After recovering Constantinople Of the Latins, in August 1261, the main objective of Emperor Michael VII Palaiologos was to restore her prestige Byzantine Empire. It was an ambitious goal, which was particularly difficult to fulfill given the territorial shrinkage that the empire had suffered.
The Byzantine state was surrounded by mostly hostile states. Very quickly, the Michael I He understood that for the survival of his state, in the multipurpose political environment of the Balkans and Asia Minor, had to exploit the differences of his opponents spreading anti-Byzantine coalitions by diplomatic means. Depending on the size of the opponent, he would also choose the use of military means in combination with diplomacy.
In front of the threatened danger by the western states, Michael VI started chatting with Pope Gregory IIin order to mediate by preventing Western rulers and in particular Charles d’Anzou from attacking Constantinople. The obstacle was initially the term that the Pope set up the two churches to unite, while the Eastern subordination of the Eastern to the Western Church. Despite reactions within his empire, Michael accepted the term Pope and in July 1274 signed to Lyon through his representative, George Acropolis, the relevant act. Soon, the Byzantine state benefited from this development.
In 1282, Michael’s son, Andronikos II, who was already carrying out a co -emperor, climbed the throne.
When Michael VII died in 1282, his son went up to the throne Andronikos IIwho had been carrying out a co -emperor in 1272. He was born a few months after his father’s rise to power, in 1259, and had a very good education and had in practice proved his ability to manage administrative issues, at the time he dominated by Michael. One of his first actions as a monocrator in the state of the Romans, was to denounce the union of the Churches of Lyon and the restoration of the Orthodox doctrine. The reactions of the antithesis immediately, while the West, as busy with its own problems, did not react to this development.
Andronikos was displaced to a monastery and a monk.
One of the biggest problems that Andronikos II faced was the economic cachexia of the state. Although he took various measures, he failed to resolve the issue by distorting the currency. Naturally, economic distress leads to a reduction in government spending in various areas, such as the military sector. The military forces declined, and the fleet was almost completely dissolved. Andronikos tried to fill the gap in defense by paying annuals to the enemies of the state.
The period of the principle of Andronicus II is characterized by the beginning of civil conflicts that took place in the empire among the members of the imperial family. In 1321 the Emperor’s conflict began with his grandson and successor Andronikos III, which contributed to the further weakening of the empire. In 1328 Andronikos II was overthrown by his grandson and the group that followed him, from which Ioannis Kantakouzenos stood out. The old emperor was displaced to a monastery and a monk. He left his last breath a few years later, on February 13, 1332.
Column: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poumenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
