TEODORO II Laskaris, emperor of NICEA. — Emperor from 1254 to 1258. In 1256 he wrote letters to Pope Alessandro IV in favor of the Union. In other writings, however, he showed himself to be opposed to it, especially on the questions of the Procession of the Holy Spirit and the Primacy. In addition to his theological writings, not yet entirely published, he composed homilies, prayers, and poems.
BIBL.: works: PG 140, pp. 764–70; B. Swete, Theodorus Lascarii iunior, de processione Spiritus Sancti oratio apologetica, London 1875; N. Festa, Theodori Ducæ Lascaris epistolae CCVII, Florence 1896. Studies: Joh. Dräseke, Theodorus Laskaris, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 3 (1894), pp. 498–515; F. Dölger, Regesten der Kaiserrhanden des Ostromischen Reiches, III, Munich 1932, nos. 1824–51, pp. 25–29; Krumbacher, pp. 95–96, 478.