The Byzantine Hellene

This book tells the extraordinary story of Theodore II Laskaris an emperor who ruled over the Byzantine state of Nicaea established in Asia Minor after the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204. Theodore Laskaris was a man of literary talent and keen intellect. His action-filled life youthful mentality anxiety about communal identity (Anatolian Roman and Hellenic) ambitious reforms cut short by an early death and thoughts and feelings are all reconstructed on the basis of his rich and varied writings. His original philosophy also explored here led him to a critique of scholasticism in the West a mathematically inspired theology and a political vision of Hellenism. A personal biography a ruler''s biography and an intellectual biography this highly illustrated book opens a vista onto the eastern Mediterranean Anatolia and the Balkans in the thirteenth century as seen from the vantage point of a key political actor and commentator.