Following the Fourth Crusade, Baldwin IX of Flanders was elected emperor of the Latin Empire and was recognized to have not only a portion of Constantinople (the remainder was given to the Venetians), but also the north-west region of Asia Minor,[1] although recognition of sovereignty did not mean actual control of the territory.

Following the Fourth Crusade, Baldwin was occupied with events in Thrace and was later taken prisoner by the Bulgarians in the Battle of Adrianople in April 1205.

[3] Due to both sides being exhausted, the Treaty of Nymphaeum was signed between the two emperors, halting the Latin advance into Asia Minor.

Theodore was thus able to annex all of David's lands west of Sinope in late 1214, gaining access to the Black Sea.

Hostilities broke out again in 1224, and a crushing Nicaean victory at the Second Battle of Poemanenum reduced Latin territories in Asia effectively only to the Nicomedian peninsula.