Dreams of House Batatzes - A Roads to Power AAR

[Nikolai]

The Reign of Strategos Ioannes of Ephesos (1178-1189)

As 1178 dawned, Strategos Ioannes Batatzes of Ephesos and Phillippopolis was already a man in his middle age. At 46 years of age, and a much younger Basileus on the throne, it seemed like Ioannes’ lot in life was to be a man guarding the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire against the vile Sultanate of Rum, a man of semi-importance at best, leader of a dynasty of semi-importance.

(Eastern Rome and her neighbors in 1178)

Ioannes had ambitions, though. To secure his dynasty, he married himself and his only son and heir to members of two Russian principalities, thus getting powerful allies for himself. Of larger importance is the trip he took to Constantinople in the early months of 1178. There he petitioned the reigning Basileus for primacy for his family in appointment for the theme of Ephesos, basically making his dynasty almost assured continued control of the theme for 100 years onwards. The Basileus deeply respected Ioannes, seeing him as close to a friend a Basileus could have.

(The Roman themes and neighboring Rum in 1178)

The years after this success, Ioannes used his income to greatly enlarge both his personal retinue as well as the theme’s retinue, making him one of the most powerful strategoses in the realm. He also began his maneuvering towards the Imperial throne, as his friend the Basileus had died and the new Basileus was decidedly negatively leaning towards Ioannes and his house. It was an uphill battle though, as the Basileus had an adult son with much influence and power in his own right and thus great support for his claim should his sire die. For the next few years, Ioannis and the Basileus’ son were competing for the leading spot, and it was an open question who would win. Ioannis used his influence to badmouth the prince, but even with gossip lowering his candidacy score, it was a tight fight.

(A successful visit and petition!)

Meanwhile the Basileus decided to stop Ioannis from expanding into the sultanate of Rum, which he bordered and which Ioannis indeed planned to invade with his ever increasingly strong retinue. Should the Basileus win this war, expansion into Muslim lands would be effectively stopped for Ioannis.



Thankfully for the strategos, the Basileus’ war went poorly and dragged on inconclusively for several years. This fact Ioannis used to badmouth his sovereign, advocating for that if he were to rule, the war would be brought to a satisfactory end.

(Ioannis has mighty troops and mighty allies, although they were far off)

In 1187, the war was finally lost by the Basileus, and Ioannis immediately raised his banners for war, marching into Rum for a slice of border lands. Two huge battles were fought, both in which Ioannis were numerically inferior, but the quality and strength of his troops won the day, slaughtering thousands of Muslim troops. In the second battle, the Sultan was even captured and forced to sign a humiliating peace.

(The despicable Basileus Alexios II required more from his most successful vassal)

This success of course strengthened the ageing strategos’ claim for the throne and the reigning Basileus hated him even more. Soon after the victory, an emissary telling Ioannis that his liege required more from him, increasing his vassal obligations, arrived.



Ioannis did not fret though, for he knew the Basileus was sick, and he was not – although he was old, which was a danger in and of itself. And so, on December 8th, 1189 the Basileus died of his illness. And Ioannis was declared Basileus Ioannis III, rightful ruler of the Romans.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Ioannes III (1189-1195)

With his elevation to the title of Basileus, Ioannes, third of his name, did not waste time. Decreeing the need for stricter control with the realm from Constantinople he passed into law the centralized bureaucracy bill, which gave the administration close to him more power and taxes. This was not universally loved, but all vassals grudgingly accepted the new status quo.

Furthermore, the new Basileus ordained his son and heir Basileios to be granted the theme of Ephesos by imperial decree, thus giving his son valuable experience in governing until he would, hopefully, inherit the throne on Ioannes’ death.

Dark skies loomed though, as the Latins in the West gathered to wage war on the Muslims to rescue the fallen Kingdom of Jerusalem. This Fourth Crusade did not go to plan, as the Latins were godless cravens and flocked around the claimant Eudokia to place her on the Imperial throne – by might.

