Constantine Laskaris sibling Theodore I Laskaris
Elevation as Emperor
After the Crusaders entered Constantinople on 12 April 1204 and began to sack the city, a large body of citizens as well as what remained of the Varangian Guard gathered together in the church of Hagia Sophia to elect a new emperor, as Alexios V had fled the city.Two nominees presented themselves – Constantine Laskaris and Constantine Doukas (probably the son of John Angelos Doukas, and thus a first cousin to Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III). Both presented their case to be nominated emperor, but the people could not decide between them, as both were young and had proven military skills. Eventually lots were cast and Laskaris was selected by what remained of the army as the next emperor.
Laskaris refused to accept the imperial purple; escorted by the Patriarch of Constantinople, John X, to the Milion, he urged the assembled populace to resist the Latin invaders with all their strength. However, the crowd was unwilling to risk their lives in such a one-sided conflict, and so he turned to the Varangians and asked for their support. Though his pleas to honour fell on deaf ears, they agreed to fight for increased wages, and he marched out to make a final stand against the Latin Crusaders. However, not even the Varangian Guard could be inspired to prolong the fight. Seeing all was lost, he quickly fled the capital with his brother, Theodore, in the early hours of 13 April 1204 and the brothers, along with a crowd of refugees, sailed to the Asian side of Bosporus.Historical uncertainty of coronation
The primary source for the elevation of Constantine Laskaris is Niketas Choniates, an eyewitness who recounted the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders. However, given Constantine's apparent subordinate role under his brother Theodore in 1205, historians such as Sir Steven Runciman and Donald Queller have argued that it was in fact Theodore and not Constantine who was in Hagia Sophia that fateful day, and it was Theodore who was nominated and thus succeeded Alexios V.This uncertainty, plus the fact that Constantine remained uncrowned, means that he is not always counted among the Byzantine emperors. Therefore, the convention when it comes to Constantine Laskaris is that he is not usually assigned a numeral. If he is counted as Constantine XI, then Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Emperor, is counted as Constantine XII.Family
Constantine had six brothers: Manuel Laskaris (died after 1256), Michael Laskaris (died 1261/1271), Georgios Laskaris, Theodore, Alexios Laskaris, and Isaac Laskaris. The last two fought with the Latin Empire against Theodore Laskaris' successor, John III Doukas Vatatzes, and were imprisoned and blinded.According to "The Latins in the Levant. A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566)" by William Miller, the seven brothers may also have had a sister, the wife of Marco I Sanudo and mother of Angelo Sanudo. He based this theory on his own interpretation of Italian chronicles. However, the Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople (1983) by Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza rejected the theory based on the silence of Byzantine primary sources.
brother or sister kin