Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/523

BYZANTINE EMPIRE 517 pendence in 11 86. He was dethroned by Alexis III. (1195-1203). Isaac's son, Alexis the Young, supplicated the aid of the crusaders, then assembled at Venice, and obtained it in re- turn for a promise to pay 200,000 marks of sil- ver. The crusaders captured Constantinople, July 18, 1203, and restored Isaac, who with his son was put to death the next year. Nicholas Oanabus succeeded, and was in turn deposed by Alexis Ducas (Murzufle), the leader of the revolt against Isaac. The crusaders again captured the city in April, 1204. The Latin empire of Romania was established (1204-'61), and Count Baldwin of Flanders elected first emperor. The European possessions of the empire were di- vided into four parts: 1. The imperial domain, including one fourth part of the city of Con- stantinople, the other three parts being divided between the French and Venetians, Thrace, some castles on the Asiatic coast, the islands at the mouth of the Hellespont, and the suzerainty over the feudal dependencies of the empire. 2. The kingdom of Thessalonica was carved out for Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, and included Macedonia and a part of Greece. 3. The republic of Venice obtained the coast lands of the Adriatic and the ^Egean, a portion of the Morea, many of the Cyclades and Spo- rades, the islands of Crete and Negropont, and the territory of Gallipoli on the Thraeian Cher- sonese. 4. Many other fiefs were given to French knights, of which the principal were the duchy of Athens and Breotia, and the prin- cipality of Achaia and the Morea. The Greek empire still survived in Asia Minor. Theodore Lascaris, who had been elected emperor by the senate in Constantinople, established his capi- tal at Nicsea, whence the Greek empire of Ni- <';ea received its name ; it consisted of Bithynia, Mysia, Ionia, and part of Lydia. On the S. E. shores of the Black sea, from Sinope to the river Phasis, the Comnenian empire of Trebi- zond arose. The Comnenian princes, Alexis and David, declared their independence at the fall of the old Byzantine empire, and one of their successors assumed the imperial title. In Epirus, yEtolia, and Thessaly, Michael Ange- lus established a Greek principality. Return- ing to the history of the principal fragments of the Byzantine empire, we find that the Greeks called in the aid of John, king of the Bul- garians, who defeated Baldwin and took him prisoner. Henry, brother of Baldwin, succeed- ed him (1206-'16). He fought with success against Lascaris, emperor of Nicaea, and brought the king of the Bulgarians to terms. He gave honors and offices of trust to the Byzantines, and protected them against the oppressions of the Latin clergy. Peter de Courtenay succeed- ed him (1216). He was soon afterward cap- tured by Theodore, independent prince of Epi- rus, in a vain attempt to take Durazzo for the Venetians. His younger son, Robert, succeed- ed him after an interregnum (1221-'28). Du- ring his reign John III., the Greek emperor of Nicam, and Theodore, the prince of Epirus, re- ! duced the territory of the Latin emperors of Romania almost to the peninsula on which Constantinople stands. Jean de Brienne, titu- lar king of Jerusalem, next took the reins of power as regent for Baldwin II. (1228-'37). The Bulgarians made an alliance with the emperor of Niccea and threatened the exist- ence of the Latin empire. Jean de Brienne saved Constantinople, and the allies turned their arms against each other. Baldwin II. then reigned unaided (1237-'61). He implored men, arms, and money of the potentates and nations of the West, but they made no adequate response to his entreaties. The consequence was that Michael Palseologus, emperor of Ni- crea, with the help of the Genoese navy, which was driven to the Greek alliance by hatred of Venice, obtained possession of Constantinople, July 25, 1261. The Genoese were rewarded by liberal mercantile privileges. The Latin empire of Romania now vanished, although many of the Latin principalities, such as the duchy of Athens, survived until the final down- fall of the restored Byzantine empire in the 15th century. With Michael Palaaologus (1261- '82) commenced the dynasty of the Palaaologi, which endured until the Turkish conquest. By his endeavors to reunite the Greek and Latin churches ho gained the hatred of his clergy and people. Andronicus II., his son, succeeded (1282-1328), and immediately re- stored the Greek ritual. To defend his empire against the Turks, he took into pay a body of Catalan troops (1303) ; the Catalans beat back the enemy, and then began to pillage Greece and settle down upon estates got and held by the right of the sword. He abdicated in favor of his grandson, Andronicus III. (1328-'41). The Turks took Nicsea and Nicomedia in 1339, and plundered the coasts of Europe. Androni- cus unsuccessfully opposed them, and made a barren alliance against them with the pope, the king of France, and other western pow- ers. His son John V. or VI. succeeded him (1341 -'91). It cost him a civil war of ten years to rid himself of his guardian, Joannes Can- tacuzenus. During this war the Turks first acquired territory in Europe. Gallipoli was seized by them in 1357 ; in 1361 Sultan Amu- rath took Adrianople, and made it his resi- dence. John appealed to the pope to aid him in his extremity, offering to reunite the eastern with the western church, but to no purpose. Subsequently Amurath conquered Macedonia and part of AJbania, when John signed a treaty acknowledging himself the vassal of the sultan, and covenanting to pay tribute. Philadelphia, the last possession of the Byzan- tines in Asia, capitulated to Bajazet, successor of Amurath. When the sultan ordered that the emperor's son should accompany him in his wars, John Palasologus died of a broken heart. Manuel, son of the preceding, escaped from the court of Sultan Bajazet, where he was a hostage, at the news of his father's death, and "was proclaimed emperor (1391-