John IV Laskaris

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John IV Doukas Laskaris
Ιωάννης Δ΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις
Emperor of Nicaea
(Byzantine Emperor in exile)
John IV Laskaris miniature.jpg
Portrait of John IV from a 15th-century manuscript
Reign 1258–1261
Born 25 December 1250
Birthplace Constantinople
Died ca. 1305
Predecessor Theodore II Laskaris
Successor Michael VIII Palaiologos
Father Theodore II Laskaris
Mother Elena of Bulgaria

John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) (Greek: Ιωάννης Δ΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Iōannēs IV Doukas Laskaris) (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 18, 1258 to December 25, 1261. This small empire was one of the Greek states formed from the remaining fragments of the Byzantine Empire, after the capture of Constantinople by Western European Christians during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

John was a son of Theodore II Doukas Laskaris and Elena of Bulgaria. His maternal grandparents were Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and his second wife Anna Maria of Hungary. Anna was originally named Mária and was the eldest daughter of Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania.

John IV was only seven years old when he inherited the throne on the death of his father. The young monarch was the last member of the Laskarid dynasty, which had done much to restore the Byzantine Empire. His regent was originally the bureaucrat George Mouzalon, but that position was usurped by the aristocrat Michael Palaiologos, who later made himself co-emperor as Michael VIII on January 1, 1259. (Michael was, in fact, John's second cousin once removed, since they were both descended from Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera.)

After Michael's conquest of Constantinople on July 25, 1261, John IV was left behind at Nicaea, and was later blinded on Michael's orders on his eleventh birthday, December 25, 1261.[1] This made him ineligible for the throne, and he was exiled and imprisoned in a fortress in Bithynia. This action caused the excommunication of Michael VIII Palaiologos by the Patriarch Arsenius Autoreianus, and a later revolt led by a Pseudo-John IV near Nicaea.

John IV spent the remainder of his life as monk, under the name Joasaph. In 1290 he was visited by Andronikos II Palaiologos, who sought forgiveness for his father's blinding of John IV three decades earlier. The deposed emperor died about 1305 and was eventually recognized as a saint, whose memory was revered in Constantinople in the 14th century.

[edit] Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. John III Doukas Vatatzes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Theodore II Laskaris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. Manuel Laskaris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Theodore I Laskaris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Joanna Karatzaina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Eirene Laskarina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. Alexios III Angelos
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Anna Angelina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23. Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. John IV Laskaris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Elena
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Elena Asenina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. Béla III of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. Andrew II of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29. Agnes de Châtillon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Anna Maria of Hungary
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Berthold IV, Duke of Merania
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Gertrude of Merania
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Agnes of Rochlitz
 
 
 
 
 
 

[edit] Bibliography

Notes
  1. ^ Hackel 2001, p. 71
References

[edit] Further reading

John IV Laskaris
Laskarid dynasty
Born: 25 December 1250 Died: unknown 1305
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Theodore II Doukas Laskaris		 Emperor of Nicaea
1258–1261
with Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259–1261)		 Succeeded by
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_IV_Laskaris"
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