Editing Michael VIII Palaiologos (section)

==Constantinople==
[[File:Michael VIII Palaiologos - National Library of Russia, gr. 118 - f. 22r.jpg|thumb|15th-century miniature of Michael&nbsp;VIII, [[National Library of Russia]].{{efn|The illustration of Michael&nbsp;VIII in the ''Codex gr. 118'' is likely based on another portrait found in the [[:File:Michael VIII Palaiologos - St Catherine's, Sinai, MS Sinait. gr. 2123 - f. 30r.gif|MS Sinaiticus gr. 2123]]. Both portraits are heavely influenced by [[Renaissance]] art.{{Sfn|Spatharakis|1976|pp=51–54; 90–91}}}}]]

In 1259, Michael VIII defeated the alliance of [[William of Villehardouin]], [[Principality of Achaea|Prince of Achaea]], and [[Michael II Komnenos Doukas]] of [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]] at the [[Battle of Pelagonia]]. According to Geanakoplos, "In the period immediately preceding the Nicene reconquest of Constantinople in 1261 no event was of greater importance than Michael Palaeologus' victory at Pelagonia."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Geanakoplos |first=Deno John |date=1953 |title=Greco-Latin Relations on the Eve of the Byzantine Restoration: The Battle of Pelagonia – 1259 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291057 |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |volume=7 |pages=99–141 |doi=10.2307/1291057 |jstor=1291057 |issn=0070-7546}}</ref>{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1959|p=47}} This not only neutralized, for the immediate time, the possibility of an attack from enemies on his Western borders, but also improved Michael's legitimacy by showing him as a competent leader.<ref>A detailed account and analysis of the Battle of Pelagonia can be found in Deno John Geanakoplos, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291057 "Greco-Latin Relations on the Eve of the Byzantine Restoration: The Battle of Pelagonia-1259"], ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', '''7''' (1953), pp.&nbsp;99–141.</ref>

Despite this brilliant victory, only one event could remove the stigma of usurper completely from the eyes of his subjects{{snd}}recovery of Constantinople itself. In 1260 Michael personally led [[Siege of Constantinople (1260)|an unsuccessful attempt]] to capture the city. Rumors of reinforcements for the beleaguered city forced Michael to sign a one-year truce with the Latin Emperor [[Baldwin II, Latin Emperor|Baldwin II]] that August.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1959|p=78}} Realizing that he needed a navy to effectively besiege Constantinople, Michael concluded the [[Treaty of Nymphaeum (1261)|Treaty of Nymphaeum]] with [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] in March of the following year. Genoese help proved to be unneeded when Michael VIII's general [[Alexios Strategopoulos]] [[Reconquest of Constantinople|captured Constantinople]] from Baldwin II through treachery on 25 July 1261.<ref name="Late Byzantine Army" />

News of the captured city first reached Michael's sister [[Eulogia Palaiologina]], who awoke her brother at dawn. He was not convinced until a messenger arrived from Strategopoulos bearing the crown and sword Baldwin had abandoned in his flight from his palace.{{sfn|Geanakoplos|1959|p=119}} Michael VIII entered the city on 15 August and had himself [[Coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned emperor]].{{sfn|Akropolites|2007|pp=383–384}} Once in control of Constantinople, Michael abolished all Latin customs and reinstated most Byzantine ceremonies and institutions as they had existed before the Fourth Crusade. He repopulated the capital, building its population from {{formatnum:35000}} when he took power to {{formatnum:70000}} by the end of his reign, and restored damaged churches, monasteries, and public buildings. He was acutely aware of the danger posed by the possibility that the [[Latin West]], particularly his neighbors in Italy, would unite against him and attempt the restoration of Latin rule in Constantinople.<ref name="Michael VIII">{{cite web |last=Geanakoplos |first=Deno John |title = Michael VIII Palaeologus |url = https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-VIII-Palaeologus |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180722233027/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-VIII-Palaeologus |archive-date=22 July 2018 }}</ref>

[[John IV Laskaris|John IV]] had remained at Nicaea, largely eclipsed by Michael. According to Akropolites, the public had never really viewed John as emperor - his name was virtually stricken from government business after the death of his father [[Theodore II Laskaris|Theodore II]], and he had not featured in Michael’s coronation ceremony as co-ruler. In December 1261, Michael VIII took the final step of having John blinded and relegated to a monastery, rendering him permanently ineligible for the throne. Michael quickly married off John's sisters to two Italians and a Bulgarian noble, so their descendants could not threaten his own children's claim to the imperial succession. Michael tried to keep the blinding of John a secret, keeping up a pretense that the boy’s formal coronation had merely been postponed. Eventually the news leaked out, and Patriarch [[Arsenios Autoreianos]] [[excommunicated]] Michael VIII. This ban was not lifted until six years later (1268) on the appointment of patriarch [[Patriarch Joseph I of Constantinople|Joseph I]].{{sfn|Nicol|1993|pp=44f}}