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Professor Jonathan Phillips | 400 pages | 07 Jun 2005 | Vintage Publishing | 9781844130801 | English | London, United Kingdom Fourth Crusade - Wikipedia

Sack of ConstantinopleApril The diversion of the Fourth Crusade from the Holy Land to attack, capture, and pillage the Byzantine city of Constantinople divided and dissipated the efforts of the Christians to maintain the war against the Muslims. It is widely regarded as a shocking betrayal of principles out of greed. The Fourth Crusade was corrupted from its purpose early on. Meanwhile exiled Byzantine prince Alexius offered a cash reward if he were put on the Byzantine throne. The crusaders therefore sailed to Constantinople and The Fourth Crusade: And the July set up Alexius as emperor. In February the new emperor was murdered and replaced by courtier Alexius Ducaswho told the crusaders to leave. The crusaders responded by laying siege to Constantinople. Men swarmed up the masts of ships and scrambled across catwalks to reach the tops of the city walls. Other ships landed men on the shoreline to hack at a bricked-up gateway with picks and shovels. When a hole was broken through, Aleaumes of Clari crawled in to find the street beyond almost deserted. Hundreds of crusaders came through the enlarged hole, fought their way to a main gate, and opened it to their comrades. For three days the army pillaged at will, and then the nobles imposed order and began a more systematic looting of the greatest city in . The crusader nobleman Baldwin of Flanders was set up as emperor, but most Byzantines refused to recognize him, and the empire fragmented into four quarreling states. Sack of Constantinople Article Additional Info. Sack of Constantinople Byzantine history []. Print Cite. Facebook Twitter. Give Feedback External Websites. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login. External Websites. Rupert Matthews Rupert Matthews has been fascinated by battlefields since his father took him to Waterloo when he was nine years old. As an adult, Rupert has written about numerous battles from the ancient world to the See Article History. Losses: Crusader, unknown of 20,; Byzantine, unknown of 30, plus unknown civilian The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople. Get exclusive access to content from our First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today. Learn More in these related Britannica articles:. Crusadesmilitary expeditions, beginning in the late 11th century, that were organized by western European Christians in response to centuries The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople Muslim wars of expansion. Their objectives were to check the spread of Islam, to retake control of the Holy Land in the eastern Mediterranean, to conquer pagan areas, and…. Istanbullargest city and principal seaport of Turkey. It was the capital of both the and the . The old walled city of Istanbul stands on a triangular peninsula between and Asia. Sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a…. Venicecity, major seaport, and capital of both the provincia province of Venezia and the regione region of Veneto, northern . An island city, it was once the centre of a maritime republic. History at your fingertips. Sign up here to see what happened On This Dayevery day in your inbox! Email address. By signing up, you agree to The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople Privacy Notice. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Sack of Constantinople | Summary | Britannica

In he called a new Crusade through legates and encyclical letters. In a tax was levied on The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople clerical incomes—later to become a precedent for systematic papal income taxes—and Fulk of Neuilly, a popular orator, was The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople to preach. Among them was Geoffrey of Villehardouinauthor of one of the principal accounts of the Crusade; other important nobles joined later, and contact was made with to provide transport. Unfortunately, Thibaut of Champagne died before the Crusaders departed for Venice, and the barons turned to Boniface of Montferrat, whose involvement as leader of the Crusade proved to be fateful. He had close family ties with both the Byzantine Empire and the . Boniface was also the vassal of Philip of Swabiawho was a contender for the German throne and the son-in-law of Isaac II. Boniface sought the approval of the pope for the diversion, but Innocent refused to allow it. Despite the papal prohibition, Boniface and the Byzantine prince still hoped to find a way to move the Crusade toward Constantinople on its way to the Holy Land. When the Crusade army arrived in Venice in the summer ofit was only one-third of its projected size. This was a serious problem, since the French had contracted with the Venetians for a fleet and provisions that they now realized they neither needed nor could afford. The Venetians had incurred enormous expense for the French and were understandably upset by their inability to pay. The leader of Venice, Doge Enrico Dandolowas a man of great sagacity and prudence who was in his 90s and completely blind by the time of the Crusade. Dandolo proposed that if the French would assist the Venetians in capturing the rebellious city of Zadar now in Croatiahe would be willing to suspend the outstanding debt until it could be paid in captured booty. Innocent was informed The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople the plan, but his veto was disregarded. In November the Crusaders captured Zadar and wintered there. Reluctant to jeopardize the Crusade, Innocent gave conditional absolution to the Crusaders, but not to the Venetians. Meanwhile, envoys from Philip of Swabia arrived at Zadar with an offer from Alexius, the Byzantine prince. If the Crusaders would sail to Constantinople and topple the reigning emperor, Alexius would place the Byzantine in submission to Rome, pay the Crusaders an enormous sum, and join the Crusade to Egypt now the centre of Muslim power in the Levant with a large army. It was a tempting