Michael VIII Palaiologos

Michael VIII Palaiologos, also rendered Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, having earlier served as co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. He founded the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the fall of Constantinople in 1453, recovering Constantinople itself from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transforming the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire. His reign brought a considerable recovery of Byzantine power, including the enlargement of the army and navy, the reconstruction of Constantinople and the growth of its population; his re-establishment of the University of Constantinople also contributed to the Palaiologan Renaissance, a cultural flowering that spanned the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.