page_title: Theodore I Laskaris
section_title: Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Theodore I Laskaris / Reign / Wars
caption_attribution_description: English: Byzantine Empire after the 4th Crusade. The Latin Empire, Empire of Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus. Borders are very uncertain.Čeština: Nástupnické státy byzantské říše v roce 1204
context_page_description: Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris was the first Emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his death. Although he was born to an obscure Byzantine aristocratic family, his mother was related to the imperial Komnenos clan. He married a younger daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos in 1200. He received the title of despot before 1203, demonstrating his right to succeed his father-in-law on the throne.
  The Fourth Crusade forced Alexios III to flee from Constantinople in 1203. Theodore was imprisoned by the crusaders, but he escaped. After crossing the Bosporus into Asia Minor, he started to organise the local Greeks' resistance against the Latins in Bithynia in his father-in-law's name. He concluded an alliance with the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, but he could not stop the Latins' expansion. Neither could he prevent a claimant to the imperial throne, Alexios Komnenos, from establishing a Byzantine successor state, the Empire of Trebizond, in northern Asia Minor. Theodore's position consolidated only after Tzar Kaloyan of Bulgaria inflicted a crushing defeat on the Latins in the Battle of Adrianople in 1205.
context_section_description: Four realms developed from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire by 1209. Alexios I and David Komnenos consolidated their Empire of Trebizond in northern Asia Minor; Henry of Flanders integrated Thrace and almost all of Greece into the Latin Empire; Michael I Doukas secured his rule in Epirus; and Theodore I Laskaris emerged as the unrivaled ruler of western Asia Minor. The balance of power, however, remained unstable, because the four monarchs were rivals, always ready to form alliances against their neighbors. Emperor Henry concluded an alliance with Sultan Kaykhusraw I against Theodore, while Theodore allied himself with Kaloyan of Bulgaria's successor, Boril. Henry's vassal, Michael I Doukas, paid off the ransom of Theodore's father-in-law, Alexios III in 1209 or 1210. Alexios III avoided Nicaea and went to Konya, seeking asylum at the court of Kaykhusraw I, his adopted son.
  Both Boril of Bulgaria and Michael I Doukas wanted to expel the Latins from Thessalonica, prompting Emperor Henry to visit the town regularly. Taking advantage of Henry's absence, Theodore sent his fleet to attack Constantinople in the spring of 1211. Boril invaded Thrace, but he could not prevent Henry from returning to his capital. Kaykhusraw I and Alexios III invaded Nicaea, forcing Theodore's troops to abandon the siege and hurry back to Asia Minor. The two armies met at Antioch on the Maeander in late spring or around 17 June. The Seljuq troops were close to winning the battle, but Theodore sought out Kaykhusraw and killed him in single combat. Alexios III was captured during the battle, and Theodore had his father-in-law imprisoned. He concluded a peace treaty with Kaykhushraw's son and successor, Kaykaus I.
  Theodore sent letters to the Greeks under the Latins' rule to inform them of his triumph and to urge them to rise up against the "Latin dogs". However, he had only won a Pyrrhic victory, because his best troops—his Latin mercenaries—perished in the battlefield. Emperor Henry led his army across the Bosporus and routed Theodore's troops on the Rhyndakos River on 15 October 1211. Henry captured Nymphaion and Pergamon. In a circular letter sent to the European monarchs early in 1212, he boasted of having subjugated the Greeks as far as the Seljuq frontier, save the garrisons of some fortresses. Henry had to end his military campaign because he did not have enough troops to garrison the captured fortresses. The two emperors made peace between 1212 and 1214 The peace confirmed the Latins' possession of the Troad region. The Latins also seized some strategically important Bithynian fortresses, taking control of the roads between the northern and southern territories of Theodore's realm. Theodore adopted an intensive fortification program. New fortresses were built, and the old fortresses' walls were restored. He also urged local officials to settle colonists around the new forts, granting arable lands to them.
  Theodore quickly recovered from his defeat. Taking advantage of a conflict between the Latin Empire and Serbia, Theodore and Sultan Kaykaus I invaded the Empire of Trebizond simultaneously in 1214. Theodore forced David Komnenos to abandon Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea. Whether he conquered eastern Paphlagonia during this campaign, or only years later, is unclear. His conquest of the region put a narrow strip of land along the Black Sea coast under Nicaean control, and thus removed the emperors of Trebizond from the competition for Constantinople.
caption: The Latin Empire and the Byzantine successor states—Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus (the borders are uncertain).
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