offer for an enterprise that was short on funds. The Crusade leaders accepted it, but a great many of the rank and file wanted nothing to do with the proposal, and many deserted. The Crusade sailed to Corfu before arriving in Constantinople in late June After the Crusaders attacked the northeastern corner of the city and then set a destructive fire, the citizens of Constantinople turned against Alexius III, who then fled. Although the new emperor tried to make good his promises to the Crusaders, he soon ran short of money. He also faced anti-Latin hatred in Constantinople, which had been endemic for decades and now reached a fever pitch. Alexius IV, who owed his throne to , became bitterly unpopular and was finally toppled in a palace coup in late January The Crusaders, now cheated of their reward and disgusted at the treachery of the Byzantinesdeclared war on The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinoplewhich fell to the Fourth Crusade on , What followed was one of the most profitable and disgraceful sacks of a city in history. Many also broke their vows to respect the women of Constantinople and assaulted them. When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his pilgrims, he was filled with shame and strongly rebuked them. Before the capture of the city, the Crusaders had decided that 12 electors 6 Venetians and 6 Franks should choose an emperor who would rule one-fourth of the imperial domain. The other three-fourths was to be divided. The clergy of the party that did not The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople the emperor- elect were to oversee and choose a patriarch. A small amount of property was specifically designated to support the clergy, and the rest was divided as booty. Once order had been restored, the Franks and the Venetians implemented their agreement; Baldwin of Flanders was elected emperor, and the Venetian Thomas Morosini was chosen patriarch. Various Latin-French lordships throughout Greece—in particular, the duchy of Athens and the principality of the Morea—did provide cultural contacts with and promoted the study of Greek. There was also a French impact on Greece. Notably, a collection of laws, the Assises de Romanie Assizes of Romaniawas produced. Impressive remains of Crusader castles and Gothic churches can still be seen in Greece. Nevertheless, the always rested on shaky foundations. Indeed, not all the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Crusade. The imperial government continued in Nicaea, and the offshoot , at the eastern end of the Black Sealasted until The Byzantine despotate of The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople was also established, and the Bulgarians remained hostile to the Crusaders. The city, however, would never be the same. For the remainder of its Christian history, it would remain poor, dilapidated, and largely abandoned. The belief that the conquest of Constantinople would help Crusading efforts was a mirage. The legacy of the Fourth Crusade was the deep sense of betrayal the Latins had instilled in their Greek coreligionists. With the events ofthe schism between the West and Orthodox East was complete. 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Northern Crusades — Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinoplethe capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the city's sacking, most of the Byzantine Empire's territories were divided up among the Crusaders. Byzantine aristocrats also established a number of small independent splinter states, one of them being the Empire of Nicaeawhich would eventually recapture Constantinople in and proclaim the reinstatement of the Empire. However, the restored Empire never managed to reclaim its former territorial or economic strength, and eventually fell to the rising Ottoman Sultanate in the Siege of Constantinople. The sack of Constantinople is a major turning point in medieval The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople. The Crusaders' decision to attack the world's largest Christian city was unprecedented and immediately controversial. Reports of Crusader looting and brutality scandalised and horrified the Orthodox world; relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches were catastrophically wounded for many centuries afterwards, and would not be substantially repaired until modern times. The Eastern Roman Empire was left much poorer, smaller, and ultimately less able to defend itself against the Seljuk and Ottoman conquests that followed; The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople actions of the Crusaders thus directly accelerated the collapse of Christendom in the east, and in the long run helped facilitate the later Ottoman Conquests of Europe. However, because of previous siege of a Catholic Zara The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople, revenge as significant motive, is disputable. He attempted The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople pacify the city, but riots between anti-Crusader Greeks and pro- Crusader Latins broke out later that month and lasted until November, during which time most of the populace began to turn against him. He turned to the Crusaders for help, but was imprisoned by the imperial chamberlain, Alexios Doukaswho declared himself Emperor on 5 February before executing Alexios IV on 8 February by strangulation. By the end of March, the combined Crusader armies were besieging Constantinople as Emperor Alexios V began to strengthen the city's defences while conducting more active operations outside the city. By the first week of April, the Crusaders had begun their siege from their encampment in the town of The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople the from Constantinople. On 9 Aprilthe Crusader and Venetian forces began an assault on the Golden Horn fortifications by crossing the waterway to the northwest wall of the city, but, because of bad weather, the assault forces were driven back when the troops that landed came under heavy archery fire in open ground between Constantinople's fortifications and the shore. On 12 April weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders