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 Abt 1173 - Aft 1205 (> 32 years) Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Constantine Laskaris |
| Birth |
Abt 1173 |
Nicaea, Anatolia  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Aft 19 Mar 1205 |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I7955 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - Abt 1173 - Nicaea, Anatolia |
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| Notes |
- Constantine Laskaris was born of a noble but not particularly renowned B y zantine family. Virtually nothing is known of him prior to the event s o f the Fourth Crusade. He found favour after his brother Theodore marr ie d into the imperial family, becoming the son-in-law of Emperor Alexiu s II I.
During the first siege of Constantinople in 1203 he was given comman d o f the best body of troops available and led the Greek defenders on so rtie s against the entrenched Crusaders. None were successful in their go al o f lifting the siege, and finally Constantine was ordered to attack t he Bu rgundians who were on guard at the time.
The Greeks issued forth from the city, but were soon driven back to th e g ates, notwithstanding the stones that the defenders on the walls thre w do wn onto the advancing Crusaders. Constantine himself was captured wh ils t mounted on his horse by William of Neuilly and probably kept for ra nsom , which was the usual practice of the times. At some point he was re lease d, as he was soon swept up in the events of the second siege of Con stanti nople in 1204.
Elevation as Emperor
After the Crusaders entered Constantinople on 12 April 1204 and bega n t o sack the city, a large body of citizens as well as what remained o f th e Varangian Guard gathered together in the church of Hagia Sophia t o elec t a new emperor, as Alexius V had fled the city.
Two nominees presented themselves – Constantine Laskaris and Constanti n e Doukas (probably the son of John Angelos Doukas, and thus a first cou si n to Isaac II and Alexius III).[3] Both presented their case to be nom ina ted emperor, but the people could not decide between them, as both we re y oung and had proven military skills. Eventually lots were cast and L askar is was selected by what remained of the army as the next emperor.
Laskaris refused to accept the imperial purple; escorted by the Patriar c h of Constantinople, John X, to the Milion, he urged the assembled popu la ce to resist the Latin invaders with all their strength. However, th e cro wd was unwilling to risk their lives in such a one-sided conflict , and s o he turned to the Varangians and asked for their support. Thoug h his ple as to honour fell on deaf ears, they agreed to fight for increa sed wages , and he marched out to make a final stand against the Latin Cr usaders. H owever, the Varangians betrayed Constantine and fled at the si ght of th e mail-clad Latin troops.[citation needed] Seeing all was lost , he quickl y fled the capital in the early hours of 13 April 1204.
Career at Nicaea
Greek resistance to the Latin conquerors began almost immediately unde r t he leadership of Theodore Laskaris, and he was soon joined by Constan tine . They were hard pressed at first, and by early 1205 they had lost t he im portant city of Adramyttion to Henry of Flanders. Theodore was kee n to re verse this setback, and so he sent Constantine at the head of a l arge bod y of troops towards the city.
Henry of Flanders had advance warning of the attack via an Armenian sour c e, and prepared his forces to meet the Greeks. The two armies fought t h e Battle of Adramyttion on Saturday, 19 March 1205 outside the city wal ls , and the result was a massive defeat for Constantine Laskaris and th e Gr eeks, with most of the army either perishing or being captured.[5]
Nothing more is heard of Constantine Laskaris after this battle, so i t i s presumed that he either perished in the defeat, or was captured.
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