Theodore II Laskaris

Theodore II Doukas Laskaris was born in November 1221 or 1222, the only child of Emperor John III Vatatzes of Nicaea, the Greek empire-in-exile carved from Asia Minor after crusaders took Constantinople in 1204. Educated by renowned scholars Nikephoros Blemmydes and George Akropolites, he wrote treatises on theology, history and philosophy as a young man and kept company with intellectuals, including a low-born page named George Mouzalon. In 1235 his father married him to Elena Asenina of Bulgaria to secure an alliance; Theodore later said the marriage was happy, and they had five or six children. From 1241 he served as his father's lieutenant in Asia Minor, becoming co-ruler around 1242, though he clashed with aristocratic commanders like Michael Palaiologos. Succeeding his father on 4 November 1254, Theodore dismissed high-born officials and replaced them with loyal friends of humble origin, allied with the Seljuk Sultan against the Mongols, repelled a Bulgarian invasion in 1256, and forced the ruler of Epirus to cede Dyrrachium. But when Epirus, Serbia and Sicily formed a coalition against Nicaea in 1257, his newly appointed generals failed to hold the line.