| |
| 1236–71 |
| |
| MICHAEL II, despot of Epirus. | 1 |
| |
| 1242 |
| |
| John Vatatzes, in company with Theodore, who had been liberated by the Bulgarians, set out with an army and besieged Thessalonica. He failed to take the city, owing to his lack of seapower, but John, the despot of Thessaly, was obliged to give up the title Emperor of the West and to recognize the suzerainty of the Nicaean emperor. | 2 |
| |
| 1243 |
| |
The Mongol invasion of Anatolia, after the defeat of the Seljuks in the Battle of Köseda g. The Mongols reached Ancyra (Ankara). John Vatatzes established friendly relations with them and succeeded to much of the Seljuk territory in central Anatolia. | 3 |
| |
| 1246 |
| |
| Second expedition of John Vatatzes to the Balkans. He conquered northern Macedonia and finally took Thessalonica, deposing Demetrius Angelus, despot since 1244. | 4 |
| |
| 1254 |
| |
| Michael II, of Epirus, recognized Nicaean suzerainty after a defeat by the forces of John Vatatzes. | 5 |
| |
| 1254–58 |
| |
| THEODORE II (Lascaris), Greek emperor at Nicaea. | 6 |
| |
| 1255 |
| |
| Theodore defeated the Bulgarian armies of Michael Asen, grandson of John Asen, in northern Macedonia. | 7 |
| |
| 1258–61 |
| |
| JOHN IV (Lascaris), emperor. He was a mere child, and his accession caused a military uprising, led by Michael Paleologus, who became regent and then (1259) co-emperor. | 8 |
| |
| 1259–82 |
| |
| MICHAEL VIII (Paleologus), who was first co-emperor with the boy John, whom in 1261 he had imprisoned and blinded. Michael was an able and energetic general, whose great objective was to reestablish the Greek power at Constantinople. | 9 |
| |
| 1261 |
| |
| Reconquest of Constantinople. Michael made an alliance with the Bulgarians and concluded the Treaty of Nymphaion with Genoa, promising the Genoese all the privileges hitherto enjoyed by the Venetians. On July 25 a Greek army under Alexius Stragopulos, taking advantage of the absence of the Venetian fleet, crossed the Bosporus and retook Constantinople without much difficulty. Baldwin II fled (d. 1273). End of the Latin Empire. (See The Byzantine Empire) | 10 |
| |
| |
