Anseau de Cayeux, Regent of Latin Empire of Constantinople

Anseau de Cayeux or Anselm de Cayeux was a French knight from Picardy, who participated in the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) and later became one of the leading nobles of the Latin Empire, serving as regent in Constantinople (1237-1238). He was married to Byzantine princess Eudokia Laskarina, younger daughter of former emperor Theodore I Laskaris. Biography A descendant of the lords of Cayeux-sur-Mer, according to Geoffrey of Villehardouin he took up the cross in spring 1200 along with Hugh IV, Count of Saint-Pol, and remained in the latter's entourage until the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in April 1204. According to a letter by Hugh IV, Anseau was among the knights who voted in favour of diverting the Crusade to Constantinople following the Siege of Zara. Following Hugh's death in 1205, Anseau joined the following of Henry of Flanders, the younger brother of the Latin Emperor, Baldwin of Flanders. After Baldwin was captured by the Bulgarians in the Battle of Adrianople, Henry was raised to regent of the Latin Empire. He in turn appointed Anseau as commander of the garrison at Bizye, along with six other knights and a larger number of foot soldiers. From this post he successfully defended the city against the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan, who in the aftermath of Adrianople had captured most of the other cities in Thrace. He continues to be mentioned alongside Henry of Flanders (who became Emperor after 1206) in the chronicle of Henry of Valenciennes as Ansil de Kaeu. Along with Conon de Béthune he led in 1207 the unsuccessful negotiations in the Pagasetic Gulf with the Lombard barons under Ravano dalle Carceri, who refused to accept the suzerainty of Emperor Henry.