On July 25, 1261, the Byzantine Empire was restored when Nicaean forces under Michael VIII Palaeologus recaptured Constantinople from the Latin Empire. The city had been occupied by Western crusaders since the Fourth Crusade's sack in 1204. This event marked the end of Latin rule and the beginning of the Palaiologan dynasty, which would rule Byzantium until its final fall in 1453.

The recapture of Constantinople was a moment of profound cultural and political significance, celebrated in Byzantine chronicles and poetry. The event inspired a revival of Greek letters and the production of historical works that sought to justify the new dynasty's rule. The Byzantine court continued to be a center of literary and artistic production, influencing both Eastern and Western European literary traditions through the transmission of classical texts.