Michael IX Palaiologos

   Co-emperor with his father Andronikos II (q.v.) from 1294 until his death in 1320. Had he married Catherine of Courtenay, titular empress (q.v.) of the defunct Latin Empire (q.v.), the western claim to the Byzantine throne would have been solved. However, negotiations for this failed. His subsequent marriage to Rita-Maria of Armenian Cilicia (q.v.) produced the future Andronikos III (q.v.). His military career was checkered. He failed to halt the Turkish advance in Asia Minor (q.v.), ignominiously abandoning Magnesia (q.v.) in 1302. Despite some successes against the Bulgars (q.v.) in 1304, the assassination of Roger de Flor in 1305 by Michael IX's Alan (qq.v.) mercenaries unleashed a rampage by the Catalan Grand Company (q.v.). By 1311 his failed attempts to defend Thrace (q.v.) against the Turks led to his forced retirement in Thessalonike (q.v.).