4 – Yolanda of Flanders (1217 – 1219)
Yolanda was Peter’s wife and was technically a regent in her husband’s absence since he may have lived until 1219. Moreover, she was only third choice since her oldest son, Philip, and her second son, Robert of Courtenay; both refused the throne. When Peter discovered that he was the new emperor, he sent Yolanda to Constantinople, so she avoided her husband’s fate when Theodore captured him.
She was in an unenviable position since she initially expected Philip to come to Constantinople, but he refused to leave France. Robert was technically the emperor, but he was also in France and showed no inclination to make the long trip to the Latin Empire’s capital. As a result, Yolanda was merely a caretaker, and her only act of diplomacy was to marry her daughter to Theodore I Lascaris of the Nicaea Empire. It was a clever move because it led to a temporary period of peace in the eastern part of the empire.
However, Ivan Asen II, nephew of Kaloyan, managed to regain the Bulgarian Empire throne from the usurper Boril and he was intent on regaining the territory lost by the empire during the reign of Boril. Meanwhile, Theodore Doukas was also increasing his power at the expense of Thessalonica. At that point, the Latin Empire was in desperate need of a strong leader, and no one stepped forward.
Yolanda tried her best and allied with the Bulgarians against several Byzantine successor states. Even though she was the most reluctant of leaders, she turned out to be much better than her son Robert who eventually succeeded her. When she died suddenly in 1219, Philip once again refused the throne, and while Robert would eventually accept, he remained in France until 1221. As a result, the Latin Empire once again had no leadership, and its enemies were starting to strengthen.