Leo Gabalas

[1] The family was of relatively low importance thereafter, but produced a series of senior civil and ecclesiastic officials in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Contemporary sources make clear that Rhodes had slipped out of imperial Byzantine control and was held by an independent ruler already at the time of the Fourth Crusade (1203–04).

[2][3] It has been surmised that at some point Leo acknowledged the suzerainty of the Empire of Nicaea, and that the title of Caesar may have been granted by the Nicaean rulers Theodore I Laskaris (ruled 1205–1222) or John III Vatatzes (r. 1221–1254).

[2][3] Whatever the nature of his relations with the Nicaean Empire, it is clear from George Akropolites's account that Gabalas continued to act independently, provoking the ire of Vatatzes, who launched an expedition against Rhodes in 1232/3.

[4][5] Nevertheless, Gabalas was apparently left in effective control over Rhodes, since in the very next year (August 1234), he concluded a treaty of alliance with the Venetians.