Michael VIII Palaiologos

Michael VIII Palaiologos co-ruled the Empire of Nicaea starting in 1259, a Byzantine state-in-exile after crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204. In 1261 he recaptured the old capital and refounded the Byzantine Empire proper, establishing the Palaiologan dynasty that would hold the throne until 1453. He rebuilt Constantinople's ruins, expanded its population, restored the University of Constantinople, and presided over a cultural revival that stretched into the fifteenth century. But his military focus shifted to the Balkans—fighting Bulgarians and Serbians—while Anatolia's eastern frontier…