MICHAEL VIII

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 360 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MICHAEL VIII . PALAEOLOGUS (12341282) was the son of Andronicus Palaeologus Comnenus and Irene Angela, the granddaughter of Alexius Angelus, emperor of

Constantinople

CONSTANTINOPLE
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF

. At an early age he rose to distinction, and ultimately became

commander

COMMANDER

of the French mercenaries in the employment of the emperors of Nicaea. A few days after the death of

Theodore

Lascaris II. in 1259, Michael, by the assassination of Muzalon (which he is believed but not proved to have encouraged) became

joint

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

guardian with the patriarch Arsenius of the

young

YOUNG
YOUNG, A
YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
EDWARD
- EDWARD
_16831765_.html">YOUNG,
EDWARD
- EDWARD
(1683–1765)
YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
THOMAS
_1773_1829_.html">YOUNG,
THOMAS
(1773-1829)

emperor, John Lascaris, then a lad of eight years. Afterwards invested with the title of " despot," he was finally proclaimed

joint

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

-emperor and crowned alone at Nicaea on the 1st of January 126o. In July 1261 Michael, who had attacked

Constantinople

CONSTANTINOPLE
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF

with the help of the Genoese, conquered the town through his general Strategopoulos. He thereupon had John Lascaris blinded and banished. For this last act he was excommunicated by Arsenius, and the ban was not removed until six years afterwards (1268) on the accession of a new patriarch. In 1263 and 1264 respectively, Michael, with the help of Urban IV., concluded peace with Villehardouin, prince of Achaia, and Michael, despot of Epirus, who had previously been incited by the

pope

to attack him, but had been decisively beaten at Pelagonia in Thessaly (1259); Villehardouin was obliged to cede Mistra, Monemvasia and Maina in the Morea. Subsequently Michael was involved in wars with the Genoese and Venetians, whose influence in Constantinople he sought to diminish by maintaining the

balance

BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

of strength between them. In 1269 Charles of Sicily, aided by John of Thessaly; made war with the alleged purpose of restoring Baldwin to the throne of Constantinople, and pressed Michael so hard that he consented to send deputies to the council of Lyons (1274) and there accept the papal supremacy. The union thus brought about between the two Churches was, however, extremely distasteful to the Greeks, and the persecution of hia " schismatic " subjects to which the emperor was compelled to resort weakened his power so much that Martin IV. was tempted to enter into alliance with Charles of Anjou and the Venetians for the purpose of reconquering Constantinople. The invasion, however, failed, and Michael so far had his revenge in the " Sicilian Vespers," which he helped to bring about. He died in Thrace in December 1282. In reconstituting the Byzantine Empire Michael restored the old administration without endeavouring to correct its abuses. By debasing the coinage he hastened the decay of Byzantine commerce.

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