John IV Laskaris
John IV Laskaris was the eight-year-old son of Theodore II who nominally became emperor of Nicaea in 1258. His reign was almost entirely nominal: the general Michael Palaiologos first became regent, then co-emperor, then in December 1261 - after the brilliant reconquest of Constantinople - had the eleven-year-old John IV seized, blinded, and imprisoned in a fortress. This was an act of extraordinary cruelty: the patriarch Arsenios excommunicated Michael VIII for it. John IV spent the rest of his life in confinement, dying around 1305, having been blinded as a child and imprisoned for over four decades. He represents the brutal way in which the Laskarid dynasty was swept aside by the Palaiologoi despite the Laskarids having done the essential work of preserving and rebuilding the Byzantine state during the Latin exile.
- Lived: 1250 CE – 1305 CE
- Nationality: byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
