The Lascarids (1205-1261)

The fall of Constantinople into Crusader hands on 13 April 1204 marked a turning point in the relationship between Byzantines and Western Christians. The Latins elected an emperor, Baldwin of Flanders, and began to divide up the Byzantine Empire according to the Partito Romaniae treaty[1]. The Venetians kept the majority of the islands for themselves, as well as the ports of Albania, Epirus, the Peloponnese, Euboea and Crete. Boniface of Montferrat occupied Thessaly and created the Kingdom of Thessalonica. Geoffroy of Villehardouin reigned over the Peloponnese and established the Principality of Achaia, while Otto de la Roche was given the Duchy of Athens. The division of the territory into several feudal principalities created a number of difficulties: rivalling with one another, they refused to submit to the authority of the Latin emperor of Constantinople.

Three centres of Byzantine resistance sprang up under the leadership of descendants of the imperial families: Andronicus Comnenus' grandsons, Alexius and David, established themselves at Trezibond; Michael Angelus occupied the mountains of Epirus; and Theodore Lascaris, son-in-law of Alexius III, went to Nicaea. The objective of each of these three new independent states was to re-establish the empire and rule it themselves. This meant winning back Constantinople from the Latins.

The state of Trezibond, weakened by the attacks of the Turks, was the first of the three to renounce this objective.

Michael Angelus succeeded in winning back Dyrrachium as well as the west of Thessaly, but was assassinated in 1215. The kingdom was given over to his half-brother, Theodore Angelus, who overcame the neighbouring Bulgarian territories and, when Emperor Henry[2] died, extended the territory towards Thessalonica. Henry was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Pierre II of Courtenay. He attempted to invade Epirus from the east, but the Epirians ambushed and killed him. Theodore Angelus then won the east of Thessaly, followed by Thessalonica in 1224. He then proclaimed himself emperor. His success, however, was short-lived. In 1230, the Bulgars severely defeated him at Klokotnitsa, taking the inner territories of the Empire of Thessalonica. The region surrounding the city fell into the hands of Theodore, and Epirus fell under the control of Michael II Angelus.

In Nicaea, Theodore Lascaris set up a powerful state with the support of high dignitaries exiled from Constantinople who had found refuge there. His victory against the Seljuq sultan in 1211, and then three years later against Emperor Henry, strengthened the authority of his state. John Vatatzes, son-in-law of Theodore Lascaris, succeeded him in 1222. He conquered the Frankish possessions in Anatolia and the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Rhodes. The defeat of the Epirian despot Theodore Angelus at the hands of the Bulgars in 1230 gave Vatazes the opportunity to gain a foothold in Thrace, and the victory of the Mongols over the Seljuqs in 1243 put an end to any threats to him from the East. In 1246, he attacked the southern border of Bulgaria, and then the city of Thessalonica. The following year, John Vatatzes conquered the rest of Thrace, with the exception of Constantinople. He began negotiations with Pope Innocent IV, who appeared to be willing to return Constantinople on condition that a union between the Christian churches of East and West be sealed. However, this condition was not met. John Vatatzes and Innocent IV both died in 1254. Vatatzes' son, Theodore II Lascaris (1254-58), then ruled over the Empire of Nicaea. He had to defend his territories against the Bulgar tsar. Another enemy was Michael II of Epirus: he had made an alliance with the Frankish prince of the Peloponnese and the Germanic regent of southern Italy, who incited the Albanians of the surrounding regions of Dyrrachium to rebel against Nicaean authority. In 1258, Theodore II Lascaris died, leaving the Nicaean Empire to his young son, John Lascaris, and Michael Paleologos, proclaimed regent in 1259.

During the Latin occupation (1204-61), much of Constantinople's wealth was pillaged. It was primarily the Venetians who benefited, as testified by the Pala d'Oro and the precious objects of the Treasury of Saint Mark's in Venice.

Outside of the capital, the Latins concentrated their efforts on building fortresses to defend the occupied territories. The fortress of Mistra in the Peloponnese, built by the Villehardouin family, is one of the most impressive. The Crusaders also built several Gothic style churches there. Byzantine churches, recognisable because of their barrel vaults or decoration completed by figurative sculptures, are a reminder of the Frankish presence. In Cyprus, Crusader occupation is manifest in the island's monuments. Palestine, like Cyprus, was one of the main Latin centres where the art of icons was considerably developed. Great numbers of panels were created by Latin artists inspired by Byzantine works. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1244, Saint John of Acre became the largest centre of production of manuscripts and icons. Their inspiration was Byzantine but their style remained western.

The spirit of Byzantium lived on through the Byzantine artists and men of letters who left Crusader-occupied Constantinople to take refuge in the regions that had remained independent in Greece and in the Balkans: at Mount Athos as well as in the States of Nicaea and Trebizond. Nicaea, the provisional capital of the empire thanks to Theodore Lascaris, was one of the major intellectual and artistic centres of the time, as was Trebizond when the Comnenus family arrived there. The works produced by the Byzantine artists who had established themselves in the Despotate of Epirus in Greece also continued working in a style characteristic of Byzantine art, as they did in Arta, the capital of the despotate.

E. Y.

[2] Henri de Haunaut, Baldwin I's brother, reigned over the Latin Empire of Constantinople from 1206-16.