Alexios Strategopoulos in the context of "Michael VIII Palaiologos"

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⭐ Core Definition: Alexios Strategopoulos

Alexios Komnenos Strategopoulos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνὸς Στρατηγόπουλος) was a Byzantine aristocrat and general who rose to the rank of megas domestikos and Caesar. Distantly related to the Komnenian dynasty, he appears in the sources already at an advanced age in the early 1250s, leading armies for the Empire of Nicaea against Epirus. After falling out of favour and being imprisoned by Theodore II Laskaris, Strategopoulos sided with the aristocrats around Michael VIII Palaiologos, and supported him in his rise to the throne after Theodore II's death in 1258. He participated in the Pelagonia campaign in 1259, going on to capture Epirus, but his successes were undone in the next year and he was captured by the Epirotes. Released after a few months, he led the unexpected reconquest of Constantinople from the Latin Empire in July 1261, restoring the Byzantine Empire. He was captured again by the Epirotes in the next year and spent several years in captivity in Italy, before being released. He retired from public affairs and died in the early 1270s.

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Alexios Strategopoulos in the context of Reconquest of Constantinople

The Reconquest of Constantinople was the recapture of the city of Constantinople in 1261 AD by the forces led by Alexios Strategopoulos of the Empire of Nicaea from Latin occupation, leading to the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty, after an interval of 57 years where the city had been made the capital of the occupying Latin Empire that had been installed by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 following the Crusader Sack of Constantinople.

The recapture of Constantinople brought the city back into Byzantine possession, bringing to an end the half-century occupation of the Latin Empire over the Byzantine capital. The reconstituted Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos would go on to hold the city successfully against further designs at its capture for nearly two centuries until its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Reconquest of Constantinople
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Greek language → Megas domestikos → Caesar (title) → Komnenian dynasty → Empire of Nicaea → Despotate of Epirus → Theodore II Laskaris → Michael VIII Palaiologos → Battle of Pelagonia → Constantinople → Latin Empire → Byzantine Empire →