theodore to destroy two fortifications at Nicomedia and Cyzicus.[53][54]
The Orthodox clerics' negotiations with the Holy See about the appointment of an Orthodox patriarch proved unsuccessful.[17][30] Theodore addressed a letter to Pope Innocent III, requesting that he authorize the Orthodox clerics to elect the new patriarch.[55] He also tried to persuade the Pope to acknowledge him as the supreme head of the Orthodox community, but the Pope ignored both requests.[56] When the Latins broke the truce early in 1208, Theodore again approached the Pope and asked him to mediate a peace, proposing the Sea of Marmara as the permanent frontier between the Latin Empire and his realm.[53]
Orthodox clerics urged Theodore to hold an election to decide a new Ecumenical Patriarch.
Wars
Four realms developed from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire by 1209.[52] Alexios I and David Komnenos consolidated their Empire of Trebizond in northern Asia Minor; Henry of Flanders integrated Thrace and almost all of Greece into the Latin Empire; Michael I Doukas secured his rule in Epirus; and Theodore I Laskaris emerged as the unrivaled ruler of western Asia Minor.[59] The balance of power, however, remained unstable, because the four monarchs were rivals, always ready to form alliances against their neighbors.[60] Emperor Henry concluded an alliance with Sultan Kaykhusraw I against Theodore, while Theodore allied himself with Kaloyan of Bulgaria's successor, Boril.[61] Henry's vassal, Michael I Doukas, paid off the ransom of Theodore's father-in-law, Alexios III in 1209 or 1210.[61][62] Alexios III avoided Nicaea and went to Konya, seeking asylum at the court of Kaykhusraw I, his adopted son.[61]
Both Boril of Bulgaria and Michael I Doukas wanted to expel the Latins from
Theodore sent letters to the Greeks under the Latins' rule to inform them of his triumph and to urge them to rise up against the "Latin dogs".[67] However, he had only won a Pyrrhic victory, because his best troops—his Latin mercenaries—perished in the battlefield.[66] Emperor Henry led his army across the Bosporus and routed Theodore's troops on the Rhyndakos River on 15 October 1211. Henry captured Nymphaion and Pergamon. In a circular letter sent to the European monarchs early in 1212, he boasted of having subjugated the Greeks as far as the Seljuq frontier, save the garrisons of some fortresses.[67] Henry had to end his military campaign because he did not have enough troops to garrison the captured fortresses.[61] The two emperors made peace between 1212 and 1214[note 5][61][67] The peace confirmed the Latins' possession of the Troad region.[67] The Latins also seized some strategically important Bithynian fortresses,[note 6] taking control of the roads between the northern and southern territories of Theodore's realm.[66][67] Theodore adopted an intensive fortification program. New fortresses were built, and the old fortresses' walls were restored.[67] He also urged local officials to settle colonists around the new forts, granting arable lands to them.[68]
Theodore quickly recovered from his defeat.[69] Taking advantage of a conflict between the Latin Empire and Serbia,[70] Theodore and Sultan Kaykaus I invaded the Empire of Trebizond simultaneously in 1214.[62] Theodore forced David Komnenos to abandon Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea.[69] Whether he conquered eastern Paphlagonia during this campaign, or only years later, is unclear.[30] His conquest of the region put a narrow strip of land along the Black Sea coast under Nicaean control,[71] and thus removed the emperors of Trebizond from the competition for Constantinople.[66]
Consolidation
The Latin clerics wanted to compel the Orthodox population of Constantinople to adopt the Catholic liturgy and to pay the tithe, but they resisted. Pope Innocent III sent Cardinal Pelagius as his legate to Constantinople in 1213 to discipline the Orthodox population for their resistance.[72][73] Pelagius closed Orthodox churches and ordered the imprisonment of the resistant monks, but the Greeks did not give in and many of them fled to Nicaea. The Greek aristocrats approached Emperor Henry, asking him either to stop the persecution of Orthodoxy or to allow them to move to Nicaea. Henry capitulated and ordered the re-opening of Orthodox churches in Constantinople.[73] Pelagius entered into negotiations with Theodore about a possible Church union at Heraclea Pontica, but their discussions proved inconclusive.[72]
Michael I Komnenos Doukas was assassinated in late 1214 or in 1215.
Yolande of Flanders died before October 1219.
