Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos was the founder of the final Byzantine dynasty, the man who reconquered Constantinople in 1261, and one of the most consequential Byzantine rulers of the late period - brilliant, ruthless, and morally compromised in equal measure. He came from a distinguished military family and rose through ability and ambition to become regent, then co-emperor alongside the child John IV Laskaris. In July 1261 his general Alexios Strategopoulos entered Constantinople with a small force and found it almost undefended, the Latin emperor absent. Michael VIII entered the city in triumph. He then blinded and imprisoned the young John IV, an act that earned him the permanent enmity of a significant portion of the Orthodox Church. His restoration of Constantinople as the Byzantine capital was his crowning achievement, but the reconquered city was a shadow of its former self. His foreign policy was immensely active: he neutralized Charles of Anjou's plans to reconquer Constantinople through the extraordinary diplomatic coup of instigating the Sicilian Vespers in 1282. He pursued church union with Rome, producing the Union of Lyon in 1274, a deeply unpopular policy domestically. He died in December 1282, excommunicated by the Orthodox patriarch for his church union policy.
- Lived: 1223 CE – 1282 CE
- Nationality: byzantine
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state, military_leader, diplomat
