Editing Andronikos II Palaiologos (section)

=== Asia Minor ===
Andronikos II Palaiologos sought to resolve some of the problems facing the [[Byzantine Empire]] through diplomacy. After the death of his first wife, Anne of Hungary, he married [[Irene of Montferrat|Yolanda (renamed Irene) of Montferrat]], putting an end to the Montferrat claim to the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]].

Andronikos II also attempted to marry off his son and co-emperor [[Michael IX Palaiologos]] to the Latin Empress [[Catherine I of Courtenay]], thus seeking to eliminate Western agitation for a restoration of the Latin Empire. Another marriage alliance attempted to resolve the potential conflict with [[Serbia]] in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], as Andronikos II married off his five-year-old daughter [[Simonida|Simonis]] to King [[Stefan Milutin]] in 1298.
[[Image:Andronikos II and Michael IX basilikon (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Silver [[basilikon]] depicting Andronikos II and [[Michael IX]]]]

In spite of the resolution of problems in [[Europe]], Andronikos II was faced with the collapse of the Byzantine frontier in [[Asia Minor]], despite the successful, but short, governorships of [[Alexios Philanthropenos]] and [[John Tarchaneiotes]]. The military victories of Philanthropenos and Tarchaneiotes against the Turks were largely dependent on a considerable contingent of Cretan escapees, or exiles from Venetian-occupied Crete, headed by Hortatzis, whom Michael VIII had repatriated to Byzantium through a treaty agreement with the Venetians ratified in 1277.<ref>Agelarakis, P.A. (2012), "Cretans in Byzantine foreign policy and military affairs following the Fourth Crusade", ''Cretika Chronika'', pp. 32, 41-78.</ref> Andronikos II had resettled those Cretans in the region of Meander river, the southeastern Asia Minor frontier of Byzantium with the Turks.
[[File:Entrada de Roger de Flor en Constantinopla (Palacio del Senado de España).jpg|thumb|The Catalan Company led by [[Roger de Flor]] entering Constantinople by [[José Moreno Carbonero]] (1888).]]

After the failure of the co-emperor Michael IX to stem the Turkish advance in Asia Minor in 1302 and the disastrous [[Battle of Bapheus]], the Byzantine government hired the [[Catalan Company]] of [[Almogavars]] (adventurers from [[Catalonia]]) led by [[Roger de Flor]] to clear Byzantine Asia Minor of the enemy.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In spite of some successes, the Catalans were unable to secure lasting gains. Being more ruthless and savage than the enemy they intended to subdue, they quarreled with Michael IX and eventually turned on their Byzantine employers after the murder of Roger de Flor in 1305. Together with a party of willing Turks they devastated [[Thrace]], Macedonia, and [[Thessaly]] on their road to Latin occupied southern Greece. There they conquered the [[Duchy of Athens]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].

Meanwhile, the [[Anatolian beyliks]] continued to penetrate Byzantine territory. [[Bursa, Turkey|Prusa]] fell to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1326, and by the end of Andronikos II's reign much of Bithynia was in the hands of [[Osman I]] and his son and heir [[Orhan I|Orhan]].<ref name=":0">{{cite EB9 |wstitle=Andronicus II. |volume=2 |page=23 |short=x}}</ref> [[Karasids]] conquered [[Mysia]]-region with [[Balıkesir|Paleokastron]] after 1296, Germiyan conquered [[Simav]] in 1328, Saruhan captured [[Manisa|Magnesia]] in 1313, and [[Aydinids]] captured [[İzmir|Smyrna]] in 1310.

[[File:AndronicosIIGoldHyperpyron.jpg|thumb|Gold [[hyperpyron]] of Andronikos II, kneeling before Christ]]