later association with Thessaly, John is not mentioned as playing a role in these events or in the administration of the Thessalian territories in the early 1260s, which seem rather to have been under the control of Nikephoros. The Battle of Pelagonia has frequently been described as a decisive event, but this is only partly true. Michael VIII Palaiologos' gains were rapidly reversed and his rivals quickly regained their strength, with both the Epirotes and Manfred of Sicily reclaiming most of the territories they had lost. Nevertheless, the effects of the battle were not wholly undone: Palaiologos' victory, gained with the assistance of John Doukas, not only prevented the Epirote–Latin league of 1259 from taking Thessalonica and much of Nicaea's European domains, but also provided a valuable breathing space in the lead-up to the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, which led to the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty. Ruler of Thessaly When Michael II died , his realm was divided, with Nikephoros receiving the metropolitan territories of Epirus proper and John taking over the Epirote domains in Thessaly and Central Greece. According to Gregoras, his realm extended from Mount Olympus in the north to Mount Parnassus in the south, with the Achelous River serving as his border with Epirus proper; his capital was at Neopatras. Michael VIII seized the opportunity of Michael's death for a rapprochement with the two brothers. He gave Nikephoros his niece Anna in marriage, and arranged a marriage between his nephew Andronikos Tarchaneiotes and a daughter of John, who in addition received the high title of sebastokratōr. Nevertheless, John fiercely guarded his independence, and was prepared to ally himself with Latin powers hostile to Palaiologos, namely Charles of Anjou and the Duchy of Athens. He soon emerged as "the more dangerous and the more actively hostile" of the minor Greek rulers against Michael VIII. As Donald Nicol writes, he "was a man of great resource and ambition, and was clearly in touch with the Emperor's opponents in Constantinople. His stronghold of Neopatras was uncomfortably close to the Latin-occupied parts of Greece, particularly the Duchy of Athens and Thebes with which he was in alliance; and it was easier for troublemakers and refugees from [Constantinople] to make their escape to Thessaly than to Epirus". This is well illustrated by the affair of John's son-in-law, Andronikos Tarchaneiotes: angered at the Emperor's preference for