George Mouzalon
Little is known, however, about his personal involvement in the governance of the state, except for his participation in the council convened to discuss the proper reaction to the invasion of Nicaea's Macedonian holdings by the Bulgarians after the death of Theodore's father, John III Doukas Vatatzes.
The appointment of low-born "new men" to such high posts, and Theodore's often harsh and arbitrary treatment of the nobles, aroused the ire of the traditional aristocracy, and especially the capable and ambitious Michael Palaiologos.
[10][11][12] The aristocrats' hostility was further intensified when the emperor gave his low-born favourites noble brides: George Mouzalon wedded Theodora Kantakouzene, a niece of Michael Palaiologos, and Andronikos married a daughter of the former protovestiarios Alexios Raoul.
After Michael's death, she restored the monastery of Saint Andrew in Krisei, to where she transferred the relics of Patriarch Arsenios Autoreianos, and was a prominent member of the capital's literary circles.
[12][19][20] To prevent any action against his testament's provisions for his son's succession and the regency, Theodore on his deathbed demanded an oath to be taken by Senate, army, people and clergy, both those present at court and those absent elsewhere in the state.
He offered to resign from his post in favour of any person that the assembly chose, but the dignitaries, led by Michael Palaiologos, dissuaded him and encouraged him to stay on and even accepted to take an oath of loyalty to him as well as to the young emperor.
The mob soon realized its error (the secretary was wearing black shoes, while the protovestiarios wore the green ones appropriate to his rank) and entered the church, the soldiers with swords in hand.
[27] As the people inside the church scattered, the Mouzalon brothers tried to hide: George hid under the altar, Andronikos behind a door, and Theodore in a corner by the emperor's tomb.
Among Theodore II's protégés, only George Akropolites survived, apparently because he at the time was a prisoner of war in Epirus; eventually, he reached high office under Michael Palaiologos.
[32] Among the contemporary sources, the history of Akropolites is the most negative towards the Mouzalon brothers, whom he calls "loathsome little men, worthless specimens of humanity" and "false of tongue, nimble of foot, peerless at beating the floor in dance".
Although otherwise reliable, Akropolites's account on this issue is suspect: on the one hand, he evidently tries to disassociate himself from Theodore II's "new men", to whom he too originally belonged, while on the other he is generally strongly biased in favour of Michael Palaiologos, whom he tries to exculpate from the assassination.
The account of the near-contemporary Theodore Skoutariotes, which otherwise generally follows Akropolites closely, notably fails to repeat the latter's negative comments, and even records that it was the assembled nobles who persuaded the Mouzalones to stay in the church during the riot on the day of their murder.
[35] George Pachymeres too, whose treatment of Theodore Laskaris's reign and the Laskarid emperors in general is far more favourable than Akropolites's, considers the Mouzalones to have been promoted on merit, condemns their murder, and names Palaiologos as directly responsible.
