George Mouzalon

George Mouzalon (; – 25 August 1258) was a high official of the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore II Laskaris .

Of humble origin, he became Theodore's companion in childhood and was raised to high state office upon the latter's assumption of power. This caused great resentment from the aristocracy, which had monopolized high offices and opposed Theodore's policies. Shortly before Theodore's death in 1258, he was appointed regent of Theodore's under-age son John IV Laskaris . He was assassinated only a few days later by soldiers, as the result of a conspiracy led by the nobles under the soon-to-be emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos .

Biography

Early life and service under Theodore II

The Mouzalon family is first attested in the 11th century, but produced few notable members until the mid-13th century, with the exception of Nicholas IV Mouzalon, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1147–1151. George Mouzalon was born at Adramyttium on the western Anatolian coast in . His family was considered low-born, but he and his brothers became the childhood friends of the future Theodore II Laskaris, being raised with him in the palace as his paidopouloi (παιδόπουλοι, "pages"). It is assumed that they were also educated along with Theodore, sharing his classes under the scholar Nikephoros Blemmydes. There were also at least two sisters, one of whom was later married to a member of the Hagiotheodorites family. According to the contemporary chroniclers, the emperor loved George "above all others"; in some letters he calls him "son" and "brother". During Theodore's reign, George was the Emperor's senior minister and his most trusted advisor. Little is known, however, about his personal involvement in the governance of the state, except for his participation in the council convened to discuss the proper reaction to the invasion of Nicaea's Macedonian holdings by the Bulgarians after the death of Theodore's father, John III Doukas Vatatzes. George Mouzalon supported the majority opinion that Theodore himself should campaign against the invaders. During Theodore's absence on campaign in 1255, George was left behind as regent of the state. The aristocrats' hostility was further intensified when the emperor gave his low-born favourites noble brides: George Mouzalon wedded Theodora Kantakouzene, a niece of Michael Palaiologos, and Andronikos married a daughter of the former protovestiarios Alexios Raoul. Immediately after his death, George Mouzalon, aware of his vulnerability and his complete lack of support, called an assembly of the leading nobles, officials, and military commanders. He offered to resign from his post in favour of any person that the assembly chose, but the dignitaries, led by Michael Palaiologos, dissuaded him and encouraged him to stay on and even accepted to take an oath of loyalty to him as well as to the young emperor. It was a sham, as a conspiracy by the leading aristocratic families was well under way to depose him, in which Palaiologos apparently played a covert but leading role. Ostensibly still the guardian and co-emperor of John IV, after the recapture of Constantinople in 1261 he sidelined and imprisoned John, being crowned sole emperor at the Hagia Sophia and founding the Palaiologan dynasty, the last ruling house of Byzantium. Other historians of the time paint a more favourable picture. The account of the near-contemporary Theodore Skoutariotes, which otherwise generally follows Akropolites closely, notably fails to repeat the latter's negative comments, and even records that it was the assembled nobles who persuaded the Mouzalones to stay in the church during the riot on the day of their murder. George Pachymeres too, whose treatment of Theodore Laskaris's reign and the Laskarid emperors in general is far more favourable than Akropolites's, considers the Mouzalones to have been promoted on merit, condemns their murder, and names Palaiologos as directly responsible. The later historian Nikephoros Gregoras likewise avoids negative comments, as do most modern historians.