bulk of the Latin army, Strategopoulos seized Constantinople by a surprise attack on 25 July 1261. Michael VIII was crowned for the second time, alone, in the Hagia Sophia. The child John IV was blinded on 25 December 1261, which prevented him from ruling. In order to emphasize that the Laskaris family had lost their imperial status, Michael VIII married off his three sisters to minor Italian and Bulgarian noblemen. Scholarship A man of letters devoted to philosophical and theological studies, Theodore transformed his court into a center for renowned scholars shortly after his ascension to the throne. He ordered that books that he and his father had collected in urban libraries be available to all who wanted to read them. He began to write treatises on philosophical, theological and historical subjects already during his father's lifetime, but he decided to prepare manuscript editions of his works only after his meeting with Berthold of Hohenburg in 1253. His works were collected in four codices, but only three survived. Theodore's Satire of the Tutor, written most likely in 1240, is his earliest extant work. The satire is dedicated to his principal tutor, portraying him as an under-educated and rude man, who learned magic while staying in Bulgaria. He also wrote encomia in praise of the citizens of Nicaea, his father and Akropolites. Theodore's theological works—including his First Oration against the Latins, or, on the Procession of the Holy Spirit, and his treatise On the Trinity—demonstrate his adherence to Orthodox theology. Theodore's Great Supplicatory Canon to Our Lady, a supplicatory canon to the Virgin Mary, is his best known work. He composed it just months before his death and it is still sung in Orthodox ceremonies. Family Neither Theodore nor Elena had reached the minimum legal age of marriage—fourteen for boys and twelve for girls—when they were married, but such an early marriage was not unique among Nicaean aristocrats and commoners. She was born to Ivan Asen II and Maria of Hungary in 1224. The wedding took place at Lampsakos in early 1235. Two years later, before launching an invasion of Nicaean territories in Thrace, her father forced Elena to return to Bulgaria, but peace was restored between the two empires and Elena returned to Theodore before the end of the year. Years later, Theodore described Elena as the flower of his youth and stated that their "bond of incomparable love" made