Alexios had fled Constantinople on the approach of the Crusaders in 1203, but had not given up on his rights to the throne, and was determined to reclaim it. In 1203–1205, he had wandered across Greece, seeking the support of powerful local grandees, before being captured by Boniface of Montferrat and held captive until ransomed by his first cousin, Michael of Epirus, in 1210.[8] Although Theodore Laskaris was Alexios's son-in-law, having married his daughter Anna, Alexios resolved to seek the aid of the Seljuk sultan, Kaykhusraw I (r. 1192–1196 and 1205–1211), with whom he had close relations: Alexios had sheltered him in Constantinople during the latter's exile, and George Akropolites claims that the two fled from Constantinople together in 1203.[9][10]