As the Crusade started on April 3rd, 1191 Ioannes’ position seemed weak, with less than a third of the military strength of the Latins.

However, he used his diplomatic skills to assemble a number of allies and soon the numbers were more equal. He ordered his troops to remain in the Balkans, waiting for the Latins’ move, and they did not disappoint. Troubled by internal divisions, the Latin armies did not assemble as one, but scattered and moved to different provinces, letting Ioannes’ troops massacre them with ease.

After a year of fighting the Latins were not beaten, but sufficiently weakened and divided that Ioannes managed to negotiate a white peace, letting the Latins leave the Eastern Roman Empire for their native lands.

Little did he know this would only be the first of several Crusades trying to break the Roman state…

Satisfied with the results, Ioannes did not let his troops go home, but rather declared war immediately for the kingdom of Georgia, demanding it to be incoroporated into the Eastern Roman Empire as several imperial themes under his governance. The Georgians were weak, but their fortresses were strong and the war would last almost a year into his son’s reign as Basileus, as Ioannes III would die of typhus on November 17th, 1195 while his troops were ravaging the Georgian kingdom.

His son would be crowned Basileus Basileios III at the age of 46. His reign would be short, yet influential.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Basileios III (1195-1199)

The reign of Basileus Basileios III was short, but important. Basileios III continued his father’s war for the kingdom of Georgia and would after a year of continued fighting win the war. The new themes were given to new and so far unimportant families, thus spreading the goods and spoils of war, as to speak. The old, established families were not too happy, one would imagine, but they could hardly do anything but work for their own appointment in the next round.

On October 1197, slightly more than a year after the conquest of Georgia, Basileios III shocked the realm when he declared that Anatolia would be Roman again – in its entirety. He declared war on the sultatanate of Rum and declared his intent to annex it totally, thus removing the Rum state from the map.

The war went well, and slowly the counties of Anatolia were occupied by Roman forces. It was a slow process though, and Basileios III would not see the war’s end. With half of the Rum territory taken, he would die in his palace of an unspecified illness, leaving his son Aristarchos, aged 17, as the new Basileus of the Eastern Roman Empire.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Aristarchos I (1199-1240) – Part 1

The reign of Basileus Aristarchos I was a long and eventful one. It would be dominated by wars, many wars, and a lot of expansion. The first war was one he inherited from his father, and this was about the control over most of Anatolia, currently held by the sultanate of Rum. His father had done a good job before he died, and the war was a foregone conclusion. The victory was Aristachos I’s though, and he is the one attributed the reconquest of Anatolia.

The new Basileus was young and had no heir suitable for the purple, as his only brother was underage and his sister was, well, a woman and thus would have a hard time being accepted as heir by many of the magnates.

This was also the time that the Mongols rose, a power that would at its height half-way surround the Empire, having control over a vast land area in the Middle East and the Russian steppes. The Mongols would be a huge threat for the world of the Eastern Roman Empire for years, yet they would – thankfully for the Romans – never engage in direct war under the reign of Temujin and his immidate successors.

The world before the rise of the Mongols were still a dangerous world, though. The Ayubids had secured control over the Holy Lands and reigned over vast areas in the Middle East, while the Eastern Roman Empire just had gained access to much new lands – inhabited by Muslims of Turk origin.

(The world in 1203, right after the reconquest of Anatolia.)

Several uprisings would occur in Anatolia the following years. The first happened in 1204 while Aristarchos I was occupied with subjugating Serbia, a war that would last from 1202 to 1207 before being victorious.

During this time of dual war, a neighboring Muslim realm in the Armenia region, Alania, would try to benefit from perceived weakness, declaring war in 1205, and while Serbia would be taken in 1207 and the Turkmen uprising beaten in 1208, so that Aristarchos I could focus on the Muslim threat, merely a month after the first Turkmen revolt was beaten, a new Turkmen revolt happened in the same area, squeezing the tired Roman armies between the Muslim invaders and the Muslim rebels.

