Theodore I Laskaris facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Theodore I LaskarisΘεόδωρος Λάσκαρις |
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| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |
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Portrait of Theodore I (from a 15th-century codex containing a copy of the Extracts of History by Joannes Zonaras)
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| Emperor of Nicaea Claimant Byzantine Emperor in exile |
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| Reign | 1205–1221 |
| Coronation | 6 April 1208 |
| Predecessor | Alexios V Doukas |
| Successor | John III Doukas Vatatzes |
| Co-emperor | Nicholas Laskaris (1208–c. 1210) |
| Born | c. 1175 |
| Died | November 1221 (aged c. 46) |
| Wives |
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| Issue | Irene Laskarina Maria Laskarina Eudokia Laskarina Nicholas Laskaris John Laskaris |
| House | Laskaris |
| Father | Nicholas (?) Laskaris |
| Religion | Greek Orthodox |
Theodore I Laskaris (born around 1175, died November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea. This was a new state that formed after the old Byzantine Empire was broken up. Theodore ruled from 1205 until his death. Even though he came from a family that wasn't very famous, his mother was related to the important Komnenos imperial family. In 1200, he married Anna, the daughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos. He was given the title of despot before 1203, which showed he had a right to become emperor after his father-in-law.
The Fourth Crusade was a big event that changed everything. It forced Emperor Alexios III to run away from Constantinople in 1203. Theodore was captured by the crusaders, who the Byzantines called "Latins". But he managed to escape. He crossed the Bosporus strait into Asia Minor (which is now part of Turkey). There, he began to gather the local Greeks to fight against the Latins. He even made a deal with the Seljuq sultan of Rum, but he couldn't stop the Latins from taking more land. He also couldn't stop Alexios Komnenos from creating another Greek state, the Empire of Trebizond, in northern Asia Minor. Theodore's power became stronger only after the Bulgarian Tzar Kaloyan of Bulgaria badly defeated the Latins in the Battle of Adrianople in 1205.
Many Greeks who were fleeing the Latin Empire (the new state the crusaders set up in the Byzantine lands) came to Asia Minor to live under Theodore's rule. The Latins captured Theodore's father-in-law and made a deal with Alexios I of Trebizond. But Theodore defeated their combined armies. He gained the support of most important families in Bithynia and took control of the lands of those who opposed him. In 1205, he took on the traditional titles of the Byzantine emperors. Three years later, he called a Church meeting to choose a new Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople. This new patriarch crowned Theodore as emperor. The patriarch also set up his main church in Theodore's capital city, Nicaea.
Most Orthodox Christians living in the Latin Empire saw Theodore as the main protector of their Church. However, the rulers of Epirus, another Greek state in the western part of the old Byzantine Empire, questioned if his coronation was truly legal. Theodore's father-in-law, Alexios III, still wanted to be emperor. After he was freed from prison, Alexios III convinced the Seljuqs to attack Nicaea. But Theodore defeated them in 1211. The Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders captured important forts in western Asia Minor in 1212. However, he didn't have enough soldiers to keep them. Henry's peace treaty with Theodore basically accepted that the Empire of Nicaea existed. Theodore also conquered western Paphlagonia on the Black Sea coast from Alexios I of Trebizond. Around 1220, Theodore tried to convince the Latins in Constantinople to accept his rule, but they refused. Theodore built a strong state close to Constantinople. This allowed his successors to later drive the Latins out of the city and bring back the Byzantine Empire in 1261.
Contents
Theodore's Early Life
His Family
Theodore Komnenos Laskaris was born around 1175. His family was noble but not very famous in the Byzantine Empire. We don't know his parents' names. If he followed the custom of naming his first son after his father, then his father's name was Nicholas. Theodore's mother was part of the important imperial Komnenos family, and he proudly used her family name. Theodore had at least six brothers: Constantine, George, Alexios, Isaac, Manuel, and Michael. Manuel and Michael might have had a different mother because they used the last name Tzamantouros. Theodore was also related to the noble Phokas family, probably through one of his aunts.
