Latin Emperor
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The Latin emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was reconquered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261. Its name derives from its Catholic and Western European ("Latin") nature. The empire, whose official name was Imperium Romaniae (Latin: "Empire of Romania"), claimed the direct heritage of the Eastern Roman Empire, which had most of its lands taken and partitioned by the crusaders. This claim however was disputed by the Byzantine Greek successor states, the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond and the Despotate of Epirus. Out of these three, the Nicaeans succeeded in displacing the Latin emperors in 1261 and restored the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Latin emperors of Constantinople, 1204–1261
Latin emperors of Constantinople in exile, 1261–1383
Latin Empire was disestablished in 1261, but Latin states in Greece, also known as Frankokratia, continued to recognize Latin emperors in exile as their overlords until 1383.
James of Baux willed his titular claims to Duke Louis I of Anjou, also claimant to the throne of Naples, but Louis and his descendants never used the title. However, there was further activity in regards to the imperial prerogatives of Latin Emperors. Louis' widow Marie of Blois claimed Achaea before selling the claim to Juan Fernández de Heredia. In 1494 during his invasion of Naples, a new Capetian pretender King Charles VIII of France planned a crusade to claim Constantinople.
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