 On 1 January 1259, Michael was proclaimed as co-emperor at Nymphaion, probably without John IV being present.On 25 July 1261, Nicene forces under general Alexios Strategopoulos recaptured Constantinople from the Latin Empire, restoring the city to Byzantine rule after almost sixty years in foreign hands.After the recapture of the capital and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, Michael took care to be crowned emperor in Hagia Sophia, as Byzantine emperors had been before the city was lost to the crusaders.