Emperor of Nicea Theodore Laskaris I

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Manolis Laskaris

Ionna Karatzaina

Konstantine Laskaris

Maria Comnenus

General Notes

Theodore Lascaris (d. 1222), emperor of Nicaea, was born of a noble Byzantine family.

He became the son-in-law of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius III and distinguished himself during the sieges of Constantinople by the Latins (1203-1204). After the capture of the city he gathered a band of fugitives in Bithynia and established himself in the town of Nicaea, which became the chief rallying-point for his countrymen.

Relieved of the danger of invasion by a Latin force which had defeated him in 1204 but was recalled to Europe by a Bulgarian invasion, he set to work to form a new Byzantine state in Asia Minor, and in 1206 assumed the title of emperor.

During the next years Theodore was beset by enemies surrounding his fledgling state. He maintained himself stubbornly in defensive campaigns against the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders, defeated his rival Alexius I, emperor of Trebizond, and carried out a successful counter-attack upon Kay Khusrau I, the sultan of Sultanate of R m (also called the sultan of Iconium or Konya), who had been instigated to war by the deposed Alexius III.

Theodore's crowning victory was gained in 1210, when in a battle near Pisidian Antioch he captured Alexius and wrested the town itself from the Turks.

At the end of his reign he ruled over a territory roughly conterminous with the old Roman provinces of Asia and Bithynia. Though there is no proof of higher qualities of statesmanship in him, by his courage and military skill he enabled the Byzantine nation not merely to survive, but ultimately to beat back the Latin invasion

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Sources:
Abbrev: Pullen010502.FTW
Title: Pullen010502.FTW
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Text: Date of Import: Jan 5, 2002

Ancestor Pedigree Chart
- Konstantine Laskaris
  - b.~  1100
  
  Manolis Laskaris
  - b.1143 in Nicaea, Bursa, Turkey
  
  Emperor Ioannis Comnenus of Byzantium ^*
  - b.1015 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.12 Jul 1067
  
  Emperor Alexius Comnenus I
  - b.1048 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.15 Aug 1118
  
  Anna Dalassena ^*
  - b.1020 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.1101
  
  Emperor John Comnenus of Romania II
  - b.1088 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.08 Apr 1143 in Mount Taurus, Cilicia
  
  Emperor of Byzantium Andronicus Dukas ^*
  - b.1036 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.14 Oct 1077
  
  Irini Dukas
  - b.1066 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire d.19 Feb 1122
  
  Princess Marija Vladislav ^*
  - b.1033 in Ohrid, Macedonia, Bulgaria d.1081
  
  Maria Comnenus
  - b.11 Feb 1105 in Balabista, Macedonia d.1143
  
  King Bela (The Holy) Arpad of Hungary I ^*
  - b.1015 in Esztergom, Komaron-Esztergom, Hungary d.Dec 1063 in Nyitra, Hungary
  
  Saint, King of Hungary Ladislas Arpad I
  - b.1041 d.29 Jul 1095
  
  Richza Piast ^*
  - b.~  1018 in Krakow, Poland d.>  1052
  
  Princess of Hungary Xenia Arpad
  - b.1088 in Esztergom, Hungary d.13 Aug 1143 in Bythnial, Turkey
  
  Adelheid of Swabia
  - b.~  1067 in Swabia, Germany d.1090
  
  Emperor of Nicea Theodore Laskaris I
  - d.1222
  
  Ionna Karatzaina
  - b.1150
  
  ^*There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated. See their page(s) for details (click name)

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Emperor of Nicea Theodore Laskaris I

Ancestor Pedigree Chart

Personal Timeline