Editing Theodore I Laskaris (section)

=== Fall of Constantinople ===
[[File:ConquestOfConstantinopleByTheCrusadersIn1204.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Soldiers holding crossbows and stones stand on a town's walls defending it against soldiers attacking from ships.|Crusaders besieging Constantinople in 1204.]]

To seize the Byzantine throne, Emperor Alexios{{nbsp}}III had blinded and imprisoned his elder brother, [[Isaac II Angelos]] ({{reign|1185|1195}}).{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=20}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=659}} Isaac's son, [[Alexios IV Angelos|Alexios]], fled from Constantinople to Germany to seek his Catholic relatives' assistance. He concluded an agreement with the leaders of the [[Fourth Crusade]], promising a large sum, 800,000 ''[[Hyperpyron|hyperpyra]]'', for their support.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=662}} The crusaders reached Constantinople and captured [[Beyoğlu|Pera]] on the opposite coast of the [[Golden Horn]] on 6{{nbsp}}July 1203.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=20}} Theodore conducted raids against the invaders, but they [[Siege of Constantinople (1203)|laid siege to the Byzantine capital]].{{sfn|Angelov|2019|pp=20–21}} The [[walls of Constantinople]] were vulnerable, and Alexios{{nbsp}}III fled in panic to [[Thrace]] during the night of 17–18&nbsp;July. He drained the treasury and took the imperial [[insignia]] with him.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=662}}{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=21}}

Isaac{{nbsp}}II was released and his son was [[Coronation of the Byzantine emperor|crowned]] his co-emperor as Alexios{{nbsp}}IV.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=21}} Theodore was imprisoned after his father-in-law's flight, but he escaped in September 1203.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=21}}{{sfn|Angold|2017|p=734}} The details of his escape are unknown, but Choniates stated that Theodore left Constantinople "armed only with practical wisdom and a brave spirit".{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=23}}{{sfn|Angold|2011|p=69}} For a while, Theodore was hiding in a church dedicated to Saint Michael.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=23}} Theodore himself claimed that God "miraculously removed" him from the prison and guided him across the [[Bosporus]] to Asia Minor. His wife and daughters accompanied him.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=23}} They reached [[Nicaea]], but the city's leadership only admitted his family, because they feared Alexios{{nbsp}}IV's revenge.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|pp=23–24}} Theodore, as he later remembered, moved "from one region to another", avoiding the traps that his (unidentified) enemies laid for him.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=25}}

Alexios{{nbsp}}IV could not pay off the crusaders. They refused to leave Constantinople and raided and plundered the nearby Thracian villages. The Byzantines blamed Alexios{{nbsp}}IV for the crusaders' acts. The army rebelled and proclaimed the general [[Alexios V Doukas|Alexios Mourtzouphlos Doukas]] emperor on 28{{nbsp}}January 1204.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=21}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=664}} Isaac{{nbsp}}II had already died, and the new emperor had Alexios{{nbsp}}IV murdered, providing the crusaders with an excuse to [[Sack of Constantinople|make a new assault on Constantinople]] again.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=21}} When they breached the walls on 12{{nbsp}}April, Alexios{{nbsp}}V fled.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=22}} A group of aristocrats offered the imperial crown to Theodore's brother, Constantine, but he rejected it.{{sfn|Angelov|2019|p=22}}{{sfn|Queller|1977|p=147}} The crusaders captured Constantinople and plundered it completely.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=666}}

Although the Byzantine capital fell to the crusaders, neither Alexios{{nbsp}}III Angelos nor Alexios{{nbsp}}V Doukas abandoned their claim to the throne. A third claimant soon appeared on the scene: a grandson of Emperor [[Andronikos&nbsp;I Komnenos]] ({{reign|1183|1185}}), [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios]], seized [[Trabzon|Trebizond]] on the [[Black Sea]] coast in Asia Minor and assumed the title of emperor.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=710}} The crusaders elected one of their leader, [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin of Flanders]], [[Latin Emperor of Constantinople|emperor]] in May 1204.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=709–710}}