John III Vatatzes
1192 – 1254 · Generation XXXIII · Emperor (r. 1222–1254) · Doukas
John (AD 1192 – 1254). Emperor (r. 1222–1254). Married Irene around AD 1212. Emperor of Nicaea; son of Basil Vatatzes. A successful soldier whom Theodore I chose as husband for his eldest daughter — and thereby, in practice, as his likely successor — he first had to defeat the old emperor's brothers at Poimanenon before his rule was secure. From there he made Nicaea formidable: he pushed into Europe, allied with Bulgaria against the Latin Empire and jointly besieged Constantinople in 1236, later annexing Thessalonica, much of Bulgarian Thrace and the island of Rhodes, until by 1247 the capital lay all but encircled by his territory. He sealed an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, taking his daughter Constance as a second wife, and fostered his realm's prosperity and justice despite his epilepsy. Later generations called him “the Father of the Greeks,” and half a century after his death he was canonised as John Vatatzes the Merciful.
One of 13 people of Doukas (1006–1303) in this archive. A great civil house that took the throne between the Macedonians and the Komnenoi.
Parents
- Basil Vatatzes (1176 – 1194)
Partners
- Married Irene Laskarina (1190 – 1239) in 1212 — one child together
Children
- Theodore II Laskaris (1222 – 1258)
Life
- 1192 — Born
- 1212 — Married Irene
- 1254 — Died