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m Theobald III died 1201, so he was no commander of the fourth crusade in 1202 Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat was the leader of the crusaders from the Champagne.
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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Fourth Crusade
|partof=the [[Crusades]]
|image=[[Image:ConquestOfConstantinopleByTheCrusadersIn1204.jpg|200px]]
|caption=Conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204.
|date=1202–1204
|place=[[Balkans]]
|territory=Creation of [[Crusader States]] in the Balkans.
|result=Contributed to the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]]. Creation of [[Latin Empire]].
|combatant1='''[[Crusaders]]''':<br>{{flag|Holy Roman Empire|1200}}<br>{{flag|Venice}}<br>[[Image:Argent a chief gules.svg|22px]] [[March of Montferrat|Montferrat]]
*[[File:Blason région fr Champagne-Ardenne.svg|22px]] [[Count of Champagne|Champagne]]
*[[File:Blason Blois Ancien.svg|22px]] [[Counts of Blois|Blois]]
*[[File:Blason fr ville Amiens.svg|22px]] [[Amiens]]
*[[File:Blason France moderne.svg|22px]] [[Île-de-France (province)|Île-de-France]]
*[[File:Blason Nord-Pas-De-Calais.svg|22px]] [[Saint-Pol-sur-Mer|Saint-Pol]]
*[[File:Blason Ducs Bourgogne (ancien).svg|22px]] [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]]
*[[File:Blason Nord-Pas-De-Calais.svg|22px]] [[County of Flanders|Flanders]]
|combatant2={{flag|Byzantine Empire}}<br>
[[File:Coat of Arms of Emeric I.png|22px]] [[Kingdom of Hungary]]
*[[File:Blason Dalmatie.svg|22px]] [[History of Dalmatia|Dalmatia]]
|combatant3=
|commander1=[[File:Emporer Otto IV Arms.svg|22px]] [[Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto IV]]<br/>[[Image:Argent a chief gules.svg|22px]] [[Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat|Boniface I]]<br/>[[File:Blason Blois Ancien.svg|22px]] [[Louis I, Count of Blois|Louis I]]<br/>[[File:Flag of Most Serene Republic of Venice.svg|22px]] [[Enrico Dandolo]]
|commander2={{flagicon|Byzantine Empire}} [[Alexios V Doukas]]<br/>{{flagicon|Byzantine Empire}} [[Isaac II Angelos]]<br/>{{flagicon|Byzantine Empire}} [[Alexios III Angelos]]<br/>[[File:Coat of Arms of Emeric I.png|22px]] [[File:Blason Dalmatie.svg|22px]] [[Emeric of Hungary|Emeric I]]
|commander3=
|strength1=Crusaders: 10,000 men<ref name = "Phillips269"/><br>Venetians: 10,000 men<ref name = "Phillips269"/>
*Venetians: 210 ships<ref name="crusaders">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 106</ref>
|strength2=Byzantines: 30,000 men<ref name="Phillips159">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 159</ref>
*Byzantines: 20 ships<ref name="Phillips157">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 157</ref>
|strength3=
|casualties1=Unknown
|casualties2=Unknown
|casualties3=
|notes=
}}
{{Crusade}}
The '''Fourth Crusade''' (1202&ndash;1204) was originally intended to conquer [[Islam|Muslim]]-controlled [[Jerusalem]] by means of an invasion through [[Egypt]]. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of [[Western Europe]] invaded and conquered the [[Christianity|Christian]] ([[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]) city of [[Constantinople]], capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. This is seen as one of the final acts in the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] between the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Roman Catholic Church]].

The crusaders established the [[Latin Empire]] (1204–1261) and [[Latinokratia|other "Latin" states]] in the Byzantine lands they conquered.

==Background==
After the failure of the [[Third Crusade]] (1189–1192), there was little interest in Europe for another crusade against the [[Islam|Muslims]]. Jerusalem had now become controlled by the [[Ayyubid dynasty]], which ruled all of [[Syria]] and Egypt, except for the few cities along the coast still controlled by the crusader [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], now centered on [[Acre, Israel|Acre]]. The Third Crusade had also established a [[Kingdom of Cyprus|kingdom on Cyprus]].

