Pseudo-John IV Laskaris

Pseudo-John IV Laskaris was a Byzantine usurper who claimed to be John IV Laskaris who attempted to usurper the throne against Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1262.

Biography When Michael VIII Palaiologos blinded John IV Laskaris in 1261, this sends outrage among the Byzantine elite and clergy, as a result he was excommunicated by the patriarch, the historian George Pachymeres in his chronicle said a man claimed to be John IV caused an uprising occur at Nicaea under a pretender who claimed he was the boy, forcing Michael to drag out the real John IV to disprove the pretender's claims. The pretender fled and eventually disappeared from the historical record, though he served as a precursor to several other "Pseudo-Johns" who would appear in later decades.