Michael VIII Palaiologos

Michael VIII Palaiologos (1223 – 11 December 1282) was the Emperor of from 1259 to 1261, then the Byzantine Emperor from 1261 to his death, and founder of the dynasty.
In 1204, Constantinople was captured by crusaders and became the capital of the , a Crusader state. Michael's general, , marched on Constantinople and entered through an unguarded gate in 1261, reclaiming the city from its Latin occupiers and restoring the Byzantine Empire.
By this point however, Constantinople was already in disrepair. The Hippodrome of Constantinople, once a proud symbol of the Empire's Greek origins was in a poor state, and Michael made no attempt to restore it. Michael's Empire only held a fraction of its former territory and influence, and began to decline over the next two hundred years.
When he died in 1282, he was succeeded by his son Andronikos II.
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Revelations 
==References==
Category:1223 births
Category:1282 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Byzantines
Category:Ethnic Greeks
Category:Constantinopolitans
Category:Byzantine emperors
Category:House of Palaiologos