Both the revolt and and the Muslim ghazis would be beaten later the same year, but before this, the Russians in Ruthenia decided to declare war on their old allies under Basileios III and invaded the Crimea.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the mighty Ayyubids also declared war in 1208, leaving the ERE with wars in Crimea, Alania and the whole southern border, as well as internally with the third Turkmen revolt. The Ayyubids were about thirce the strength of the Eastern Roman armies and it would be a game and cat and mouse and attrition before the realm again saw peace in 1213.

The Russians would agree to a white peace in 1213, Alania in 1209, while the populists would be defeated in 1210. The Ayyubids were beaten by letting them take much land, lose much to attrition, and Roman armies beating their armies as they scattered to cover a larger area. In the end, the Sultan of the Ayyubids had enough and agreed to white peace in 1213.

The realm had finally peace, after over 14 years of constant, draining warfare. Aristachos I’s woes and reign had just begun, though.

(The world in 1213, as peace finally reigns in the ERE.)

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Aristarchos I (1199-1240) – Part 2



With peace reigning, and no external threats looming, Aristarchos I decided to petition the Patriach for a decision on the issue of the Krstrjani, a heretic sect residing in the north-western parts of the Empire. To his dismay, the Patriarch were disinterested in this and he had to let the heretics be – for now.

In 1218, he decided to secure his son and heir a more secure position as the coming Basileus, proclaiming the man co-basileus the day of his coming of age. He celebrated this momentous occasion with a declaration of war on the Mosulids, but this would backfire.

A civil war erupted less than a year later, while Aristarchos’ troops were still fighting the Muslulids, as the pretender Hippolytos and his supporters decided to strike. This would have been a minor issue, had not the Catholics decided to send their crusaders towards Constantinople again, trying to topple the rightful ruler of the Romans for a claimant – and a woman at that!

Thankfully for all Romans, the Catholics tarried and started fighting in the Serbian mountains, losing precious manpower, and Aristarchos could finish the Musulid and civil war virtually undisturbed. The Musulids lost in 1222, while the pretender and his allies admitted defeat in 1223.

Aristarchos I celebrated these victories by founding the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre in 1223 following the pretender’s defeat, and even managed to secure the Holy Roman Empire as an ally in the war against the crusaders, thus pinching them between two mighty empires and thus with severely worse odds of success.

The crusade would not be easy, though, especially when another claimant decided to throw his lot in the ring later in 1223. The civil war and the crusade would last several years, with the pretender being beaten first in 1227, and countless mercenaries were hired to win the slog of a war the crusade had become, thus almost bankrupting the Empire, which had had massive number of gold in the treasury before this.

The Mongols were advancing at a fast speed in the east, and by 1230, as the crusade still raged, they had sorrounded the Eastern Roman Empire both in the north on the Russian steppes, as well as in the south in the Middle East, where they had conquered everything up to Cyrenaica.

In 1232 the crusaders finally gave up, and Aristarchos could breathe again. He did not stop warring though, but used his seasoned troops to advance into Ruthenia in the north, gaining the theme of Yedisan. The war would only last a few months, finishing in early 1235.

He then moved against the Krstjani rulers of Upper Bosnia in 1236, a war that would last until 1239 when the last guerilla fighters gave up. He then manouvered to splinter the kingdom of Croatia, claiming it for himself, and declared war on Slavonia for their lands.

While his troops conquered the theme of Slavonia, he celebrated his victory with a big feast, drinking himself to death in the process. His son Alexios III, aged 38, inherited the throne in 1240.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Alexios III «the Proud» (1240-1256)

The reign of Alexios III «the Proud» would prove to be the high point of this part of the Batatzes dynasty. Alexios III was a conqueror par excellence and would secure the Empire for the coming decades, albeit with him the seeds of misfortune would also be sown.

