Background
Following the capture of Constantinople by the forces of the Fourth Crusade (1204) and the partition of the Byzantine Empire, Theodore Laskaris (r. 1205–1222), crowned emperor in 1208, built up a powerbase in the former Byzantine territory of western Anatolia. This new polity was to become known as the Empire of Nicaea. Nicaea was one of the two main Greek successor states that claimed the heritage of the Byzantine Empire, along with Epirus in western Greece. Nicaea was threatened from the north by the new Latin Empire established by the Crusaders, and from the east by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.
The peace with the Seljuks was disturbed through the arrival, in early 1211, of the former Byzantine emperor Alexios III (r. 1195–1203), in the port of Attaleia. The subsequent events are described in some detail by a number of near-contemporary sources, chiefly the chroniclers Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Bibi on the Seljuk side, and the histories of George Akropolites and Nikephoros Gregoras on the Byzantine side, as well as references in other chroniclers and the orations in honour of Theodore Laskaris by Niketas Choniates.
Alexios had fled Constantinople on the approach of the Crusaders in 1203, but had not given up on his rights to the throne, and was determined to reclaim it. In 1203–1205 he had wandered across Greece seeking the support of powerful local grandees, before being captured by Boniface of Montferrat and held captive until ransomed by his first cousin, Michael of Epirus, in 1210. Although Theodore Laskaris was Alexios's son-in-law, having married his daughter Anna, Alexios resolved to seek the aid of the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I (r. 1192–1196 and 1205–1211), with whom he had close relations: Alexios had sheltered him in Constantinople during the latter's exile, and George Akropolites claims that the two fled from Constantinople together in 1203.
The sultan welcomed Alexios warmly, and the deposed emperor, after reminding the sultan of the succour he had given him, promised him rich rewards if he would help restore him to his throne. Kaykhusraw, having found in supporting Alexios's cause a perfect pretext for attacking Nicaean territory, sent an emissary to Theodore at Nicaea calling upon him to relinquish his domains to the legitimate emperor. Theodore refused to reply to the sultan's demands, and the sultan assembled his army and invaded Laskaris's domains.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Antioch On The Meander
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