The two brothers were the only male descendants of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I, who had been dethroned and killed in 1185, and thus claimed to represent the legitimate government of the Empire following the conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Os dous irmáns eran os únicos descendentes masculinos do emperador bizantino Andrónico I, que fora destronado e asasinado en 1185, e por tanto reclamaban representar ao goberno lexítimo do Imperio despois da conquista de Constantinopla pola Cuarta Cruzada en 1204.