The situation in the Eastern Roman Empire in 1214, 10 years after the Sack of Constantinople.
Status
Rump state of the Byzantine Empire
Capital
Nicaea (İznik) (de jure) Nymphaion (Kemalpaşa) (de facto)
Common languages
Byzantine Greek
Religion
Greek Orthodoxy (official)[2]
Demonym(s)
Romioi later Hellines[3]
Government
Monarchy
Emperor
• 1204–1222
Theodore I Laskaris
• 1222–1254
John III Doukas Vatatzes
• 1254–1258
Theodore II Laskaris
• 1258–1261
John IV Laskaris
• 1259–1261
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Historical era
High Middle Ages
• Established
1204
• Disestablished
July 1261
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty
Empire of Thessalonica
Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty
Part of a series on the
History of the Byzantine Empire
Territorial development of the Byzantine Empire (330–1453)
Preceding
Roman Empire
Dominate
Early period (330–717)
Tetrarchy era
Constantinian–Valentinianic era (Constantinian dynasty – Valentinianic dynasty)
Theodosian era
Leonid era
Justinian era
Heraclian era
Twenty Years' Anarchy
Middle period (717–1204)
Isaurian era
Nikephorian era
Amorian era
Macedonian era
Doukid era
Komnenian era
Angelid era
Late period (1204–1453)
Fourth Crusade and Latin rule
Latin Empire
Principality of Achaea
others
Byzantine successor states
Nicaea
Epirus/Thessalonica
Trebizond
Theodoro
Palaiologan era
Despotate of the Morea
Decline of the Byzantine Empire
Fall of Constantinople
Timeline
By topic
Art
Government
Economy
Army
Navy
Byzantine Empire portal
v
t
e
The Empire of Nicaea (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) or the Nicene Empire[4] was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek[5][6] rump states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled when Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian armed forces during the Fourth Crusade, a military event known as the Sack of Constantinople. Like the other Byzantine rump states that formed due to the 1204 fracturing of the empire, such as the Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus, it was a continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived well into the medieval period. A fourth state, known in historiography as the Latin Empire, was established by an army of Crusaders and the Republic of Venice after the capture of Constantinople and the surrounding environs.
Founded by the Laskaris family,[6] it lasted from 1204 to 1261, when the Nicenes restored the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople after its recapture. Thus, the Nicene Empire is seen to be a direct continuation of the Byzantine Empire, as it had fully assumed the traditional titles and government of the Byzantines in 1205.
The Despotate of Epirus contested the claim in 1224 and became the Empire of Thessalonica, but was forced to renounce their claim by the Nicenes in 1242. The Empire of Trebizond, which declared its independence a few weeks before the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, eventually rescinded all claims to being a continuation of the Byzantine regime in the Treaty of 1282.
^Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmeni (2015). "Byzantine Culture in Late Mediaeval Greek States". Βυζαντιακά. 32: 211.
^Melton, J. Gordon (2014). Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History [4 Volumes]: 5,000 Years of Religious History. ABC-CLIO. p. 800. ISBN 978-1-61069-026-3.
^Maltezou, Chryssa; Schreine, Peter (2002). Bisanzio, Venezia e il mondo franco-greco (in French). Istituto ellenico di studi bizantini e postbizantini di Venezia. p. 33. ISBN 978-960-7743-22-0. Theodoros Laskaris totally avoids the terms Latinoi in his letters and uses Italoi instead, he also replaces the terms Romaioi (Romans) and Greek by Hellenes.
^Vasiliev, Alexander A. (1952). History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-299-80926-3.
^The Columbia history of the world by John Arthur Garraty, Peter Gay (1972), p. 454: "The Greek empire in exile at Nicaea proved too strong to be driven out of Asia Minor, and in Epirus another Greek dynasty defied the intruders".
^ abA Short history of Greece from early times to 1964 by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse (1967), p. 55: "There in the prosperous city of Nicaea, Theodoros Laskaris, the son in law of a former Byzantine Emperor, establish a court that soon become the Small but reviving Greek empire."
The EmpireofNicaea (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) or the Nicene Empire was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek rump states founded by the aristocracy...
early history of the Christian Church), the Nicene Creed (which comes from the First Council), and as the capital city of the EmpireofNicaea following the...
Roman Empire: the Latin empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the three remnants of the Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of Epirus, the empireofNicaea, and...
establishment, the Empireof Thessalonica, under the capable Theodore Komnenos Doukas, rivaled the EmpireofNicaea and the Second Bulgarian Empire as the strongest...
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only...
one of three Byzantine successor states to claim the imperial throne alongside the EmpireofNicaea under the Laskaris family and the Despotate of Epirus...
The First Council ofNicaea (/naɪˈsiːə/ ny-SEE-ə; Ancient Greek: Σύνοδος τῆς Νικαίας, romanized: Sýnodos tês Nikaías) was a council of Christian bishops...
Laskaris; c. 1175 – November 1221) was the first emperor ofNicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his death. Although he was born to an...
Byzantine successor states were established: the EmpireofNicaea and the Despotate of Epirus. A third, the Empireof Trebizond, was created after Alexios Komnenos...
generals of the Byzantine army and, after John III Doukas Vatatzes intermarried with the Laskaris family, the ruling line of the EmpireofNicaea until the...
forces of the EmpireofNicaea and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The Turkish defeat ensured continued Nicaean hegemony of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor....
established as the capital of the Latin Empire. It also sent the Byzantine imperial dynasty to exile, who founded the EmpireofNicaea. Constantinople came...
most of its lands taken and partitioned by the crusaders. This claim however was disputed by the Byzantine Greek successor states, the EmpireofNicaea, the...
aristocrats also established a number of small independent splinter states—one of them being the EmpireofNicaea, which would eventually recapture Constantinople...
The Second Council ofNicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In...
EmpireofNicaea, a Byzantine successor state ruled by the Laskaris family, where they continued to play an active role and occupied many offices of high...
legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the EmpireofNicaea and the Empireof Trebizond, its rulers briefly proclaiming themselves as Emperors...
captured by the EmpireofNicaea (a Byzantine/Roman successor state). Nicaea is usually considered the "legitimate" continuation of the Roman Empire during the...
established: the EmpireofNicaea, and the Despotate of Epirus. A third one, the Empireof Trebizond was created a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople...
First Council ofNicaea showcased his claim to be head of the Church. The state of the Empire in 395 may be described in terms of the outcome of Constantine's...
The Ottoman Empire, historically and colloquially known as the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia...
taking place in modern Turkey. Nicaea, located on the eastern shore of Lake Askania, had been captured from the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks in 1081...
from 1235, by the EmpireofNicaea. During this period, the area was ruled by the Greco-Albanian lord Gregorios Kamonas, the new spouse of Demetrius' Serbian...
of Constantinople was the recapture of the city of Constantinople in 1261 by the forces of the EmpireofNicaea, leading to the re-establishment of the...
Global Information
Byzantine Empire portal