The Laskaris family owned land in western Asia Minor. Both Theodore and his brother Constantine had a special seal with Saint George on it. This seal showed their connection to a monastery called Saint George Diasorites, located in Pyrgion.
How Theodore Became Important
A historian from that time, Niketas Choniates, described Theodore as a "daring youth and fierce warrior." Another historian, George Akropolites, said Theodore was "small in body but not excessively so, quite dark, and had a flowing beard forked at the end." Theodore became important because of his family ties to the Komnenoi. His first known seal shows he held the titles of sebastos and protovestiarites. Sebastos was a court title often given to the emperor's relatives. As protovestiarites, Theodore was a commander of a guard unit at the imperial palace.
Emperor Alexios III Angelos (who ruled from 1195 to 1203) had no sons. He wanted to solve the problem of who would rule next by marrying off his two oldest daughters. In late 1200, he married his oldest daughter, Irene, to Alexios Palaiologos. He married her younger sister, Anna, to Theodore. Palaiologos was given the rank of despot, which meant he had a right to become emperor after his father-in-law. When Palaiologos died before 1203, Theodore received the same important title.
The Fall of Constantinople
To become emperor, Alexios III had blinded and imprisoned his older brother, Isaac II Angelos. Isaac's son, Alexios, ran away from Constantinople to Germany. He asked his Catholic relatives for help. He made a deal with the leaders of the Fourth Crusade, promising them a lot of money (800,000 hyperpyra) if they helped him. The crusaders arrived at Constantinople and captured Pera on the other side of the Golden Horn on July 6, 1203. Theodore led attacks against the invaders, but they began to attack the Byzantine capital. The walls of Constantinople were weak, and Alexios III panicked. He fled to Thrace during the night of July 17–18. He took the treasury money and the imperial symbols with him.
Isaac II was freed, and his son was crowned as co-emperor, Alexios IV. Theodore was put in prison after his father-in-law fled, but he escaped in September 1203. We don't know the exact details of his escape. Theodore himself said that God "miraculously removed" him from prison and guided him across the Bosporus to Asia Minor. His wife and daughters went with him. They reached Nicaea, but the people of the town only let his family in. They were afraid of Alexios IV's anger. Theodore, as he later remembered, moved "from one region to another," avoiding traps set by his enemies.
Alexios IV couldn't pay the crusaders. They refused to leave Constantinople and began to raid and steal from nearby villages. The Byzantines blamed Alexios IV for what the crusaders were doing. The army rebelled and made a general named Alexios Mourtzouphlos Doukas emperor on January 28, 1204. Isaac II had already died. The new emperor had Alexios IV murdered. This gave the crusaders an excuse to attack Constantinople again. When they broke through the walls on April 12, Alexios V fled. A group of citizens offered the imperial crown to Theodore's brother, Constantine, but he said no. The crusaders captured Constantinople and completely looted it.
Even though the Byzantine capital fell to the crusaders, neither Alexios III Angelos nor Alexios V Doukas gave up their claim to be emperor. A third person soon appeared: Alexios, a grandson of Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos. He took control of Trebizond on the Black Sea coast in Asia Minor and called himself emperor. The crusaders chose one of their leaders, Baldwin of Flanders, to be the emperor in May 1204.
Fighting Back
When Theodore arrived, Asia Minor had been a place of many rebellions against the government for decades. A rebellious noble, Theodore Mangaphas, controlled Philadelphia. Another noble, Sabas Asidenos, ruled Sampson. Nikephoros Kontostephanos controlled lands along the Maeander River. Theodore presented himself as his father-in-law's representative. He gained the loyalty of the towns in Bithynia in Alexios III's name until the end of 1204. The local Greeks accepted him as the strategos (or military leader) of Bithynia. He set up his base in Prussa. He often traveled to meetings and dinners, encouraging the local Greeks to fight against the "Latins" (the crusaders). He also took control of government money. He could offer money to the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, Rukn al-Din Suleiman II, for his help against the Latins. Suleiman II died, and his young son, Izz al-Din Kilij Arslan III, became sultan in June 1204.
