Alexios Laskaris ( el, Ἀλέξιος Λάσκαρις) was a brother of

Nicaean emperor The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

Theodore I Laskaris, who along with his brother Isaac Laskaris fled to the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byza ...

and unsuccessfully tried to topple Theodore's successor,

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

, in 1224.

Life

Alexios was one of at least six brothers of Theodore I Laskaris, and had been honoured by the latter with the title of ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

'', a title habitually bestowed on brothers of the emperor. When Theodore I died in November 1221, he had no male heirs, and was succeeded by the husband of his eldest daughter,

John III Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

. This development displeased Theodore's brothers, and Alexios, together with his brother

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...

, also a ''sebastokrator'', fled to the

, taking along with them Theodore's daughter Eudokia, Shortly before his death, Theodore had tried to arrange a marriage between Eudokia and the Latin Emperor, Robert of Courtenay, and the brothers evidently hoped to use her to secure Latin assistance against Vatatzes. In the end, the marriage did not come to pass. Two other brothers, Michael and Manuel, also sought exile during John III's reign, perhaps in connection with the defection of Alexios and Isaac, but later returned to Nicaea and were active in the reign of John III's son, Theodore II Laskaris. Robert did, however, provide refuge and an appropriate place in his court to the two brothers, with whom he was related through the marriage of his sister Maria to Theodore Laskaris. Furthermore, one of the two brothers had already had considerable contact with the Latin court, having spent time at Constantinople as a prisoner ca. 1220–21. This act soured relations between Nicaea and the Latins, and in 1224 the two brothers Alexios and Isaac found themselves at the head of the Latin army sent to confront Vatatzes. In the resulting

Battle of Poimanenon The Battle of Poimanenon or Poemanenum was fought in early 1224 (or possibly late 1223) between the forces of the two main successor states of the Byzantine Empire; the Latin Empire and the Byzantine Greek Empire of Nicaea. The opposing forces me ...

in 1224, however, Vatatzes secured a decisive success: in a hard-fought battle, the Latin army was defeated, the brothers were captured, and Vatatzes proceeded to reduce most of the fortresses the Latins held in northwestern

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. After his victory, Alexios and Isaac were blinded.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laskaris, Alexios 13th-century Byzantine people

Alexios Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

People of the Empire of Nicaea Latin Empire people Byzantine defectors