Theodore died in November 1221.[82][83][84] A dynastic conflict followed because his two brothers, Alexios and Isaac, and his son-in-law, John Doukas Vatatzes, claimed the throne.[85] The conflict ended with Vatatzes's victory; Theodore's brothers were forced into exile.[66][82][85] Theodore was buried next to his father-in-law and his first wife in the monastery of Saint Hyakinthos in Nicaea.[86]
Legacy
Western Asia Minor developed into an "empire in exile" during Theodore's reign.[37][87] As the Byzantinist Warren Treadgold concludes, "Theodore had built up a functioning [Byzantine] successor state ... from next to nothing".[46] He revived the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other fundamental Byzantine institutions. He also borrowed from the Latins and the Seljuqs—the military offices of konostaulos (a hellenization of "constable") and tzaousios (from Turkish çavuş), are first documented during his reign.[88] He introduced his own currency, issuing electrum and billon coins, but he did not restore the Byzantine system of gold and copper coins.[51] He levied regular taxes from 1216 at the latest.[51] Following Byzantine patterns, he rewarded the aristocrats with tax-collecting rights.[51] The Latins and the Venetians made treaties with him, thus acknowledging that his realm was destined to lasting existence.[89]
The defence of the Orthodox faith was the central ideology of Theodore's realm. Niketas Choniates compiled his Treasury of Orthodoxy—a treatise against heresy—in the Nicaean court. He described the fall of Constantinople as a punishment for the Byzantines' sins and compared their exile into Asia Minor to the Israelites' Babylonian captivity.[90] Theodore realized that he was unable to recapture Constantinople from the Latins,[87] but located near the old Byzantine capital, Nicaea was ideally placed for its future reconquest.[37]
Historian Dimiter Angelov emphasizes that Theodore's political success was "due, in no small part, to his sanguine and pragmatic approach". He had an itinerant court, travelling from place to place and discussing political issues with the local noblemen. He was not afraid of commanding his armies in person. He hired Latin mercenaries, offering them salaries higher than the rulers of the Latin Empire.[53]
Family
Theodore's first wife, Anna Komnene Angelina, was the second daughter of Emperor Alexios III. Her first husband, sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes, was a great-grandson of Emperor John II Komnenos.[91] He died childless in 1196.[92] Theodore and Anna had three daughters and two sons.[68]
- Irene Laskarina was first given in marriage to the general Andronikos Palaiologos, who died without fathering children in 1212.[93] Irene was married off to Constantine Doukas Palaiologos in 1216, but he also died childless.[93] Irene's third husband, John III Doukas Vatatzes, succeeded Theodore on the throne.[93]
- Maria Laskarina became the wife of King Béla IV of Hungary.[94][83]
- Eudokia Laskarina's hand was offered to the Latin Emperor Robert I early in 1221, but the Orthodox patriarch's opposition prevented the marriage.[93][72]
- Nicholas was declared his father's co-emperor in 1208, but he was not mentioned after 1210.[44][68]
- John also died in childhood before 1213.[68]
Empress Anna died before 1213 and Theodore entered into negotiations about a new marriage with a daughter of Leo I, King of Armenia.[68][95] Leo I sent his niece, Philippa, to Nicaea, and Theodore married her at Christmas 1214.[95] Historian Michael Angold proposes that Pope Innocent III promoted a marriage alliance between Theodore and Leo to secure Theodore's support in his conflict with Emperor Henry during the War of the Antiochene Succession.[95] Theodore repudiated Philippa for an unknown reason and disinherited her son.[68] According to Angold, Theodore was informed only after the marriage that his wife was not Leo's daughter.[83] Her son must have been born in 1214, because he was not yet eight years old when Theodore died.[96] Theodore's third wife, Maria of Courtenay, was the daughter of Yolanda of Flanders and Peter II of Courtenay.[68] Theodore married Maria in the hope of intervening in the administration of the Latin Empire late in 1218 or early in 1219.[68][77]
See also
Notes
- ^ George Akropolites stated that Theodore was "more than 45 years old but less than 50" when he died in 1221, implying that he was born between 1171 and 1176. Nicephorus Gregoras said that Theodore was "around 30 years old" when he was proclaimed emperor in 1205.
- ^ Historian Dimiter Angelov says Theodore seized Philadelphia peacefully, but Warren Treadgold writes that Theodore imprisoned Mangaphas.
- ^ Members of the Raoul, Vranas, Kantakouzenos and Palaiologos families settled in Nicaea during Theodore's rule.
- ^ Theodore rewarded Constantine with the title of despot; George, Alexios and Isaac received the rank of sebastokrator. George was also made the doux (governor) of the Thracesian Theme.
- ^ Treadgold proposes the treaty was most probably concluded in 1212.
- Poimanenonwere among the fortresses seized by the Latins.
References
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, p. 18.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 16, 236.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, p. 16.
- ^ Volkoff 2015, p. 198.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 16–17.
- ^ a b c d Angelov 2019, p. 17.
- ^ Angold 2011, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Volkoff 2015, p. 197.
- ^ a b c d e Angelov 2019, p. 19.
- ^ Head 1980, p. 238.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, p. 20.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 659.
