Theodore II Laskaris
Theodore II Doukas Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris was Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258. He was the only child of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Empress Irene Laskarina. His mother was the eldest daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, who had established the Empire of Nicaea as a successor state to the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor after the crusaders captured the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Theodore received an excellent education from two renowned scholars, Nikephoros Blemmydes and George Akropolites. He made friends with young intellectuals, especially with a page of low birth, George Mouzalon. Theodore began to write treatises on theological, historical and philosophical themes in his youth.
Emperor John III arranged for Theodore to marry Elena Asenina in 1235, to forge an alliance with her father, Ivan Asen II, Emperor of Bulgaria, against the Latin Empire of Constantinople. According to Theodore himself, their marriage was happy, and they had five or six children. From 1241, Theodore acted as his father's lieutenant in Asia Minor during his frequent military campaigns in the Balkan Peninsula. From around 1242, he was his father's co-ruler, but was not crowned as co-emperor. During this period, his relationship with some prominent aristocrats, particularly Theodore Philes and Michael Palaiologos, grew tense.
Theodore succeeded his father on 4 November 1254. He dismissed many high officials and army commanders of aristocratic origin, replacing them with loyal friends, including some of low birth. The same year, he made a defensive alliance with Kaykaus II, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, against the Mongol Empire. In 1256, he repelled a Bulgarian invasion of Thrace and Macedonia and forced Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the ruler of Epirus, to cede Dyrrachium on the coast of the Adriatic Sea to Nicaea. He reformed the military, recruiting more soldiers from among the native peasantry of Asia Minor. Eventually, Michael II of Epirus forged an alliance with Stefan Uroš I, King of Serbia, and Manfred of Sicily against Nicaea. Theodore's newly appointed generals could not resist their joint invasion in 1257. Theodore fell seriously ill and could rarely take part in state administration during the last months of his life. He appointed George Mouzalon regent for his underage son, John IV, before dying of either chronic epilepsy or cancer. In ten days, Mouzalon fell victim to an aristocratic plot, and Michael Palaiologos assumed the regency, usurping the throne soon after.
Early life
Childhood
Theodore was born to Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Irene Laskarina in the imperial palace in Nicaea in late 1221 or early 1222. Irene was the eldest daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, the founder of the Empire of Nicaea. Nicaea was a successor state of the Byzantine Empire, established after the Catholic crusaders captured Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Vatatzes was Irene's third husband. He was born into a Byzantine aristocratic family related to the imperial dynasties of Komnenos and Angelos, and served as the commander of the imperial guard. Although Irene's two brothers had died prematurely, Theodore I did not name Vatatzes as his official heir. He most likely expected that his third wife, the Latin Maria of Courtenay, would bear sons, but he did not father children with her. Theodore I died in November 1221. Vatatzes had to defeat the late emperor's brothers, Alexios and Isaac Laskaris, to seize the throne. His victory over them and their Latin allies in the Battle of Poimanenon in the winter of 1223–1224 opened the way for the reconquest of Byzantine territories lost to the Latins in Asia Minor.Theodore was his parents' only child. His mother had been in a horse riding accident and could not bear children after his birth. He adopted his mother's family name. He was "raised as usual for a royal child", according to his own words, most probably referring to his upbringing in the women's quarter of the palace and the luxury surrounding him. His childhood was joyful and he "often received greatest solace" from his father. He also remembered his parents did not punish him when his tutor had accused him of misdemeanors.
Education
Theodore was probably entrusted to an elementary teacher's care in 1228 as most Nicaean aristocratic children's formal education began around the age of six. As part of his education, he memorized texts from the Bible and prayed three times a day. He could quote from the Psalms and the parables of Jesus by heart until the end of his life. Theodore's secondary education began around 1230. He detested his principal tutor and described him as a "great babbler" in his works, without mentioning his name. He studied grammar, poetry, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, astronomy, geometry and music for three years. His grammatical studies raised his lifelong interest in words with multiple meanings and in etymologies. The young Theodore was captivated by the orations of Demosthenes and Hermogenes of Tarsus. He also held theologian Gregory of Nazianzus in high esteem. His tutor mocked him for "philosophizing" and urged Theodore to spend more time with military and diplomatic studies. Theodore was a passionate hunter and polo player with remarkable riding skills.Negotiations over Theodore's marriage with Elena Asenina began shortly after the Battle of Klokotnitsa, where Elena's father, Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Emperor of Thessalonica and ruler of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas. The battle weakened Epirus–Thessalonica, Nicaea's western rival for the revival of the Byzantine Empire, and made Bulgaria the dominant power of the Balkan Peninsula. The marriage of Theodore and Elena sealed their fathers' alliance against the Latin Empire of Constantinople in 1235. In the same year, Bulgarian and Nicaean troops laid siege to Constantinople, but could not capture the city. In 1237, Ivan Asen then reversed his position, allying himself with the Latins to stop Nicaean expansion in Thrace, only to return to his alliance with Nicaea before the end of the year. His father-in-law's tactical moves convinced Theodore that he could not fully trust the Bulgarians—a view he held for the rest of his life.
