After reclaiming Constantinople in 1261 from the Crusaders, “a new geopolitical status quo began to emerge.” After the Romans came to an agreement with the Mongols and avoided destruction under Theodore II Laskaris, Michael VIII Palaiologos had to maintain peace with two competing Mongol factions without overly angering either. Both of the Mongol states could easily destroy any army the Romans could field, and Constantinople was in ruins after its liberation. The survival of the Empire depended on playing it right, there was no room for error – the Romans were playing with fire.
Freeing Constantinople from the clutches of the crusaders was great but “diplomatically it placed Michael in a difficult position. He was aware that the survival of his small empire depended on his relationship with the Ilkhan Hulegu, but with the reconquest of Constantinople, Berke, the leader of the Golden Horde in western Eurasia, also came to take a close interest in Byzantine politics.” Not to mention he had to watch the horizon for threats from the Latin West as well.
“The Golden Horde’s finances depended acutely on its ability to export goods from the Black Sea, through the Bosphorus — and therefore, directly under Constantinople’s walls — and into the Mediterranean. The Mamluks in Egypt were also sensitive to this traffic because they depended on the regular arrival of enslaved people from Golden Horde territory…So where previously the Empire of Nicaea had been merely marginal to Golden Horde and Mamluk politics, now — following its conquest of Constantinople — it became immeasurably more significant.” This also meant the Byzantine alliance with the Ilkhanate made the Golden Horde suspicious.
Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde, also had Bulgaria in his vassalage which placed their zone of influence directly bordering that of the Romans. The reclaimed imperial capital now sat in the middle of a key trade route and between two competing Mongol realms. The situation was precarious as the Romans did not have the ability to defeat either one of them.
Michael had to rescind some Nicaean policies on pro-Seljuk relations and do what the Mongols demanded of him. Michael decided to take things even more seriously “by arranging a marriage agreement joining Maria, Michael VIII’s daughter, to Hulegu’s son and successor, Abagha.” But even trying to do the right things could be fraught with danger, and Michael eventually found himself caught in an awkward quarrel between the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate in 1263. The Golden Horde demanded Michael release a Seljuk whom had ambitions for the throne into Anatolia to make trouble for the Ilkhanate there. The Mongol factions were rivaling one another and both wanted the Romans to act according to their interests. Releasing Kay Kawus would be an act of war against Hulegu.
Michael decided to side with the Ilkhanate, so the Golden Horde invaded his territory briefly. However, economic interests of the Mamluks, a key trade partner of the Golden Horde, meant that they convinced Berke that war with the Romans and Ilkhans was bad for business. Thus, Michael had managed to escape without suffering much harm. It seems like the Byzantines were powerful enough to be useful allies, but not a large threat, which allowed them to weather the “Mongol storm.”
SOURCE:
The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East by Nicholas Morton
shadowsofconstantinople.com 