- ^ a b Treadgold 1997, p. 662.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c d e Angelov 2019, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d e f Angold 2017, p. 734.
- ^ a b c Angelov 2019, p. 23.
- ^ Angold 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 23–24.
- ^ a b c d Angelov 2019, p. 25.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 664.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, p. 22.
- ^ Queller 1977, p. 147.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 666.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 710.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 709–710.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 23–25.
- ^ a b c d e f Korobeinikov 2017, p. 718.
- ^ a b c d e f g Van Tricht 2011, p. 352.
- ^ a b c Angold 2011, p. 70.
- ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 81.
- ^ Nicol 1988, p. 149.
- ^ a b c d e Treadgold 1997, p. 713.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Angelov 2019, p. 26.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 711–713.
- ^ a b c Nicol 1988, p. 151.
- ^ a b Angold 2017, p. 731.
- ^ Fine 1994, pp. 81–82.
- ^ a b Nicol 1988, p. 161.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 83.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fine 1994, p. 90.
- ^ a b c Angelov 2019, p. 27.
- ^ a b Angold 2011, p. 71.
- ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 68.
- ^ a b c d e Treadgold 1997, p. 714.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 27, 30.
- ^ a b c Angelov 2019, p. 28.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 27–28.
- ^ a b c d Angelov 2019, p. 29.
- ^ a b Treadgold 1997, p. 715.
- ^ a b c Angelov 2019, p. 30.
- ^ Van Tricht 2011, p. 110.
- ^ Angold 2017, pp. 742–743.
- ^ Angold 2017, p. 742.
- ^ Dragon 2003, p. 275.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 91.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 715–716.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 716–717.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Treadgold 1997, p. 717.
- ^ a b c d e Korobeinikov 2017, p. 719.
- ^ Fine 1994, pp. 97–98.
- ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 99.
- ^ Fine 1994, pp. 99–100.
- ^ a b c d e f Angold 2017, p. 737.
- ^ a b c d e f Angelov 2019, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Angelov 2019, p. 32.
- ^ a b c Treadgold 1997, p. 718.
- ^ Van Tricht 2011, p. 354.
- ^ Angelov 2019, p. 49.
- ^ a b c d e Angold 2017, p. 743.
- ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 78.
- ^ Fine 1994, pp. 68, 116.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 718–719.
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 719.
- ^ a b Van Tricht 2011, pp. 364–365.
- ^ a b c d Van Tricht 2011, p. 365.
- ^ Van Tricht 2011, pp. 365–366.
- ^ a b Nicol 1988, p. 163.
- ^ Nicol 1988, pp. 163–164.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, p. 57.
- ^ a b c Angold 2011, p. 52.
- ^ Van Tricht 2011, p. 366.
- ^ a b Van Tricht 2011, p. 367.
- ^ Angelov 2019, p. 44.
- ^ a b Angelov 2019, pp. 28, 30.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 28, 30, 243 (note 104).
- ^ Nicol 1988, pp. 162, 164.
- ^ Angold 2017, p. 735.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Angelov 2019, p. 19, 239 (note 37).
- ^ a b c d Angelov 2019, p. 33.
- ^ Angelov 2019, pp. 32–33.
- ^ a b c Angold 2011, p. 51.
- ^ Angelov 2019, p. 244 (note 117).
Sources
- Angelov, Dimiter (2019). The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century. ISBN 978-1-108-48071-0.
- ISBN 9781409410980.
- Angold, Michael (2017) [2008]. "After the Fourth Crusade: the Greek rump states and the recovery of Byzantium". In Shepard, Jonathan (ed.). The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, c. 500–1492. Cambridge University Press. pp. 731–758. ISBN 9781409410980.
- Dragon, Gilbert (2003). Emperor and Priest: The Imperial Office in Byzantium. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521801232.
- ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- Head, Constance (1980). "Physical Descriptions of the Emperors in Byzantine Historical Writing". Byzantion. 50 (1): 226–240. ISSN 0378-2506.
- Korobeinikov, D. A. (2017) [2008]. "Raiders and neighbours: the Turks (1040–1304)". In Shepard, Jonathan (ed.). The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire, c. 500–1492. Cambridge University Press. pp. 692–727. ISBN 978-0-521-83231-1.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- ISBN 0-521-34157-4.
- Queller, Donald E. (1977). The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople 1201–1204. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Van Tricht, Filip (2011). The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20323-5.
- ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
- Volkoff, Angelina Anne (2015). "Komnenian Double Surnames on Lead Seals: Problems of Methodology and Understanding". JSTOR 26497715.
Further reading
- Macrides, Ruth (2007). George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, translation and commentary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1.
- Magoulias, Harry J., ed. (1984). O City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniates. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1764-2.