[[Pope Innocent III]] succeeded to the papacy in 1198, and the preaching of a new crusade became the goal of his pontificate. His call was largely ignored by the European monarchs: the Germans were struggling against Papal power, and [[England]] and [[France]] were still engaged in warfare against each other. However, due to the preaching of [[Fulk of Neuilly]], a crusading army was finally organized at a [[tournament (medieval)|tournament]] held at [[Écry-sur-Seine|Écry]] by [[Thibaut III of Champagne|Count Thibaut]] of [[Champagne, France|Champagne]] in 1199. Thibaut was elected leader, but he died in 1200 and was replaced by an [[Italian people|Italian]] count, [[Boniface of Montferrat]]. Boniface and the other leaders sent envoys to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to Egypt, the object of their crusade; one of the envoys was the future historian [[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]]. Genoa was uninterested, but in March 1201 negotiations were opened with Venice, which agreed to transport 33,500 crusaders, a very ambitious number. This agreement required a full year of preparation on the part of the Venetians to build numerous ships and train the sailors who would man them, all the while curtailing the city's commercial activities. The crusading army was expected to comprise 4,500 [[knights]] (as well as 4,500 [[horses]]), 9,000 [[squires]], and 20,000 [[foot-soldiers]].

The majority of the crusading army that set out from [[Venice]] in October 1202 originated from areas within France. It included men from [[Blois]], [[Champagne, France|Champagne]], [[Amiens]], [[Saint-Pol]], the [[Ile-de-France]] and [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]]. Several other regions of Europe sent substantial contingents as well, such as [[Flanders]] and [[Montferrat]]. Other notable groups came from the [[Holy Roman Empire]], including the men under Bishop Martin of [[Pairis]]<!--Pairis is not Paris--> and [[Bishopric of Halberstadt|Bishop Conrad of Halberstadt]], together in alliance with the Venetian soldiers and sailors led by the [[Doge of Venice|doge]] [[Enrico Dandolo]]. The crusade was to make directly for the centre of the Muslim world, Cairo, ready to sail on June 24, 1202. This agreement was ratified by Pope Innocent, with a solemn ban on attacks on Christian states.<ref>"History of the Church", Innocent III & the Latin East, p.370, Philips Hughes, Sheed & Ward, 1948.</ref>

==Attack on Zara==
:''Main article: [[Siege of Zara]] ([[Zadar]])''

As there was no binding agreement among the crusaders that all should sail from Venice, many chose to sail from other ports, particularly [[Flanders]], [[Marseilles]], and [[Genoa]]. By 1201 the bulk of the crusader army was collected at Venice, though with far fewer troops than expected; 12,000 instead of 33,500. Venice had performed her part of the agreement: there lay war galleys, large transports, and horse transports - enough for three times the assembled army. The Venetians, under their aged and blind [[Doge]] Dandolo, would not let the crusaders leave without paying the full amount agreed to, originally 85,000 [[silver]] [[Mark (money)|marks]]. The crusaders could only pay some 51,000 silver marks, and that only by reducing themselves to extreme poverty. This was disastrous to the Venetians, who had halted their commerce for a great length of time to prepare this expedition. In addition to this 20-30,000 men (out of Venice's population of 60,000 people) were needed to man the entire fleet, placing further strain on the Venetian economy.<ref name="econ">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 57</ref>

Dandolo and the Venetians succeeded in turning the crusading movement to their own purposes as a form of repayment. Following the [[Massacre of the Latins|1182 massacres of all foreigners in Constantinople]], the Venetian merchant population had been expelled by the ruling Angelus dynasty with the support of the Greek population.<ref>Donald Nicol, The last centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 (Cambridge, 1993)</ref> These events gave the Venetians a hostile attitude towards Byzantium. Dandolo, who joined the crusade during a public ceremony in the church of [[San Marco di Venezia]], proposed that the crusaders pay their debts by attacking the port of [[Zadar|Zara]] in [[Dalmatia]].<ref>Zara is the today the city of [[Zadar]] in [[Croatia]]; it was called "Jadera" in [[Latin]] documents and "Jadres" by [[France|French]] crusaders. The Venetian (Italian) "Zara" is a later derivation of the contemporary vernacular "Zadra".</ref> The city had been dominated economically by Venice throughout the twelfth century, but had rebelled in 1181 and allied with [[Emeric of Hungary|King Emeric]] of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]].<ref>http://thepeerage.com/p10465.htm#i104647</ref><ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0NpWFGvA5VQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Fourth+Crusade:+The+Conquest+of+Constantinople&hl=hu#v=onepage&q=&f=false The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople]</ref><ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/185757/Emeric</ref> and [[Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)|Croatia]]. Subsequent Venetian attacks were repulsed, and by 1202 the city was economically independent, under the protection of the King.<ref>Jonathan Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', pp. 110-11.</ref>