He won his father’s war with ease the same year he ascended to the throne, and quickly made his oldest son his co-basileus. In 1241 he got the visions of him being a great conqueror of the world and marched into the newly independent Egypt, who while weak and spread apart had got their independence from the Mongols, which were starting to show the first signs of splintering. Less than a year later Antiocheia was reconquered for the Eastern Roman Empire, giving Alexios III great prestiege in the eyes of the people and nobility.

With this, the dream of Justinian’s Empire was rekindled in the heart and minds of the Romans, and in Alexios III’s own. He started advancing his troops into Italy, conquering the central Italian duchies for himself and his empire. The HRE did invade the Balkans at this point, but only as a skirmish for spoils of war, not to conquer lands as such. They were in Alexios III’s eyes a minor annoyance at best.

In 1245 the Mongols finally collapsed and Alexios declared a holy war for the despotate of Syria against the Mongol successor state of the Ilkhanate. Two years later, in 1247, the war was won and Alexios’s troops could march triumphantly through Edessa, another key city reclaimed for the glory of Rome.

In 1249, Alexios moved into Egypt and reclaimed Alexandria for the Romans. Soon, much of Lower Egypt was Roman. The world, and especially Constantinople, looked at Alexios in awe.

In 1250 he moved his gaze again back to Italy, where he in about a year reclaimed Pisa as well as Firenze for his empire. The Italian wars continued after this, and soon Ravenna was reconquered too. He even took on the Pope, and won, albeit Rome itself was not annexed in this war, only the areas around the city.

While Alexios was warring in Italy, his co-basileus was also busy, conquering, notably retaking Siracusa in 1254.

At this point disaster struck, though, as the co-Basileus fell ill and died. The greif-stricken Alexios III starts flagellating himself for his perceived sins, since he lost his most beloved son, and dies of the wounds in 1256. His 13-year-old son Zacharias inherited the crown, and from that moment on, the fortunes of house Batatzes turned.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Zacharias I (1256-1271)



The young, newly minted Basileus would not have a good reign, or life for that matter. His reign would see the end of the reign over the Eastern Roman Empire for his branch of the dynasty, and would leave Constantiople in the hands of other families for decades. In fact, his surprisingly long reign would almost finish the Batatzes family’s hold of power – any power – for good.

Young Zacharias was left with his father’s war in southern Italy still raging, and despite going well, far from finished. Already in 1257 a claimant to the throne rose up in rebellion, taking with her many disgruntled vassals who saw the young boy as a weak monarch who did not have the mettle to lead the Empire onto further successes.

Mere months later another pretender rose, thus having the Empire in a three-way struggle that would hold it in a choke-hold for years. Even worse, even after the second pretender were fought to a white peace, leaving Zacharias only at war with Garyphallia and her supporters, and even though he had agreed to a white peace with the South Italians in Sicily, he could not hold onto the Italian lands when they – lead by Pisa – rose in revolt for their renewed independence in 1263. Two years later they were, indeed, independent and only a shadow of the former East Roman presence were left on the peninsula.

Garyphallia died, but her supporters continued in the name of her son, and their goal was as ever to depose Zacharias I or die trying. Zacharias I was by now a young man, but he was unable to lead his forces, being depressed and increasingly being ruled by his advisors, of which most prominent was the hated eunuch Gellert, who over time became the de facto ruler of the East Roman Empire, ruling it in every way but name. He amassed much wealth and power, and the weak Zacharias let him, spending his time in the whore house and else keeping to himself.

After a stroke of luck with battles and sieges where the war was close to be decided either by total victory or white peace, a series of lost battles meant that the writing was on the wall. In 1271 Zacharias I was forced to abdicate, and he fled the realm, to the West, seeking Latin power to be restored to the throne. Back in the Empire, his three-year-old daughter Flámula inherited his wealth and estate, a young girl with no money, no prospect of power, a lot of money and extremely expensive troops in her employ with no way of gaining a comparable income. No other Batatzes family member had any power either, for that matter.