The crusaders created a plan to divide the Byzantine lands among themselves in September. In Asia Minor, the "duchy of Nicaea" was given to Louis I, Count of Blois. The "duchy of Philadelphia" was given to Stephen of Perche. However, the Latins had not actually conquered these lands yet. The Venetians took the port of Lampsacus on the Asian side of the Hellespont. A French knight, Peter of Bracieux, captured nearby Pegai. Emperor Alexios I of Trebizond's brother, David Komnenos, led a military campaign into Paphlagonia. He took control of towns along the Black Sea coast. His conquests helped Bracieux invade Bithynia. Bracieux defeated Theodore at Poemanenum on December 6. This victory allowed him to capture forts in Bithynia.
The Latins captured and publicly executed Alexios V in Constantinople. They also arrested Alexios III in Thessaly, forcing him to give up the imperial symbols to them in early 1205. A grandson of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, Manuel Maurozomes, and Maurozomes's son-in-law, the former Sultan of Rum, Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw I, came to Nicaea. Theodore held them for a short time, but they soon made a deal. Theodore lent money to Kaykhusraw to help him get his throne back. In return, Kaykhusraw promised military support. Kaykhusraw and Maurozomes quickly went to Konya, the capital of Rum. They removed the young Kilij Arslan and made Kaykhusraw sultan again in March 1205.
By the end of 1204, the Latins had captured Thrace, Thessaly, and northern Greece. Emperor Alexios III's cousin, Michael Doukas, who was leading the Greek resistance in Epirus, had to promise loyalty to Pope Innocent III to get his protection. Emperor Baldwin sent his brother, Henry, to conquer Asia Minor in early 1205. Henry defeated Theodore Mangaphas and Theodore Laskaris's brother, Constantine, in the Battle of Adramyttion on March 19, 1205. The Latins couldn't continue their victory because Tzar Kaloyan of Bulgaria started a rebellion in Thrace and invaded the area. Kaloyan's invasion forced Emperor Baldwin to pull his knights out of Anatolia. Kaloyan badly defeated the Latin army in the Battle of Adrianople on April 14, 1205. Louis of Blois and Stephen of Perche died in the battle. Baldwin was captured and died in prison in Bulgaria.
Theodore gained the most from Kaloyan's victory. The Latins' defeat showed how weak their rule was and made Theodore's position secure. He took advantage of this moment. He drove the Latin soldiers out of most forts in Anatolia. He also moved his capital from Prussa to Nicaea. Greeks were pouring into his land from the European areas under Latin rule. Mangaphas gave Philadelphia to Theodore, and Asidenos's lands also became part of Theodore's state. The local nobles supported Theodore against other rebellious leaders. He gave them important court titles. Theodore also made Michael I of Epirus's brother, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who had settled in Asia Minor, swear loyalty before letting him leave for Epirus.
Theodore's Reign as Emperor
Becoming Emperor
David Komnenos sent an army to Bithynia, but Theodore defeated the invaders and their Latin allies at Nicomedia. Sultan Kaykhusraw I sent Seljuq soldiers to his father-in-law, Maurozomes, to invade the Maeander River valley in the spring of 1205. But they were soon defeated. Theodore made peace with Maurozomes, allowing him to rule two forts, Chonae and Laodicea on the Lycus, as the Sultan's representative. Theodore took the title of emperor in early 1205. This happened either after his victory at Nicomedia or after his peace treaty with Maurozomes. His new title was a direct challenge to the Latin emperor in Constantinople. So, the Latins saw him as someone who had illegally taken power in their lands. Many Greeks also didn't want to accept Theodore as emperor. This was because only a coronation by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople could make an emperor truly legal. Theodore tried to contact Patriarch John Kamateros, who was living in exile. Theodore offered to move him to Nicaea, but the old church leader refused.