The Hungarian king was Catholic and had himself agreed to join this Crusade (though this was mostly for political reasons, and he had made no actual preparations to leave). Many of the Crusaders were opposed to attacking Zara, and some, including a force led by the elder [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]], refused to participate altogether and returned home. While the Papal legate to the Crusade [[Peter Cardinal Capuano]] endorsed the move as necessary to prevent the crusade's complete failure, [[Pope Innocent III]] was alarmed at this development and wrote a letter to the Crusading leadership threatening [[excommunication]].<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT "History of the Church"], Innocent III & the Latin East, p.371, Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, 1948.</ref>

Historian Geoffrey Hindley's ''The Crusades: Islam and Christianity in the Struggle for World Supremacy'' mentions that in 1202, [[Pope Innocent III]] “forbade” the Crusaders of Western Christendom from committing any atrocious acts on their Christian neighbours, despite wanting to secure papal authority over Byzantium (Hindley 143, 152). This letter was concealed from the bulk of the army and the attack proceeded. The citizens of Zara made reference to the fact that they were fellow Catholics by hanging banners marked with crosses from their windows and the walls of the city, but nevertheless the city fell after a brief siege. When Innocent III heard of the sack he sent a letter to the crusaders excommunicating them, and ordered them to return to their holy vows and head for Jerusalem. Out of fear that this would dissolve the army the leaders of the crusade decided not to inform the army of this.

==Diversion to Constantinople==<!-- [[Sack of Constantinople]] redirects here -->
[[Image:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 012.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople'' ([[Eugène Delacroix]], 1840). The most infamous action of the Fourth Crusade was the sack of the Orthodox Christian city of [[Constantinople]]]]

[[Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat|Boniface of Montferrat]], meanwhile, had left the fleet before it sailed from Venice, to visit his cousin [[Philip of Swabia]]. The reasons for his visit are a matter of debate; he may have realized the Venetians' plans and left to avoid excommunication, or he may have wanted to meet with the Byzantine prince [[Alexius IV Angelus|Alexius Angelus]], Philip's brother-in-law and the son of the recently deposed Byzantine emperor [[Isaac II Angelus]]. Alexius had recently fled to Philip in 1201 but it is unknown whether or not Boniface knew he was at Philip's court. There, Alexius offered 200,000 silver marks, 10,000 men to help the Crusaders, the maintenance of 500 knights in the Holy Land, the service of the Byzantine navy to transport the Crusader Army to Egypt and the placement of the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] under the [[Roman Catholic Church]] if they would sail to Byzantium and topple the reigning emperor [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexius III Angelus]], brother of Isaac II. It was a tempting offer for an enterprise that was short on funds. Greco-Latin relationships had been complicated ever since the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] of 1054.

The Latins of the [[First Crusade|First]], [[Second Crusade|Second]], and [[Third Crusade]] had gone from strained to hostile in Constantinople on their way to the Holy Land, whereas the Greeks had militarily abandoned the Crusaders on some occasions and engaged in open diplomacy with their enemies on others. A large number of Venetian merchants and other Latins were also attacked and deported during the [[massacre of the Latins]] in Constantinople in 1182. However, the Byzantine prince's proposal involved his restoration to the throne, not the sack of his capital city, which Count Boniface agreed to. Alexius IV returned with the Marquess to rejoin the fleet at [[Corfu]] after it had sailed from Zara. The rest of the Crusade's leaders eventually accepted the plan as well. There were many leaders, however, of the rank and file who wanted nothing to do with the proposal, and many deserted. The fleet of 60 [[war]] [[galleys]], 100 [[Horse transports in the Middle Ages|horse transports]], and 50 large [[Troopship|transports]] (the entire fleet was manned by 10,000 Venetian oarsmen and marines) arrived at Constantinople in late June 1203.<ref name="Phillips269">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 269</ref> In addition, 300 siege engines were brought along on board the fleet.<ref name="siege">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 113</ref>

When the Fourth Crusade arrived at Constantinople, the city had a population of 150,000 people, a garrison of 30,000 men (including 5,000 [[Varangians]]), and a fleet of 20 galleys.<ref name="Phillips159"/><ref name="Phillips157"/> The Crusaders' initial motive was to restore Isaac II to the Byzantine throne so that they could receive the support that they were promised. [[Conon of Bethune]] delivered this message to the Lombard envoy who was sent by the reigning emperor [[Alexius III Angelus]], who had deposed his brother Isaac. The citizens of Constantinople were not concerned with the deposed emperor and his exiled son; usurpations were frequent in Byzantine affairs, and this time the throne had even remained in the same family. The Crusaders sailed alongside Constantinople with 10 galleys to display Alexius IV, but from the [[walls of Constantinople|walls of the city]] the Byzantines taunted the puzzled crusaders, who had been promised that Prince Alexius would be welcomed.<ref name="taunt">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 164</ref> First the crusaders captured and sacked the cities of [[Chalcedon]] and [[Chrysopolis]], then they defeated 500 Byzantine cavalrymen in battle with just 80 Frankish knights.<ref name="battle">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 162</ref>

