| John IV Doukas Laskaris | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |||||
.png) 15th-century portrait of John IV (from a 15th-century codex containing a copy of the Extracts of History by Joannes Zonaras) | |||||
| Emperor of Nicaea Claimant Byzantine Emperor | |||||
| Reign | 16 August 1258 – 25 December 1261 | ||||
| Predecessor | Theodore II Laskaris | ||||
| Successor | Michael VIII Palaiologos | ||||
| Born | 25 December 1250 | ||||
| Died | c. 1305 | ||||
| |||||
| House | Laskaris/Vatatzes | ||||
| Father | Theodore II Laskaris | ||||
| Mother | Elena of Bulgaria | ||||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy | ||||
John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) (Greek: Ἰωάννης Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Iōannēs Doukas Laskaris; December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was the fourth emperor of the Nicaean Empire from August 16, 1258 to December 25, 1261, one of the Greek successor states formed after the Sack of Constantinople by the Roman Catholics during the Fourth Crusade. He was the last emperor from the prominent Laskarid dynasty and the last to only rule Nicaea before the Reconquest of Constantinople by his successor in 1261.