Nicholas Kanabos

Nicholas Kanabos was elected Byzantine emperor during the Fourth Crusade on 28 January 1204 by an assembly of the Byzantine Senate, the clergy and the mob of Constantinople, in direct opposition to the co-emperors Isaac II and Alexios IV. A young noble chosen only after three days of sorting through several unwilling candidates, Nicholas refused to assume the position and, though popularly chosen, never actually accepted imperial power, taking sanctuary instead in the depths of Hagia Sophia. Alexios V Doukas, who had deposed Isaac II and Alexios IV, offered Nicholas a prominent place in his own administration; Nicholas's supporters at first denounced the attempt to remove him from power, but as Alexios V grew more popular that support collapsed. In early February Alexios V arrested and imprisoned Nicholas and his wife with little resistance, and Nicholas was ultimately executed.