What is Empire of Nicaea?
{{Infobox Former Country | native_name = {{lang|el|Βασίλειον τῆς Νίκαιας}} | conventional_long_name = Empire of Nicaea | common_name = Nicaea | region = Mediterranean | era = High Medieval | government_type = Monarchy | year_start = 1204 | year_end = 1261 | date_end = July | p1 = Byzantine Empire | flag_p1 = | s1 = Byzantine Empire | flag_s1 = | image_map = Byzantium1204.png | image_map_caption = The [[Latin Empire]], Empire of Nicaea, [[Empire of Trebizond]], and the [[Despotate of Epirus]]. The borders are very uncertain. | capital = [[Nicaea (city)|Nicaea]] | common_languages = [[Greek language|Greek]] | religion = [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] | leader1 = Theodore I Lascaris | leader2 = John III Ducas Vatatzes | leader3 = Theodore II Lascaris | leader4 = John IV Lascaris | leader5 = Michael VIII Palaeologus | year_leader1 = 1204 – 1222 | year_leader2 = 1222 – 1254 | year_leader3 = 1254 – 1258 | year_leader4 = 1258 – 1261 | year_leader5 = 1259 – 1261 | title_leader = Emperor }} The '''Empire of Nicaea''' ({{lang-el|Βασίλειον τῆς Νίκαιας}}) was the largest of the [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine Greek]] states founded by the nobility of the [[Byzantine Empire]] after [[Constantinople]] was conquered during the [[Fourth Crusade]]. It lasted from 1204 to 1261. Founded by the [[Laskaris|Laskaris Dynasty]] it would be the Byzantine rump-state to recapture Constantinople in 1261 and reform the Byzantine Empire and is seen as the continuation of the Byzantine Empire. The Despotate of Epirus contested the claim in 1224 and became the [[Empire of Thessalonica]], but was forced to renounce their claim by the Nicenes in 1242. The [[Empire of Trebizond]] declared i