The rise of the Byzantine Greek kingdoms in 1204- 1261 AD and its impact on the Byzantine Empire

Abstract

After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204 AD, Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade, was expected by both the Crusaders and the defeated Byzantines to become the new emperor. However, the Venetians felt that Boniface was too closely tied to the Byzantine Empire, as his brother Conrad had married into the Byzantine royal family. The Venetians wanted an emperor whom they could control more easily, and with their influence, Baldwin of Flanders was elected as emperor of the new Latin Empire.The capture of Constantinople is the Fourth Crusade's 'success', and Latin emperors are established in the city. The Byzantines withdraw to Nicæa in Anatolia, but rival claimants also established holdings in Trebizond and Epirus so that, at one point, there are four claimants to the Byzantine throne, as well as the Bulgar and Serb states.Claimants to the Byzantine throne set up rival powerbases, including this one in the Pontic Greek cities of Trebizond, Sinope and Paphlagonia. Trebizond was the last of the Byzantine territories to fall to the Ottoman Empire, earning it the occasional title of the last Greek empire.