as the weather cleared and a second assault on the city was ordered. A strong north wind aided the Venetian ships near the Golden Horn to come close to the city wall, which enabled attackers to seize some of the towers along the The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople. After a short battle The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople 70 Crusaders managed to enter the city. Some Crusaders were eventually able to knock holes in the walls large enough for a few knights at a time to crawl through; the Venetians were also successful at scaling the walls from the sea, although there was extremely bloody fighting with the The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople. The Crusaders captured the section of the city in the The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople and used it as a base to attack the rest of the city, but while attempting to defend themselves with a wall of fire they ended up burning down even more of the city. Emperor Alexios V fled from the city that night through the Polyandriou Rhegium Gate and escaped into the countryside to the west. The Crusaders lootedterrorized, and vandalized Constantinople for three days, during which many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works were either stolen or destroyed. As well as being stolen, works of immeasurable artistic value were destroyed merely for their material value. One of the most precious works to suffer such a fate was a large bronze statue of Herculescreated by the legendary Lysipposcourt sculptor of . Like so many other priceless artworks made of bronze, the statue was melted down for its content by the Crusaders. Despite their oaths and the threat of excommunication, the Crusaders systematically violated the city's holy sanctuaries, destroying or stealing all they could lay hands on; nothing was spared, not even the tombs of the emperors inside the St Apostles church. Rather than wantonly destroying all around like their comrades, the Venetians stole religious relics and works of art, which they would later take to Venice to adorn their own churches. It was said that the total amount looted from Constantinople was aboutsilver marks. A furthersilver marks were divided evenly between the Crusaders and Venetians. The remainingsilver marks were secretly kept back by many Crusader knights. According to a prearranged treaty the empire was apportioned between Venice and the crusade's leaders, and the Latin Empire of Constantinople was established. Boniface was not elected as the new emperor, although the citizens seemed to consider him as such; the Venetians thought he had too many connections with the former empire because of his brother, Renier of Montferratwho had been married to Maria Comnenadaughter and for a time heir-apparent of Manuel I. Instead The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople placed Baldwin of Flanders on the throne. Most of the Byzantine aristocracy fled the city. Amongst the ordinary people of the former empire there was no sympathy for the Byzantine elite, who were seen as having ruled the empire with increasing incompetence. The peasants and common riff-raff jeered at those of us from Byzantium and were thick-headed enough to call our miserable poverty and The Fourth Crusade: And the Sack of Constantinople equality Many were only too happy to accept this outrage, saying "Blessed be the Lord that we have grown rich", and buying up for next to nothing the property that their fellow-countrymen were forced to offer for sale, for they had not yet had much to do with the beef-eating Latins and they did not know that they served a wine as pure and unmixed as unadulterated bile, nor that they would treat the Byzantines with utter contempt. Byzantine aristocratic refugees founded their own successor statesthe most notable of these being the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore Lascaris a relative of Alexius IIIthe Empire of Trebizond and the . The sack weakened the Byzantine Empire, which allowed neighbouring groups such as the Sultanate of Rumand later the Ottoman Turksto gain influence see the Byzantine—Ottoman Wars. In he wrote to ChristodoulosArchbishop of Athenssaying, "It is tragic that the assailants, who set out to secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret. In Aprilin a speech on the th anniversary of the capture of the city, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I formally accepted the apology. It is a fact that a crime was committed here in the city years ago. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from Sack of Constantinople For other sieges of the city, see list of sieges of Constantinople. ConstantinopleByzantine Empire. Fourth Crusade. Zara 1st Constantinople 2nd Constantinople. Byzantine—Frankish conflicts of the Frankokratia. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. April Learn how and when to remove this template message. The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. London: Jonathan Cape. Cambridge University Press. A History of Byzantium. History of the Byzantine Empire. University of Wisconsin Press. The Conquest of Constantinople. Translated by Holmes McNeal, Edgar. New York: Columbia University Press. Osprey Publishing. Retrieved 30 December Adrian Boas, Routledge, Geschichte des lateinischen Kaiserreiches von Konstantinopel. Homburg v. Archived from the original on 7 January Retrieved 29 December The Byzantine Empire — Retrieved 18 May The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 January Archived from the original on 13 May Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from July Articles needing additional references from April All articles needing additional references Articles containing Italian-language text Articles containing Greek-language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April Articles with unsourced statements from May CS1 errors: missing periodical Coordinates on Wikidata. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Wikimedia Commons. Part of the Fourth Crusade. Date 8—13 April Byzantine Empire. Boniface I . Alexios V .