===Siege of July 1203===
{{Main|Siege of Constantinople (1203)}}
To take the city by force, the crusaders first needed to cross the Bosphorus. About 200 ships, horse transports and galleys would undertake to deliver the crusading army across the narrow strait, where Alexius III had lined up the Byzantine army in battle formation along the shore, north of the suburb of Galata. The Crusader's knights charged straight out of the horse transports, and the Byzantine army fled south.
[[Image:Constantinople Mural Fourth Crusade.jpg|thumb|left|300px|A mural depicting the Venetian Fleet entering the [[Golden Horn]] after breaking the chains that protected the city]]
The Crusaders followed south, and attacked the Tower of Galata, which held one end of the chain that blocked access to the [[Golden Horn]]. As they laid siege to the Tower, the Greeks counterattacked with some initial success. However, when the Crusaders rallied and the Greeks retreated to the Tower, the Crusaders were able to follow the soldiers through the Gate, and the Tower surrendered. The Golden Horn now lay open to the Crusaders, and the Venetian fleet entered.

On July 11, the Crusaders took positions opposite the Blachernae palace on the northwest corner of the city. They began the siege in earnest on July 17, with four divisions attacking the land walls, while the Venetian fleet attacked the sea walls from the Golden Horn. The Venetians took a section of the wall of about 25 towers, while the Varangian guard held off the Crusaders on the land wall. The Varangians shifted to meet the new threat, and the Venetians retreated under the screen of fire. The fire destroyed about {{convert|120|acre|km2}} of the City.

Alexius III finally took offensive action, and led 17 divisions from the St. Romanus Gate, vastly outnumbering the crusaders. Alexius III's army of about 8,500 men faced the Crusader's 7 divisions (about 3,500 men), but his courage failed, and the Byzantine army returned to the city without a fight.<ref name="battle2">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 177</ref> The retreat and the effects of the fire greatly damaged morale, causing the citizens of Constantinople to turn against Alexius III, who then fled. The destructive fire left 20,000 people homeless.<ref name="fire">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 176</ref> Prince Alexius was elevated to the throne as Alexius IV along with his blind father Isaac.

===Further attacks on Constantinople===
[[Alexius IV]] realised that his promises were hard to keep. [[Alexius III]] had managed to flee with 1,000 pounds of gold and some priceless jewels, leaving the imperial treasury short on funds. At that point the young emperor ordered the destruction and melting of valuable Byzantine and Roman icons in order to extract their gold and silver, but even then he could only raise 100,000 silver marks. In the eyes of all Greeks who knew of this decision, it was a shocking sign of desperation and weak leadership, which deserved to be punished by God. The Byzantine historian [[Nicetas Choniates]] characterized it as "the turning point towards the decline of the Roman state".{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}}

Thus Alexius IV had to deal with the growing hatred by the citizens of Constantinople for the "Latins" and vice versa. In fear of his life, the co-emperor asked the Crusaders to renew their contract for another six months, to end by April 1204. There was, nevertheless, still fighting in the city. In August 1203 the crusaders attacked a mosque, which was defended by a combined Muslim and Greek opposition. Meanwhile, Alexius IV had led 6,000 men from the Crusader army against his rival Alexius III in Adrianople.<ref name = "exp"/>

On the second attempt of the Venetians to set up a wall of fire to aid their escape, they instigated the "Great Fire", in which a large part of Constantinople was burned down. Opposition to Alexius IV grew, and one of his courtiers, Alexius Ducas (nicknamed 'Murtzuphlos' because of his thick eyebrows), soon overthrew him and had him strangled to death. Alexius Ducas took the throne himself as [[Alexius V]]; Isaac died soon afterward, probably of natural causes.

The crusaders and Venetians, incensed at the murder of their supposed patron, demanded that Murtzuphlos honor the contract which Alexius IV had promised. When the Byzantine emperor refused the Crusaders assaulted the city once again. On April 8, Alexius V's army put up a strong resistance which did much to discourage the crusaders.