The start of the long years in the shadow for House Batatzes had begun.

(The new Basileus.)

 

[Nikolai]

Strategitissa Flámula (1271-1292)

With the fall of the Batatzes dynasty from Imperial power, and its last Basileus fled to the West, his 3-year-old daughter was “in charge” of the home front. No Batatzes were in power, anywhere. She spent her days on the Batatzes family estate in Anatolia, getting fed the stories of her glorious ancestors and told how it was up to her to regain the glory of the Batatzes family.

As she became an adult, and with her great family fortune slowly being eaten away by the upkeep of all too expensive and large retinues, she slowly started building support for her claim to the throne. Unfortunately for her, she was a woman, and a woman of a disgraced family, so it was a hard, long slog.

In 1290 her father returned to the Eastern Roman Empire with a host of Latins, trying to regain the throne by Western might. This war would rage until 1294, two years after the death of Flámula. She would be murdered by the reigning Basileus as a threat too dangerous to be kept alive. With her, the family estate would move to her 19-years-old sister Eusthatia, a young woman with no direct or indirect claim to the throne. Either their father succeeded in his quest to regain the throne, or the throne would be quite a far way off, with the Imperial claim being lost to the mist of time and circumstance.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategitissa Eustathia “the Hideous” (1292-1311)

The reign of strategitissa Eustathia was a continued walking of a tightrope. In 1294 her father and the Latins were fought off, and the realm was again at peace. But in 1299 the strategitissa did the unthinkable and went to war on behalf of her father and his claim. The war lasted for several years and was at one time close to victory, but slowly the forces of Eustathia were forced back. When her father died and there was only a question of time before the war was lost, Eustathia negotiated a white peace with the Basileus.

Her new, and ultimately more successful, ploy were to place relatives in charge of the various themes in the Empire, of which there were more and more of, as the successors on the throne of Caesar kept expanding the Empire. The first success, one of several, was her half-brother in 1310. More were to come, some to fruiting after she died.

For in 1311 Eustathia was murdered by unknown assailants. Although suspicsions were drawn to the Imperial palace, nothing was ever proved, as the assailants disappeared in the darkness of history. Her four-year-old daughter inherited the now dwindling coffers of her grandfather and his economically untenable retinue.

But our story now shifts to a cadet branch of the Batatzes dynasty, the ruler of the Alexandria theme – Strategos Sabas, aged 41, of the cadet branch Batatzes-Siwa.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategos Sabas “the Impaler” of Alexandria (1311-1332)

Catepan Sabas “the Impaler” of Ruthenia (1321-1332)

Sabas’ first order of business after his inheritance was to travel to Constantinople in 1311 and ask the Basileus to grant his family primacy on the theme of Alexandria for the next 100 years. And the Basileus agreed graciously!

For the next few years he slowly grew his alliances, before he to everyone’s surprise sent his entire army north from Egypt to the Russian steppes after the Patriarch himself granted him a claim on the kingdom of Ruthenia! Ruthenia had just come out of a devastating war and was virtually defenseless. Sabas and his allies thus could conquer the kingdom pretty much unopposed and in 1321 Sabas was crowned Catepan – the kingdom level administrative ruler – of Ruthenia by the Basileus and the Patriarch.

In 1323 disaster struck again, as another crusade for the Eastern Roman Empire was spearheaded by the Venetians in the name of the pretender Prince Dagonis of Chelmno. The Empire was once again under dire threat and the war would last for six long years.

Catepan Sabas did not directly partake in the defense of the Empire though, instead focusing on pacifying his newfound kingdom. Rebels were mercilessly impaled on stakes, striking fear into anyone who dared oppose him. This is when he got his moniker “the Impaler”.

In 1327, while the crusade raged against the Basileus, Sabas moved deeper into Egypt. His ambitions were hindered, however, when the Catholics showed up for a real crusade, going on simultaneously as the one against Constantinople, with the intent to subdue Egypt. The crusaders did not differentiate between Muslims and Christians and killed his entire army.

