Alexios V Doukas (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Δούκας, romanized: Aléxios Doúkās; died December 1204), Latinized as Alexius V Ducas, was Byzantine emperor from February to April 1204, just prior to the sack of Constantinople by the participants of the Fourth Crusade. His family name was Doukas, but he was also known by the nickname Mourtzouphlos or Murtzuphlus (Μούρτζουφλος), referring to either bushy, overhanging eyebrows or a sullen, gloomy character. He achieved power through a palace coup, killing his predecessors in the process. Though he made vigorous attempts to defend Constantinople from the crusader army, his military efforts proved ineffective. His actions won the support of the mass of the populace, but he alienated the elite of the city. Following the fall, sack, and occupation of the city, Alexios V was blinded by his father-in-law, the ex-emperor Alexios III, and later executed by the new Latin regime. He was the last Byzantine emperor to rule in Constantinople until the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople in 1261.
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👉 Alexios V Doukas in the context of Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty
The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Angelos dynasty between 1185 and 1204 AD. The Angeloi rose to the throne following the deposition of Andronikos I Komnenos, the last male-line Komnenos to rise to the throne. The Angeloi were female-line descendants of the previous dynasty. While in power, the Angeloi were unable to stop the invasions of the Turks by the Sultanate of Rum, the uprising and resurrection of the Bulgarian Empire, and the loss of the Dalmatian coast and much of the Balkan areas won by Manuel I Komnenos to the Kingdom of Hungary.
Infighting among the elite saw Byzantium lose substantial financial capability and military power. The previous policies of openness with Western Europe, followed by the sudden massacre of Latins under Andronikos, had preceded the rule of the Angeloi making enemies among Western European states. The weakening of the empire under the Angeloi dynasty resulted in the partitioning of the Byzantine Empire when in 1204, soldiers of the Fourth Crusade overthrew the last Angeloi Emperor, Alexios V Doukas.
Alexios V Doukas in the context of Struggle for Constantinople
The struggle for Constantinople was a complex series of conflicts following the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, fought between the Latin Empire established by the Crusaders, various Byzantine successor states, and foreign powers such as the Second Bulgarian Empire and Sultanate of Rum, for control of Constantinople and supremacy within the former imperial territories.
At the time of the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine Empire was already divided by internal revolts. In the aftermath of the Crusader sack of Constantinople, the empire was dissolved into a patchwork of territories held by various pretenders and warlords. The former Byzantine emperors Alexios III and Alexios V both aspired to retake the capital, though were defeated by the Latins. The early years after 1204 saw the rise and fall of numerous Byzantine statelets; the Latins managed to defeat warlords such as Leo Sgouros but were unable to halt the formation of the more well-organized rump states of the Empire of Nicaea, Empire of Trebizond, and Despotate of Epirus. The prospect of a potential swift Latin conquest of the entire former empire's territories effectively ended when the Bulgarian ruler Kaloyan defeated the Latin army at the Battle of Adrianople (1205).
Alexios V Doukas in the context of Laskaris
The House of Laskaris (Greek: Λάσκαρις (Láskaris), later Λάσκαρης; feminine form Laskarina; Greek: Λασκαρίνα), Latinized as Lascaris, was a Byzantine Greek noble family which rose to prominence during the late Byzantine period. The members of the family formed the ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine rump state that existed from the 1204 sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade until the restoration of the Empire under the Palaeologan dynasty in 1261.
Upon the sack of the Byzantine capital by the Crusaders, Alexios V Doukas was overthrown and the Latin Empire was established in most of his former lands. Byzantine nobility would flee the Latin territories and establish the three independent Greek states that rivaled the Crusaders. After a successful resistance in Asia Minor, Theodore I Laskaris founded the Empire of Nicaea and laid claims to the Byzantine throne, along with the Angelos family of Epirus and the Komnenoi of Trebizond. The Byzantine Greek population of Asia Minor sought refuge to Theodore's empire, which gradually acquired control over much of western Anatolia. The empire was further strengthened after the military victories of Theodore's successor, John III Vatatzes. John's son, Theodore II Laskaris, maintained the empire's strength until the throne was passed to his underage son, John IV Laskaris. In 1259 John fell victim to an aristocratic conspiracy which managed to establish Michael Palaiologos as his regent and co-emperor.