befitted the terms of vassalage agreed in 1242, and Vatatzes confirmed the succession and awarded the title of Despot to Demetrios. Young and dissolute, Demetrios inspired little loyalty among the leading families of Thessalonica, who began plotting against him and viewing a takeover by Nicaea as a preferable alternative—particularly as by this time Nicaea had clearly emerged as the most powerful and credible of the Byzantine successor states. The Nicaean position improved further in 1246, when Vatatzes once more campaigned in Europe. In a three-month campaign he wrested much of Thrace as well as most of Macedonia from Bulgaria, which now became his vassal. At Melenikon, Vatatzes was met by an envoy of the Thessalonian conspirators, who promised to overthrow Demetrios and deliver the city to him, in exchange for a guarantee of their privileges, conditions that Vatatzes readily ranted. Vatatzes then called upon Demetrios to come before him and demonstrate his loyalty and submission, but the latter refused; Demetrios hd become suspicious of some of the conspirators, but they were able to dispel his concerns. When Vatatzes appeared before the city, Demetrios again refused to come out and pay homage to his suzerain, but a few days later Nicaean supporters inside the city opened a gate and let the Nicaean army in. In terror, Demetrios fled to the citadel, but was persuaded to yield by is sister Irene, who had presented herself before Vatatzes and secured clemency for her brother. Thessalonica was incorporated into the Nicaean state, with Andronikos Palaiologos as its governor. Demetrios was sent into exile to the fortress of Lentiana in Bithynia, where he probably died at an unknown date. His father Theodore, isolated and without power in his refuge at Vodena, apparently remained uninvolved in these events. References Sources 1220 births 13th-century deaths 13th-century Byzantine people 13th-century rulers in Europe Byzantine governors of Thessalonica Demetrios Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Despots (court title) People of the Empire of Nicaea Byzantine prisoners and detainees Sons of emperors