Irlandos at 09:51, September 4, 2006

2006-09-04T09:51:14Z

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'''John IV Doukas Laskaris''' or '''Ducas Lascaris''' ([[Greek Language|Greek]]: Ιωάννης Δ΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις, ''Iōannēs IV Doukas Laskaris''), [[December 25]] [[1250]] - c. [[1305]]) was emperor of [[Nicaean Empire|Nicaea]] from [[August 18]], [[1258]] to [[December 25]], [[1261]]. This small empire was one of the Greek states founded after the capture of [[Constantinople]] by Western European Christians during the [[Fourth Crusade]] in [[1204]], which caused a fragmentation of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

John was a son of [[Theodore II Laskaris|Theodore II Doukas Laskaris]] and Elena Asenina. His maternal grandparents were Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and his second wife Anna 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 7 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 Palaiologos|Michael VIII]] on [[January 1]], [[1259]].

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]]. 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 in c. [[1305]] and was eventually recognized as a saint, whose memory was revered in Constantinople in the [[14th century]].

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{{succession box | before=[[Theodore II Laskaris|Theodore II]] | title=[[Byzantine Emperor]] | years=1258–1261 <br />''with [[Michael VIII Palaiologos|Michael VIII]] in 1259–1261'' | after=[[Michael VIII Palaiologos|Michael VIII]]}}
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==References==
* ''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, 1991.

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Byzantine emperors]]
[[Category:Laskarid dynasty]]
[[Category:1250 births]]
[[Category:1300s deaths]]

John IV Lascaris - Revision history

Irlandos at 09:51, September 4, 2006