Theodore took philosophy classes from a most renowned teacher, Nikephoros Blemmydes. As Blemmydes was the hegumenos of a monastery at Ephesus, Theodore attended his classes while he was staying in his father's winter palace at nearby Nymphaion. Blemmydes' zealous Aristotelianism had a strong impact on Theodore, who often mentioned Aristotelian notions, like potentiality and actuality, in his writings. Blemmydes was accused of embezzlement by one of his students early in the 1240s. Although Vatatzes' intervention saved him from imprisonment, he abandoned teaching. Theodore continued to visit Blemmydes regularly and maintained a correspondence with him. A young scholar, George Akropolites, replaced Blemmydes as Theodore's principal tutor. Born in Constantinople, Akropolites had firsthand experience with the Latin rule in the city. He completed Theodore's education in logic and mathematics. Also a historian, Akropolites would complete the most detailed chronicle of the Empire of Nicaea.
Theodore's mother died late in 1239. Vatatzes remarried in late summer of 1240, taking an illegitimate daughter of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Constanza, whose name was changed to Anna. She was around ten and Vatatzes started a scandalous affair with one of her Italian ladies-in-waiting, named Marchesina. She was granted the right to wear purple shoes and to harness her horse with purple trappings, like the Emperor's closest relatives.
Youth
First administrative tasks
If Vatatzes followed the practice of his predecessors, Theodore was proclaimed co-ruler while still a child. In his history, Akropolites mentioned Theodore as a co-emperor when narrating events that occurred from 1235 to 1237 and in 1242. In his correspondence, Theodore referred to himself as "my imperial majesty" from around 1242. He was not crowned during his father's lifetime—a likely explanation for the denial of his co-emperorship by two later Byzantine historians, George Pachymeres and Nicephorus Gregoras. Theodore's authority was considerable: he granted estates and salaries and intervened in legal disputes. On Blemmydes' petition, he ordered Nikephoros, the metropolitan bishop of Ephesus, to return an allegedly unlawfully purchased piece of land to Blemmydes' monastery. During his father's absence, he presided over sessions of the privy council and proposed candidates to vacant Church offices.John III Vatatzes again laid siege to Constantinople in May 1241, but he quickly realized he could not capture the city. He started peace negotiations, and Theodore accompanied his father to the meetings with the Latin envoys. They signed a two-year truce on 24 June. Ivan II Asen died in the same month and his death weakened Bulgaria. Vatatzes launched a military campaign against the Bulgarians' Epirote allies late in 1241. Before departing for the military campaign, he appointed Theodore his lieutenant in Asia Minor. Theodore, like his father and grandfather, held an itinerant court and visited most Nicaean towns and villages in Anatolia.
At this time, a Mongol general, Baiju, invaded Nicaea's eastern neighbor, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, from the east and captured Erzurum. Theodore informed his father, who was besieging Thessalonica, but Vatatzes did not abandon the siege. His persistence was rewarded when the ruler of Thessalonica John Komnenos Doukas renounced the title of emperor in return for the Byzantine court title of despot from Vatatzes. The Mongols launched a new military campaign against the Seljuks and routed Sultan Kaykhusraw II at the Battle of Köse Dağ on 26 June 1243. After the Seljuks agreed to pay a yearly tribute to the Mongols, Nicaea remained the only Anatolian state that preserved full independence. The fear of a Mongol invasion became a constant element of Nicaean diplomacy.
Vatatzes again charged Theodore with the administration of Asia Minor when he launched a new military campaign in Thrace in 1246. After Vatatzes captured Serres, the leading citizens of Thessalonica did not risk a prolonged siege. They opened the gates of their city and paid voluntary homage to Vatatzes. As most Macedonian towns followed their example, Vatatzes almost doubled his empire's territory.