In 1329 the crusade against Constantinople ended in a white peace, and Sabas saw that going into Egypt were no longer possible, with the crusade there still raging, and going the way towards victory for the crusaders.

He thus invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem against the Mongol successor state in the area, the Ilkhanate. While this war was still raging, and going well for his forces, Sabas died of old age. His kingdom was left to another dynasty, him not managing to secure his son’s inheritance of Ruthenia, but his son Andronikos inherited the theme of Mesopotamia as well as the war against the Ilkhanate. Andronikos was 40 years old at the time, and to his late father’s dismay, in an offensive war against the Basileus to depose him for another pretender.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategos Andronikos of Mesopotamia (1332-1353)

At the start of his reign, strategos Andronikos was in a precarious situation. He had been convinced to try to overthrow the reigning Basileus, and now he inherited a war with the still mighty Ilkhanate. He did in the end decide to focus on Jerusalem, trusting his allies to overthrow the Basileus by themselves. And in the end, it panned out for him, with the civil war ending in the overthrowing of the old Basileus.

In 1334 the war for Jerusalem was finally won, but to Andronikos’ chagrin the spoils of the war went to the new Catepan of Ruthenia on a technicality of his father being the Catepan at the start of the war. His new liege the Basileus decided against the poor strategos, probably due to him abandoning the quest for his elevation during the civil war.

However, in 1335 Andronikos traveled to Constantinople to ask for his family to get primacy in election for the theme of Mesopotamia the next 100 years. And he managed to get it. Thus, both Mesopotamia and Alexandria were almost assured to be in aBatatzes’s hand for the foreseeable future.

In 1347 disaster struck though, as the Black Plague appeared in the realm and spread like wildfire. Millions died all over the known world and while Andronikos and his family would survive the plague itself, the upswing in self-flagellation would do them in. In 1353 the wife of Andronikos, eager to swipe out her sins by violence, flagellated herself to death. Mere months later, in March 1353, Andronikos did the same, out of his mind of sorrow over his beloved wife’s death and sure about his own sinfulness and God’s punishment in letting his wife die.

His son strategos Sabas II “the Bald”, aged 32, inherited his titles and wealth.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategos Sabas II “the Bald” (1353-1366)

The reign of Sabas II was a complete disaster. From early on, he plotted for the throne, but nothing ever came of it. In 1359 he was on friendly terms with the reigining Basileus, who knew nothing of his plots, but the next in line was a rival of Sabas II who hated his guts.

The Empire kept expanding into the Middle East, as the Ilkhanate had imploded, and meanwhile Sabas II kept to his plotting. In 1360 his rival, the heir to the throne, was murdered by Sabas’ agents, but his involvement in the murder was revealed. From then on, he was on borrowed time.

In 1361 his brother even tried to kill him, vying for his theme, as he was Sabas’ heir at the time. Sabas discovered this, but was unable to move against his brother, who was far off and protected by powerful men.

In 1363 Sabas decided to expand himself, having gathered claims for lands in Mesopotamia. This war was another disaster, as his entire army was slaughtered the year after. At the same time his rival, the Catepanissa Zoe of Ruthenia, convinced the Patriarch to excommunicate Sabas II.

A year later, in 1365, the Basileus arrested Sabas for his crimes and revoked his title.

On May 17th, 1366 Sabas II “the Bald” was beheaded on the orders of the Basileus. His son Andronikos II took over the leadership of the family. His reign would see the world turned upside down.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategos Andronikos II (1366-1393)

The reign of Andronikos II would see huge upheavals, great sorrows and a lingering hope.



It started poorly personally for Andronikos as his inbred newborn son Sabad died of consumption in 1368. Within 1370 the rampant disease had killed all of his children, with his eldest, Zoe, dying that year. He did not give up though, and soon sired new children. The pain remained though.