The Greeks hurled enormous projectiles onto the enemy siege engines, shattering many of them. A serious hindrance to the crusaders was bad weather conditions. Wind blew from the shore and prevented most of the ships from drawing close enough to the walls to launch an assault. Only five of the Greek towers were actually engaged and none of these could be secured; by mid-afternoon it was evident that the attack had failed.

The clergy discussed the situation amongst themselves and settled upon the message they wished to spread through the demoralized army. They had to convince the men that the events of 9 April were not God's judgment on a sinful enterprise: the campaign, they argued, was righteous and with proper belief it would succeed. The concept of God testing the determination of the crusaders through temporary setbacks was a familiar means for the clergy to explain failure in the course of a campaign.

The clergy's message was designed to reassure and encourage the crusaders. Their argument that the attack on Constantinople was spiritual revolved around two themes. First, the Greeks were traitors and murderers since they had killed their rightful lord, Alexius IV. The churchmen used inflammatory language and claimed that "the Greeks were worse than the Jews", and they invoked the authority of God and the pope to take action.

Although Innocent III had again demanded that they not attack, the papal letter was suppressed by the clergy, and the crusaders prepared for their own attack, while the Venetians attacked from the sea; Alexius V's army stayed in the city to fight, along with the imperial bodyguard, the [[Varangians]], but Alexius V himself fled during the night.

===Sack of Constantinople===
{{Main|Siege of Constantinople (1204)}}
[[Image:PriseDeConstantinople1204PalmaLeJeune.JPG|thumb|250px|Capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204]]
{{Quote box
|width = 260px
|align = right
|bgcolor = #c6dbf7
|quote = "O City, City, eye of all cities, universal boast, supramundane wonder, nurse of churches, leader of the faith, guide of Orthodoxy, beloved topic of orations, the abode of every good thing! Oh City, that hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury! O City, consumed by fire..."
|source = [[Niketas Choniates]] laments the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders.<ref>{{citation |first1=Niketas |last1=Choniates |first2=Harry J. (transl.) | last2=Magoulias | title=O city of Byzantium: annals of Niketas Choniatēs'' | publisher=Wayne State University Press | year=1984 | isbn=9780814317648 | page=317 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O8arrZPM8moC }}</ref>
}}
On 12 April 1204 the weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders. A strong northern wind aided the Venetian ships to come close to the wall. After a short battle, approximately seventy crusaders managed to enter the city. Some Crusaders were eventually able to knock holes in the walls, small enough for a few knights at a time to crawl through; the Venetians were also successful at scaling the walls from the sea, though there was extremely bloody fighting with the [[Varangians#The Varangian Guard|Varangians]]. The crusaders captured the [[Blachernae]] section of the city in the northwest 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. This second fire left 15,000 people homeless.<ref name="exp">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 209</ref> The Crusaders took the city on April 12. The crusaders inflicted a horrible and savage sacking on Constantinople for three days, during which many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works were either stolen or destroyed. The magnificent [[Library of Constantinople]] was destroyed. Despite their oaths and the threat of excommunication, the Crusaders ruthlessly and systematically violated the city's holy sanctuaries, destroying, defiling, or stealing all they could lay hands on; nothing was spared. It was said that the total amount looted from Constantinople was about 900,000 silver marks. The Venetians received 150,000 silver marks that was their due, while the Crusaders received 50,000 silver marks. A further 100,000 silver marks were divided evenly up between the Crusaders and Venetians. The remaining 500,000 silver marks were secretly kept back by many Crusader knights.

[[Speros Vryonis]] in ''Byzantium and Europe'' gives a vivid account of the sack of Constantinople by the Frankish and Venetian Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade:

<blockquote>
The Latin soldiery subjected the greatest city in Europe to an indescribable sack. For three days they murdered, raped, looted and destroyed on a scale which even the ancient Vandals and Goths would have found unbelievable. Constantinople had become a veritable museum of ancient and Byzantine art, an emporium of such incredible wealth that the Latins were astounded at the riches they found. Though the Venetians had an appreciation for the art which they discovered (they were themselves semi-Byzantines) and saved much of it, the French and others destroyed indiscriminately, halting to refresh themselves with wine, violation of nuns, and murder of Orthodox clerics. The Crusaders vented their hatred for the Greeks most spectacularly in the desecration of the greatest Church in Christendom. They smashed the silver iconostasis, the icons and the holy books of [[Hagia Sophia]], and seated upon the patriarchal throne a whore who sang coarse songs as they drank wine from the Church's holy vessels. The estrangement of East and West, which had proceeded over the centuries, culminated in the horrible massacre that accompanied the conquest of Constantinople. The Greeks were convinced that even the Turks, had they taken the city, would not have been as cruel as the Latin Christians. The defeat of Byzantium, already in a state of decline, accelerated political degeneration so that the Byzantines eventually became an easy prey to the Turks. The Crusading movement thus resulted, ultimately, in the victory of Islam, a result which was of course the exact opposite of its original intention.
</blockquote> (Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, p.&nbsp;152).<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT "History of the Church Vol II"], Innocent III & the Latin East, p372, Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, 1948.</ref> According to Choniates, a [[prostitute]] was even set up on the Patriarchal throne.<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html "The Sack of Constantinople"], Nicetas Choniates, 1204.</ref> When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his pilgrims, he was filled with shame, rage and strongly rebuked them.