Byzantine nobles who had lost their lands in Europe came to Nicaea, and Theodore gave them a safe place to stay. He could only afford a simple government system, but he invited former high-ranking Byzantine officials to Nicaea. His wife's uncle, the blind Basil Doukas Kamateros, who used to be a minister, helped him set up the new government. He hired a pirate, John Steiriones, to lead his ships in the Sea of Marmara. Theodore trusted his brothers a lot. He made them military commanders and gave them important court titles.
Patriarch John Kamateros died in June 1206. The Orthodox clergy in Constantinople asked Pope Innocent III to let them choose a new patriarch. But the Latin rulers were against this plan. The new Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Henry of Flanders, made a deal with David Komnenos against Theodore. Theodore decided to capture Heraclea Pontica from David. But the Latins attacked his army from behind as he marched towards the town. He had to stop his campaign to chase the Latin troops away. The Latins invaded Asia Minor and captured Nicomedia and Cyzicus during the winter of 1206–1207. Theodore, in turn, allied with Kaloyan, who attacked Thrace. This forced Emperor Henry to call his troops back from Asia Minor. After Theodore and his brothers attacked Nicomedia, Henry agreed to a two-year truce. This allowed Theodore to destroy two forts at Nicomedia and Cyzicus.
The Orthodox church leaders' talks with the Pope about choosing an Orthodox patriarch didn't work out. Theodore wrote a letter to Pope Innocent III, asking him to let the Orthodox church leaders choose the new patriarch. He also tried to convince the Pope to accept him as the main leader of the Orthodox community. But the Pope ignored both requests. When the Latins broke the truce in early 1208, Theodore again contacted the Pope. He asked him to help make peace, suggesting the Sea of Marmara as the border between the Latin Empire and his state.
Orthodox church leaders urged Theodore to hold an election for a new Ecumenical Patriarch. Theodore called a Church meeting in Nicaea during Holy Week 1208. The church leaders there chose a high-ranking cleric, Michael Autoreianos, as patriarch on March 20, 1208. Autoreianos was related to Theodore's main advisor, Kamateros. As his first act, the new patriarch crowned Theodore "emperor and autocrat of the Romans". The ceremony happened on Easter Sunday (April 6). Theodore's coronation by the new Ecumenical Patriarch made his claim to be the rightful successor of the Byzantine emperors official. However, his right to rule could still be questioned. This was because only a lawful emperor could appoint a lawful patriarch, and only a lawful patriarch could crown a lawful emperor. Theodore's opponents argued that the meeting that chose Michael Autoreianos was just a group of randomly picked bishops, not a proper church council. In response, his supporters said that the unusual situation after Constantinople fell required a flexible way of interpreting laws.
Wars and Victories
By 1209, four main states had formed from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire. Alexios I and David Komnenos had strengthened their Empire of Trebizond in northern Asia Minor. Henry of Flanders had brought Thrace and most of Greece into the Latin Empire. Michael I Doukas had secured his rule in Epirus. And Theodore I Laskaris had become the clear ruler of western Asia Minor. However, the power balance was not stable. The four rulers were rivals, always ready to make deals against their neighbors. Emperor Henry made an alliance with Sultan Kaykhusraw I against Theodore. Theodore, in turn, allied with Kaloyan of Bulgaria's successor, Boril. Henry's vassal, Michael I Doukas, paid the ransom for Theodore's father-in-law, Alexios III, in 1209 or 1210. Alexios III avoided Nicaea and went to Konya, seeking safety at the court of Kaykhusraw I, his adopted son.