In 1372 he decided to support the pretender Basileus for his bid to the throne, a no brainer since the new Basileus had five times the troops of the reigning one. Unfortunately, he gained nothing for his opportunism.

His personal woes continued in 1373 when a new epidemic, this time smallpox, kills all his new children except one sole surviving son.

More troublesome, the realm is weakened by ever new civil wars and new Basileuses come and go with mere months on the throne.

In 1375 he finally gets his goal of a theme of his own fulfilled, when he gains the appointment to the theme of Kibyrrhaiotai. There he reigns well and fair, as another crusade for the Eastern Roman Empire is started by the heretic West, to place the wretched Antonios on the throne. After merely two years of warfare, the weakened Empire is close to losing the crusade, something that is incredible knowing how huge it was at this time:

In 1383, after clinging on barely for years, the Empire is seized by the Franks…and soon dissolves in petty infighting! The Empire of the Caesars are no more. But many are the Greeks who vow to rebuild it. One of those is strategos Andronikos II, who with his powerbase of Kibyrrhaitai seems protection under the new king of the renewed sultanate of Rum. A disgrace, for sure, knowing the fall of the sultanate – then Muslim, now Christian – was the start of the rise of Rome to her greatest height.

Andronikos II is powerful though, and the next in line for the throne of Rum, should his liege die. He effectively controlled the realm due to his power. With this in mind, he went to war against Nikaea in 1385 for claims he had, wishing to rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1389 he won his war and went to war for Crete as well. The same year he became regent in Rum, as well as heir. Life was good.

Then the Eastern Roman Empire was restored, in a puny state though, by someone else than him. And by the man who made Rome fall no less; Basileus Antonios!

In Anatolia, wars were declared east and west, and the wars of Andronikos’ liege was a losing point. As was his own war against Crete. It was under these sorry circumstances Andronikos II died of a fatal apoplexy aged 50, and his 21-year-old son Ignatios had to continue his dream of a revived Eastern Rome under Batatzes rule.

 

[Nikolai]

Strategos Ignatios (1393-1435)

Despot Ignatios I of Rum (1408-1435)

Basileus Ignatios I “the Quarreller” (1423-1435)

The start of Ignatios’ glorious reign was a major setback. His liege had gotten into a lot of wars, and he was losing. Worse, some of those wars was about Ignatios’ own lands as a vassal of Rum. Both in 1396 and 1399 this happened, the first time to the resurgent Eastern Roman Empire, and the second to the despotate of Anatolikon.

But in 1403, the first of many successes started. In that year Ignatios’ fellow vassal and kin in the theme of Opsikon won his war against his kin in the duchy of Anatolikon – not to be confused with the despotate of the same name. Thus, the family both lost and gained, but the ambitions of Ignatios won. No need to mention for anyone that Ignatios’ contribution to the war was to have his army wiped from the earth, though.

In 1406 Ignatios himself declared war on the duchy of Anatolikon, and two years later the war was won., with Anatolikon being reduced to a one county duchy. The ywar 1408 was also the year Ignatios became king of Rum, thus being – finally – in charge of his own destiny. This same year also saw a major win, when the uncle of Ignatios, who also was his vassal as strategos of Opsikon, won his own war against the resurgest Eastern Roman Empire, taking a whole theme and seeing the Empire reduced in size once again, now being a mere also ran around Constantinople.

This could not do, and in 1409 Ignatoios declared war on the false Eastern Roman Empire for Constantinople itself and its surrounding territory. And two years later the City of Men’s Desire was his. After a few years of peace, Ignatios went to war against the despotate of Nikaea for their lands close to Constantinople and won easily. In 1420 he then declared war on the despotate of Anatolikon, demanding the entire despotate. Again, he won easily after less than a year of fighting.