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 Montferrat]], who had been married to [[Maria Comnena (Porphyrogenita)|Maria Comnena]], empress in the 1170s and 80s. Instead they placed [[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin of Flanders]] on the throne. Boniface went on to found the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]], a vassal state of the new Latin Empire. The Venetians also founded the [[Duchy of the Archipelago]] in the Aegean Sea. Meanwhile, Byzantine refugees founded their own [[successor state]]s, the most notable of these being the [[Empire of Nicaea]] under [[Theodore I Lascaris|Theodore Lascaris]] (a relative of Alexius III), the [[Empire of Trebizond]], and the [[Despotate of Epirus]].

==Outcome==
[[Image:LatinEmpire2.png|thumb|left|300x|Map showing the partition of the Byzantine Empire into The [[Latin Empire]], [[Empire of Nicaea]] and '''Despotate of Epirus''' after AD 1204]]

Almost none of the crusaders ever made it to the Holy Land, and the unstable [[Latin Empire]] siphoned off much of Europe's crusading energy. The legacy of the Fourth Crusade was the deep sense of betrayal the Latins had instilled in their Greek coreligionists. With the events of 1204, the schism between the Church in the West and East was complete. As an epilogue to the event, Pope Innocent III, the man who had unintentionally launched the ill-fated expedition, thundered against the crusaders thus:

::"How, indeed, will the church of the Greeks, no matter how severely she is beset with afflictions and persecutions, return into ecclesiastical union and to a devotion for the Apostolic See, when she has seen in the Latins only an example of perdition and the works of darkness, so that she now, and with reason, detests the Latins more than dogs? As for those who were supposed to be seeking the ends of [[Jesus]] Christ, not their own ends, who made their swords, which they were supposed to use against the pagans, drip with Christian blood, they have spared neither religion, nor age, nor sex. They have committed incest, adultery, and fornication before the eyes of men. They have exposed both matrons and virgins, even those dedicated to God, to the sordid lusts of boys. Not satisfied with breaking open the imperial treasury and plundering the goods of princes and lesser men, they also laid their hands on the treasures of the churches and, what is more serious, on their very possessions. They have even ripped silver plates from the altars and have hacked them to pieces among themselves. They violated the holy places and have carried off crosses and relics."<ref>Pope Innocent III, ''Letters'', 126 (given July 12, 1205, and addressed to the papal legate, who had absolved the crusaders from their pilgrimage vows). Text taken from the [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1204innocent.html Internet Medieval Sourcebook] by Paul Halsall. Modified. Original translation by J. Brundage.</ref>

The Latin Empire was soon faced with a great number of enemies, which the crusaders had not taken into account. Besides the individual Byzantine Greek states in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] and [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]], the Empire received great pressure from the [[Sultanate of Rûm|Seljuk Sultanate]] and the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]]. The Greek states were fighting for supremacy against both Latins and each other. Almost every Greek and Latin protagonist of the event was killed shortly after. Murtzuphlus' betrayal by [[Alexius III]] led to his capture by the Latins and his execution at Constantinople. Not long after, Alexius III was himself captured by Boniface and sent to exile in Southern Italy. One year after the conquest of the city, [[Emperor Baldwin]] was decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Adrianople (1205)|Battle of Adrianople]] on 14 April 1205 by the [[Bulgarians]], and was captured and later executed by the Bulgarian Emperor [[Kaloyan]]. Two years after that, on 4 September 1207, Boniface himself was killed in an ambush by the Bulgarians, and his head was sent to Kaloyan. He was succeeded by his infant son [[Demetrius of Montferrat]], who ruled until he reached adulthood, but was eventually defeated by [[Theodore I Ducas]], the [[despot of Epirus]] and a relative of [[Murtzuphlus]], and thus the Kingdom of Thessalonica was restored to Byzantine rule in 1224.

