Peter was captured and imprisoned before he could reach Constantinople, so Yolanda assumed the duties of governing the Empire.
Yolanda was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainault,[1] and Countess Margaret I of Flanders.
[2] On their way there, Peter sent Yolanda ahead to Constantinople, while he fought the Despotate of Epirus, during which he was captured.
Benjamin Hendrickx [de] described her as a regent, but Filip Van Tricht described her as an empress in her own right.
[3] She allied with the Bulgarians against the various Byzantine successor states, and was able to make peace with Theodore I Lascaris of the Empire of Nicaea, who married her daughter, Marie.