Both Boril of Bulgaria and Michael I Doukas wanted to drive the Latins out of Thessalonica. This made Emperor Henry visit the town often. Taking advantage of Henry's absence, Theodore sent his fleet to attack Constantinople in the spring of 1211. Boril invaded Thrace, but he couldn't stop Henry from returning to his capital. Kaykhusraw I and Alexios III invaded Nicaea. This forced Theodore's troops to stop their attack and hurry back to Asia Minor. The two armies met at Antioch on the Maeander in late spring or around June 17. The Seljuq troops were close to winning the battle. But Theodore found Kaykhusraw and killed him in a one-on-one fight. Alexios III was captured during the battle, and Theodore had his father-in-law imprisoned. He made a peace treaty with Kaykhushraw's son and successor, Kaykaus I.
Theodore sent letters to the Greeks under Latin rule. He told them about his victory and urged them to rebel against the "Latin dogs." However, his victory came at a high cost. His best soldiers, his Latin mercenaries, died in the battle. Emperor Henry led his army across the Bosporus and badly defeated Theodore's troops on the Rhyndakos River on October 15, 1211. Henry captured Nymphaion and Pergamon. In a letter sent to European rulers in early 1212, he boasted that he had conquered the Greeks all the way to the Seljuq border, except for a few forts. Henry had to end his military campaign because he didn't have enough soldiers to keep the captured forts. The two emperors made peace between 1212 and 1214. The peace confirmed that the Latins would keep the Troad region. The Latins also took some important forts in Bithynia. This gave them control of the roads between the northern and southern parts of Theodore's state. Theodore started a big building program for forts. New forts were built, and old ones were repaired. He also urged local officials to settle people around the new forts, giving them farmland.
Theodore quickly recovered from his defeat. He took advantage of a conflict between the Latin Empire and Serbia. Theodore and Sultan Kaykaus I invaded the Empire of Trebizond at the same time in 1214. Theodore forced David Komnenos to give up Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea. It's not clear if he conquered eastern Paphlagonia during this campaign or years later. His conquest of this area gave Nicaea a narrow strip of land along the Black Sea coast. This removed the emperors of Trebizond from the competition for Constantinople.
Strengthening the Empire
The Latin church leaders wanted to force the Orthodox people of Constantinople to use Catholic liturgy (church services) and pay a tithe (a tax for the church). But the Orthodox people resisted. Pope Innocent III sent Cardinal Pelagius to Constantinople in 1213. He was sent to make the Orthodox people follow the rules. Pelagius closed Orthodox churches and ordered resistant monks to be imprisoned. But the Greeks didn't give in, and many of them fled to Nicaea. The Greek nobles asked Emperor Henry to either stop the persecution of Orthodoxy or let them move to Nicaea. Henry gave in and ordered the Orthodox churches in Constantinople to reopen. Pelagius started talks with Theodore about a possible Church union at Heraclea Pontica. But their discussions didn't lead to anything.
Michael I Komnenos Doukas was killed in late 1214 or in 1215. Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who took over from him, questioned Theodore Laskaris's claim to be the supreme ruler. He ignored his earlier promise of loyalty. Along with Demetrios Chomatenos, the ambitious Archbishop of Ochrid, Doukas said that the patriarch in Nicaea had no right to appoint bishops in the Balkan areas controlled by Epirus. Doukas's plan to expand his territory forced Emperor Henry to start a military campaign against him. But Henry died unexpectedly before reaching Epirus. The Latin nobles chose his brother-in-law, Peter of Courtenay, as his successor. But Peter was captured and killed in Epirus on his way to Constantinople in 1217. A long period without an emperor followed his death. His widow, Yolanda of Flanders, ruled the Latin Empire as regent. She married her daughter, Maria of Courtenay, to Theodore. Theodore agreed to extend his peace treaty with the Latin Empire.
Yolande of Flanders died before October 1219. Theodore sent messengers to Constantinople to say he should be the next ruler. But the Latin nobles ignored him. Theodore suggested new talks about the Church union in 1219. He took advantage of the fact that there was no Latin patriarchate of Constantinople at the time. He planned to call the Orthodox patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria to a meeting in Nicaea. But the Orthodox clergy stopped this idea. Jacopo Tiepolo, the head of the Venetian community in Constantinople, convinced Theodore to write down the special rights of Venetian merchants in a chrysobull (a golden seal document) in August 1219. This document allowed Venetians to trade freely in the Empire of Nicaea and didn't make them pay taxes. The document also said that neither side could copy or fake the other's coins. Theodore tried to take Constantinople by force in 1220, but the Latins fought off his attack. The new Latin Emperor, Robert of Courtenay, came to Constantinople in March 1221. Peace between the two empires was soon restored.