Various Latin-French lordships throughout Greece — in particular, the [[duchy of Athens]] and the [[Principality of Achaea|principality of the Morea]] — provided cultural contacts with western Europe and promoted the study of Greek. There was also a French cultural work, notably the production of a collection of laws, the ''Assises de Romanie'' (Assizes of Greece). The [[Chronicle of Morea]] appeared in both [[French language|French]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] (and later Italian and Aragonese) versions. Impressive remains of crusader castles and [[Gothic architecture|Gothic churches]] can still be seen in Greece. Nevertheless, the Latin Empire always rested on shaky foundations. The city was re-captured by the Nicaean Greeks under [[Michael VIII Palaeologus]] in 1261, and commerce with Venice was re-established.

In an ironic series of events, during the middle of the [[15th century]], the [[Latin Church]] ([[Roman Catholic Church]]) tried to organize a new crusade which aimed at the restoration of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire which was gradually being torn down by the advancing Ottoman Turks. The attempt, however, failed, as the vast majority of the Byzantine civilians and a growing part of their clergy refused to recognize and accept the [[Council_of_Florence#Council_transferred_to_Florence_and_the_near_East-West_union|short-lived near Union of the Churches of East and West]] signed at the [[Council of Florence|Council of Florence and Ferrara]] by the Ecumenical [[patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople]]. The Greek population, inspired by aversion from the Latins and the Western states, held that the Byzantine civilization which revolved around the Orthodox faith would be more secure under Ottoman Islamic rule. Overall, religious-observant Byzantines preferred to sacrifice their political freedom and political independence in order to preserve their faith's traditions and rituals in separation from the [[Holy See|Roman See]]. In the late 14th and early 15th century, two kinds of crusades were finally organised by the Kingdoms of [[Hungary]], [[Poland]], [[Wallachia]] and [[Serbia]]. Both of them were checked by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. During the Ottoman [[Fall of Constantinople|siege of Constantinople]] in 1453, a significant band of [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] and [[Genoa|Genoese]] knights died in the defense of the city.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

==Legacy==
Eight hundred years after the Fourth Crusade, [[Pope John Paul II]] twice expressed sorrow for the events of the Fourth Crusade. In 2001, he wrote to [[Christodoulos]], [[Archbishop of Athens]], saying, "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."<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/footsteps/words/CHRISTODOULOS_5_4.htm EWTN - In the Footsteps of St. Paul: Papal Visit to Greece, Syria & Malta - Words<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2004, while [[Bartholomew I]], [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], was visiting the [[Apostolic Palace|Vatican]], John Paul II asked, "How can we not share, at a distance of eight centuries, the pain and disgust."<ref>[http://atheism.about.com/b/a/095714.htm Pope Expresses “Sorrow” Over Sacking of Constantinople]</ref> This has been regarded as an apology to the Greek Orthodox Church for the terrible slaughter perpetrated by the warriors of the Fourth Crusade.<ref name=Phillips>Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', intro., xiii).</ref>

In April 2004, in a speech on the 800th anniversary of the city's capture, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I formally accepted the apology. "The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred," he said during a liturgy attended by Roman Catholic Archbishop [[Philippe Barbarin]] of Lyon, France. "We receive with gratitude and respect your cordial gesture for the tragic events of the Fourth Crusade. It is a fact that a crime was committed here in the city 800 years ago." Bartholomew said his acceptance came in the spirit of [[Easter|Pascha]]. "The spirit of reconciliation of the resurrection... incites us toward reconciliation of our churches." <ref>[http://www.incommunion.org/articles/issue-33/news-issue-33 In Communion » News - issue 33<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The Fourth Crusade was one of the last of the major crusades to be launched by the Papacy, though it quickly fell out of Papal control. After bickering between laymen and the papal legate led to the collapse of the [[Fifth Crusade]], later crusades were directed by individual monarchs, mostly against Egypt. Only one subsequent crusade, [[Sixth Crusade|the Sixth]], succeeded in restoring Jerusalem to Christian rule, and then only for a short time. The Crusades, as it seems, became politically and economically efficient for Crusaders less inclined to follow a spiritual but an ambitious, worldly conscience.