In 1421 he then founded the holy order Knights of the First Gospel, considerably rising in the eyes of the clergy and devout. He also declared war on the Latin Empire for parts of their holdings in Greece, and won within two years of fighting, reducing the Latins to a mere shell of their former selves.

Then, to everyone’s surprise he swallowed his own pride and swore fealty to the reigning Basileus of the Eastern Roman Empire, vowing to rebuild the Empire’s strength and power with whatever means. The Basileus must have been wary, his new vassal owning a majority of his Empire’s strength, but he had no choice but to agree and make his new vassal the next in line for the throne.

There are some proof, but not definitive, that Ignatios planned to murder the Basileus, but this never came to be, as the old and frail man on top died of natural causes two months after gaining his new vassal. Ignatios I was now Basileus of the resurgent Eastern Roman Empire.

He did not rest on his laurels and declared war for the rest of the despotate of Nikaea in 1424 and won within months. The next year he turned on his old ally for decades, the despotate of Pontus, to regain his claims as Roman Emperor, which was most of the Pontus lands. After a grueling, bloody war, he won in 1429.

The year after, in 1430, he declared war for the entirety of the kingdom of Georgia, and – again – he won, seizing the kingdom for himself in 1432. He then turned on Bulgaria, claiming all the historically Roman lands. And again he won after two years, in 1434.

Not satisfied, he then turned on the remains of the Latin Empire, claiming half of their lands, the theme of Thessali, for himself. The Latin Empire disintegrated into petty successor states during the war, and the new Latin duke of Thessali proved to be a pain to defeat, calling in numerous allies from the West, making the war a standstill. His army routed, Ignatios called in his allies and slowly drove the Latins back again.

But before he could win this war, he died of a fatal apoplexy, infirm and bound to his bed in Constantinople, in 1435. His son Basileios IV, aged 37 inherited an Eastern Roman Empire that was strong, ascending and vital, and in a war about to be won.

 

[Nikolai]

Basileus Basileios IV (1435-1447)

The start of Basileus Basileios IV’s reign was a tumultuous time. As he ascended the throne, a typhus epidemic raged the country and Basileios lost not only two of three children, but also almost his own life. Bedridden and sick, with the countryside full of dead bodies, he was allegedly greatly tempted to convert to iconoclasm, but if that is the case, nothing ultimately came of it.

In 1437 the war his father had left him, a war Basileios had no chance of overseeing as he was sick for so long, finally was won. He then immediately went to war for the remains of the Latin Empire, which now was some counties in Thessalonika, and he won easily. Now only the strip of land in Anatolia, facing the Aegean Sea, and belonging to the mighty Holy Roman Empire, was still in Latin hands. Against the HRE, there was nothing to be done.

In 1438 Basileios then declared war on Krete, a successor state he as Eastern Roman Basileus had a definite claim on. The restoration of the ERE had to continue, he declared. And so it was. With Krete reclaimed the following year, Chandax, the Gem of the Med, was restored.

With this settled, another war, this time against Hayastan in the east, was declared, and two years later the war was won. During this time both the HRE and Syria began raids into Roman territory though, a constant headache, if not directly dangerous to the Empire in its small scale. Basileios did decide to not poke the Holy Roman bear though, and let the raids remain unanswered.

In 1441 to 1442 several smaller successor realms in Persia was peacefully vassalized, before a major push against the Muslim kingdom of Kirman within Persia was started in 1442. The ERE was at this time a mighty power again, and the war was won the following year.

With this, the despotate of Persia was proclaimed by Basileios IV, added to his many titles, and not given to any strategos. Basileus Basileios IV’s gaze then moved towards Egypt, where the theme of Delta was seized in 1446 and Cairo was almost finished conquered in 1447.

The latter war would not be won before the ageing Basileios IV died on consumption, though. His brother and heir Theocharistos I, aged 42, became the new Basileus.

With him, the medieval age slowly faded away, and Theocharistos I would lead the Eastern Roman Empire into the renaissance. That, however, is another story, for another time.

FIN