Theodore died in November 1221. A fight for the throne followed because his two brothers, Alexios and Isaac, and his son-in-law, John Doukas Vatatzes, all claimed to be the next emperor. The fight ended with Vatatzes winning. Theodore's brothers were forced to leave the country. Theodore was buried next to his father-in-law and his first wife in the monastery of Saint Hyakinthos in Nicaea.
Theodore's Legacy
Western Asia Minor became an "empire in exile" during Theodore's rule. Historian Warren Treadgold said that "Theodore had built up a functioning [Byzantine] successor state... from next to nothing." He brought back the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other important Byzantine government systems. He also took ideas from the Latins and the Seljuqs. For example, military titles like konostaulos (from "constable") and tzaousios (from Turkish çavuş) first appeared during his time. He created his own money, making electrum and billon coins. But he didn't bring back the old Byzantine system of gold and copper coins. He started collecting regular taxes by 1216 at the latest. Following Byzantine patterns, he rewarded nobles by giving them the right to collect taxes. The Latins and Venetians made treaties with him, which showed they accepted that his state would last.
Protecting the Orthodox faith was the main idea of Theodore's state. Niketas Choniates wrote his Treasury of Orthodoxy, a book against false beliefs, at the Nicaean court. He said that Constantinople falling was a punishment for the Byzantines' sins. He compared their exile to Asia Minor to the Israelites' Babylonian captivity. Theodore knew he couldn't take Constantinople back from the Latins right away. But Nicaea was located close to the old Byzantine capital, making it a perfect place for a future reconquest.
Historian Dimiter Angelov says that Theodore's success was "due, in no small part, to his sanguine and pragmatic approach." This means he was hopeful and practical. He had a traveling court, moving from place to place and talking about political issues with local nobles. He wasn't afraid to lead his armies himself. He hired Latin soldiers from other countries, offering them higher pay than the rulers of the Latin Empire.
Theodore's Family
Theodore's first wife, Anna Komnene Angelina, was the second daughter of Emperor Alexios III. Her first husband, Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes, died without children in 1196. Theodore and Anna had three daughters and two sons.
- Irene Laskarina first married general Andronikos Palaiologos, who died without children in 1212. Irene then married Constantine Doukas Palaiologos in 1216, but he also died without children. Irene's third husband, John III Doukas Vatatzes, became emperor after Theodore.
- Maria Laskarina married King Béla IV of Hungary.
- Eudokia Laskarina was offered in marriage to the Latin Emperor Robert I in early 1221. But the Orthodox patriarch stopped the marriage.
- Nicholas was named co-emperor with his father in 1208, but he is not mentioned after 1210.
- John also died as a child before 1213.
Empress Anna died before 1213. Theodore then started talks about marrying again, this time to a daughter of Leo I, King of Armenia. Leo I sent his niece, Philippa, to Nicaea. Theodore married her at Christmas 1214. Historian Michael Angold suggests that Pope Innocent III encouraged this marriage. He wanted Theodore's support in his conflict with Emperor Henry during the War of the Antiochene Succession. Theodore divorced Philippa for an unknown reason and said her son would not inherit anything. According to Angold, Theodore only found out after the marriage that his wife was not Leo's daughter. Her son must have been born in 1214, because he was not yet eight years old when Theodore died. Theodore's third wife, Maria of Courtenay, was the daughter of Yolanda of Flanders and Peter II of Courtenay. Theodore married Maria in late 1218 or early 1219. He hoped this marriage would let him get involved in how the Latin Empire was run.
See also
In Spanish: Teodoro I Láscaris para niños