==In fiction==

The Fourth Crusade is depicted in [[Poul Anderson]]'s novel ''[[There Will Be Time]]'' from the point of view of a 20th Century [[time-travel]]er who saves the life of a Byzantine girl during the carnage and falls in love with her.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==See also==
*[[Crusade]]
*[[Pope Innocent III]]
*[[Alexius III]]
*[[Alexius IV]]
*[[Alexius V]]
*[[Battle of Adrianople (1205)]]
*[[Jews_of_the_Byzantine_Empire#Latin_Occupation:_1204-1261|Jews of the Byzantine Empire]] during the Fourth Crusade
*[[Principality of Achaea]]
*[[Latin Empire|Latin Empire of Constantinople]]
*[[Crusader states]]

==References==
===''Primary sources''===
*[[Nicetas Choniates]], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html The Sack of Constantinople]
*[[Robert of Clari]], [http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/clari.htm The Conquest of Constantinople] (see also [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/clari1.html excerpts] from another translation)
*[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/1204.html The Sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders] (excerpts from several contemporary accounts)
*[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/4cde.html The Fourth Crusade 1204: Collected Sources] (excerpts from several contemporary accounts)
*[[Geoffrey de Villehardouin]], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/villehardouin.html Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople]
*[[Pope Innocent III]], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1204innocent.html Reprimand of Papal Legate]
*[[Chronicle of Morea]]

===''Secondary sources''===
*'Crusades' - Encyclopædia Britannica 2006
*Charles Brand ''Byzantium Confronts the West, 1180-1204''
*Godfrey, John ''1204: The Unholy Crusade'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
*Hindley, Geoffrey ''The Crusades: A History of Armed Pilgrimage and Holy War.'' New York, NY: Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2003 New edition: ''The Crusades: Islam and Christianity in the Struggle for World Supremacy'' New York, NY: Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2004.
*Lilie, Ralph-Johannes ''Byzantium and the Crusader States, 1096-1204'' Translated by J. C. Morris and Jean E. Ridings Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993; originally published in 1988
*{{cite book|first=Thomas F.|last=Madden|title=Enrico Dandolo and the Rise of Venice|location=Baltimore|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-8018-7317-7}}
*[[Thomas Madden|Madden, Thomas F.]], and Donald E. Queller. The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997
*Marin, Serban. [http://www.geocities.com/serban_marin/ramusio01.html A Humanist Vision regarding the Fourth Crusade and the State of the Assenides. The Chronicle of Paul Ramusio (Paulus Rhamnusius)], ''Annuario del Istituto Romano di Cultura e Ricerca Umanistica'' vol. 2 (2000), pp.&nbsp;51–57
*McNeal, Edgar, and Robert Lee Wolff. [http://libtext.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistCrusades/HistCrusades-idx?type=turn&amp;entity=HistCrusades000200020179&amp;byte=430841&amp;isize=M The Fourth Crusade], in ''A History of the Crusades'' (edited by Kenneth M. Setton and others), vol. 2, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1962
*Nicol, Donald M. ''Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations''
*Noble, Peter S. [http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/PDFs/NOBLE.PDF Eyewitnesses of the Fourth Crusade - the War against Alexius III], ''Reading Medieval Studies'' v.25, 1999
*Phillips, Jonathan ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'' London, U.K.: Pimlico, 2005
*Queller, Donald E. ''The Latin Conquest of Constantinople''. New York, NY; London, U.K.; Sydney, NSW; Toronto, ON: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1971
*Queller, Donald E., and Susan J. Stratton. "A Century of Controversy on the Fourth Crusade", in ''Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History'' v. 6 (1969): 237-277; reprinted in Donald E. Queller, ''Medieval Diplomacy and the Fourth Crusade'' London, U.K.: Variorum Reprints, 1980
*Thomas F. Madden - "Crusades: The Illustrated History"

==Further reading==
*Angold, Michael ''The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context''. Harlow, NY: Longman, 2003.
*Bartlett, W. B. ''An Ungodly War: The Sack of Constantinople and the Fourth Crusade''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2000.
*Harris, Jonathan ''Byzantium and the Crusades''. London, U.K.: Hambledon and London, 2003.
*Kazdhan, Alexander “Latins and Franks in Byzantium”, in Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (eds.), ''The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World''. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2001: 83-100
*Kolbaba, Tia M. “Byzantine Perceptions of Latin Religious ‘Errors’: Themes and Changes from 850 to 1350”, in Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy Parviz Mottahedeh (eds.), ''The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World'' Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2001: 117-143.

{{Byzantine Empire topics|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:History of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:13th century in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:1200s]]
[[Category:East-West Schism]]
[[Category:Principality of Achaea]]
[[Category:Crusader states]]
[[Category:13th-century crusades]]
[[Category:Constantinople]]

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Revision as of 15:43, 1 April 2010

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