The Byzantine Empire
Empire in Exile
Two grandsons of Emperor Andronicus Comnenus survived, David and Alexius. These two founded the Empire of Trebizond, in northeastern Turkey. The empire was closely allied with Georgia and survived for two centuries.
An illegitimate son of the Angeli established himself as the Despot of Epirus. Epirus would prove to be a constant threat to the Latins.
The principal Greek claimant was Theodore Lascaris, a son-in-law to Alexius III. When Alexius fled Constantinople, Theodore retired quietly to Nicaea. The Greek Patriarch took refuge at Nicaea, and a line of successors proceeded to crown Theodore and his heirs as emperors. Most Greeks came to recognize the Emperor of Nicaea as the true Byzantine emperor, with the Latin emperor at Constantinople a usurper.
Ionnitsa "Kaloyan" (1197-1207) ruled Bulgaria. He tried to befriend the new Latin state, but they rebuffed him, so he allied with some of the Greek nobles in Thrace.