Constantinople Recaptured: The Byzantine Empire Returns After 57 Years
The gate was left open. Just one gate, the Selymbria portal, on July 25, 1261. Alexios Strategopoulos had marched 800 soldiers toward Constantinople for reconnaissance—nothing more—when his scouts found Latin defenders celebrating outside the walls. Gone. He walked in. Fifty-seven years of Latin rule ended because someone forgot to lock a door. Michael VIII Palaiologos reclaimed his throne without a siege, and the Byzantine Empire breathed for another 192 years. The greatest reconquest in medieval history happened because of a party and an unlocked gate.
July 25, 1261
765 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Empire of Nicaea
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Constantinople
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Byzantine Empire
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Alexios Strategopoulos
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Constantinople
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Reconquest of Constantinople
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Empire of Nicaea
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Alexios Strategopoulos
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Byzantine Empire
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Latin Empire
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Fourth Crusade
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Balduin II. (Lateinisches Kaiserreich)
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Michael VIII Palaiologos
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What Else Happened on July 25
Diocletian elevated his fellow soldier Maximian to the rank of Caesar, splitting the Roman Empire into eastern and western administrative halves. This pragmatic…
en Roma, el emperador Diocleciano designa a Maximiano como César codirigente.
Constantine's troops acclaimed him emperor in York, launching a military campaign that would eventually topple the Tetrarchy and reshape the empire's religious …
The Senate built Constantine's victory arch by stealing from older monuments. Trajan's sculptures, Hadrian's medallions, Marcus Aurelius's panels—all pried loos…
clôture du Ier concile de Nicée.
The Slavs brought siege towers taller than the city's double walls. For three days in 677, they hurled themselves at Thessalonica's defenses—the Byzantine Empir…
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