The Usurper Crisis

The Usurper Crisis (1472-1480) was a Roman-Byzantine civil war that was fought primarily between the brother of John VIII and heir-apparent to the Roman Empire, Constantine XI, and the Synkletos — the Senate of Constantinople — led by the Maiden-General. It took place primarily in the Levant, as Constantine had besieged and occupied modern-day Syria, and would continue as a series of skirmishes and sieges until ending at the Battle of the Pyramids in 1480, during which Constantine was executed and the Maiden-General emerged victorious.

After the capture of Jerusalem in 1471, Constantine declared for himself as Emperor and marched north to Constantinople. His claim, however, was disputed by the aristocratic Synkletos, sending the Illyrian Legions — led by Zoe — to keep him from entering Anatolia. Failing to trap her in the Cilician Gates, Constantine retreated south to Damascus and continued fortifying himself in the Levant. Despite his "scorched earth" strategy, Constantine kept falling back until eventually losing Jerusalem in 1479 and fleeing to the city of Cairo, where the last of his armies resided. On 20 August 1480, Zoe armies crossed the Nile and met Constantine's forces near the city of Giza, killing him and ending the crisis. After returning to Constantinople, and with total control of the nation's armies, the Synkletos were forced to honor Zoe as the new Roman Empress.

The civil war marked the end of the Byzantine Republic, which had ruled without an Emperor since the assassination of Plutarch in 1462, and realized the ascension of Zoe to the Imperial throne — after which the Empire saw considerable reconquests in Illyria, Tunisia, Mauretania, Sicilia, and Italia. With Constantine's death, it also marked the end of the Palaiologos Dynasty, which had ruled the Empire for several hundred years.