John IV Lascaris

John IV Lascaris (born December 25, 1250—died c. 1305) was the emperor of Nicaea whose brief reign as a minor was filled with intrigue and conspiracies that culminated in the seizure of power by Michael Palaeologus, the future Byzantine emperor Michael VIII. John IV’s parents were the Nicaean emperor Theodore II Lascaris (reigned 1254–58) and Helen, a daughter of the Bulgarian tsar John Asen II. Eight years old when his father died, John was advised...