The House of Vatatzes or Batatzes (Greek: Βατάτζης) was a noble Byzantine Greek family of the 11th–14th centuries with several branches, which produced several senior generals of the Byzantine army and, after John III Doukas Vatatzes intermarried with the Laskaris family, the ruling line of the Empire of Nicaea until the usurpation of Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261. The feminine form of the name is Vatatzina or Batatzina (Βατατζίνα).[1]