Baldwin II Porphyrogenitus

Baldwin II Porphyrogenitus

(born 1217, Constantinople—died Oct. 1273, Foggia, Kingdom of Sicily) Fifth and last Latin emperor of Constantinople (1228–61). The son of the third Latin emperor (Porphyrogenitus means “born to the purple,” thus “of royal birth”), Baldwin inherited the throne on the death of his brother. Invasions by Greeks and Bulgars reduced the empire to the area around Constantinople, and Baldwin's empty treasury obliged him to travel twice to western Europe to ask for aid. He sold sacred relics to Louis IX of France and broke up parts of the imperial palace for firewood. He lost the throne in 1261 when Michael VIII Palaeologus captured Constantinople and restored Greek rule. Baldwin fled to Europe and later died in Sicily.