Old French. Buy Online Access Buy Print & Archive Subscription. [22] The city had been dominated economically by Venice throughout the 12th century but had rebelled in 1181 and allied itself with King Emeric of Hungary and Croatia. The Capture of Constantinople in 1204 (Domenico Tintoretto, 16th Century). By 1204, the practice of crusading was over a century old. Western countries launched a series of crusades. Alexius also had to deal with the growing hatred by the citizens of Constantinople for the "Latins" in their midst. "[63] The controversy that has surrounded the Fourth Crusade has led to diverging opinions in academia on whether its objective was indeed the capture of Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire was left much poorer, smaller, and ultimately less able to defend itself against the Seljuk and Ottoman conquests that followed; the 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. There the fleet was joined by a number of French crusaders, including Bishop Walter II of Autun, Count Guigues III of Forez, Bernard IV of Moreuil, Henry of Arraines, Hugh of Chaumont, John of Villers, Peter Bromont and the brothers Walter and Hugh of Saint-Denis and their retinues. But wary of their motivations, he first made them swear allegiance to him. When Constantinople was under seige by neighboring enemies, the Roman city's elaborate system of moats, outer walls, and inner walls stood tall. In fact, about 2,000 men abandoned the main army at that stage. After the failure of the Third Crusade, there was little interest in Europe for another crusade against the Muslims. Capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 Siege of Zara. Soon they found themselves less popular than expected. [54], For reasons unknown, Baldwin of Flanders divided his forces, leading half to Venice himself and sending the other half by sea. The driving force behind the Fourth Crusade was the newly elected Pope Innocent III, who decided to launch an attack against the united Egyptians, who had Jerusalem under their control. 7.1 Primary Sources 7.2 Secondary Sources . [39], To take the city by force, the crusaders first needed to cross the Bosphorus. To continue reading this article you will need to purchase access to the online archive. Reddit. The Fourth Crusade started in 1202, when Pope Innocent III (p.1198-1216), seeking to build on the success of the Third Crusade preached a new Crusade to recover the Holy city of Jerusalem. The fire destroyed about 120 acres (0.49 km2) of the city and left some 20,000 people homeless. The famous bronze horses from the Hippodrome were sent back to adorn the façade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, where they remain. 89-126. [b] His messengers must also have brought news of the decision to go to Constantinople before proceeding to the Holy Land. The Venetian Version of the Fourth Crusade: Memory and the Conquest of Constantinople in Medieval Venice By Thomas F Madden On the Edge of “Another World”: The Balkans and Crimea as Contact Zones Between the Cuman-Qïpchaqs and the Outside World. Conon of Bethune delivered this ultimatum to the Lombard envoy sent by the Emperor Alexios III Angelos, who was the pretender's uncle and had seized the throne from the pretender's father Isaac II. [33], When the Fourth Crusade arrived at Constantinople on 23 June 1203, the city had a population of approximately 500,000 people,[34] a garrison of 15,000 men (including 5,000 Varangians), and a fleet of 20 galleys. Without the permission of Henry, the Germans attacked the territory of al-Adil I of Damascus, who responded by attacking Jaffa. Shopping. The Greek states fought for supremacy against both the Latins and each other. The responsibility for the disaster which gave the Turks a foothold in Europe rests on the heads of … The estrangement of East and West, which had proceeded over the centuries, culminated in the horrible massacre that accompanied the conquest of Constantinople. After a short battle approximately 70 Crusaders managed to enter the city. One subsequent crusade, the Sixth, succeeded in restoring Jerusalem to Christian rule for 15 years. "Kill them all. The Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople. . The Fourth Crusade was corrupted from its purpose early on. The conquest of Constantinople was followed by the fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire into three states centered in Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus. [59], During the ensuing half century the unstable Latin Empire siphoned off much of Europe's crusading energy. [46] The churchmen used inflammatory language and claimed that "the Greeks were worse than the Jews",[46] and they invoked the authority of God and the pope to take action. 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. Both cities were looted and the Crusaders killed fellow Christians. More than 800 years ago between April and May 1204, Constantinople (now Istanbul) was conquered by the ill-fated and failed Fourth Crusade. Sack of Constantinople, (April 1204).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. O City, consumed by fire...", 1204 Crusade that captured Constantinople rather than Jerusalem. It was said that the total amount looted from Constantinople was about 900,000 silver marks. [29], Boniface of Montferrat, meanwhile, had left the fleet before it sailed from Venice, to visit his cousin Philip of Swabia. In 1197, the peace was interrupted by the arrival of the German Crusade of 1197. At its height, the city was home to an estimated population of about half a million people[7] protected by thirteen miles of triple walls. The main goal of the Fourth Crusade was to attack Egypt, since it was the main center of Muslim power in the Middle East at the time. A section of it was then sent to Acre to boost the defences in the Holy Land. The first target was the Byzantine garrison at nearby Galata on the other shore of the Golden Horn. In fact, the men of the Fourth Crusade never reached anywhere near Jerusalem. Two centuries later the city fell an easy victim to the Turks. The Crusaders attacked Constantinople. As well as being stolen, works of immeasurable artistic value were destroyed merely for their material value. The Crusaders were no longer able to receive their promised payments from Alexios. LinkedIn. [13] Women, including nuns, were raped by the Crusader army,[14] which also sacked churches, monasteries and convents. Simon and his men withdrew from the army, but the majority of the crusaders attacked Zara, capturing it on 24th November-as a result, the Fourth Crusade was excommunicated. Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. [54], From Zara, an official embassy, led by Renaud of Montmirail, was dispatched to the Holy Land. On 23 June 1203, the main Crusader army reached Constantinople, while other contingents (perhaps a majority of all crusaders) continued to Acre. It included men from Blois, Champagne, Amiens, Saint-Pol, the Île-de-France, and Burgundy. It is a fact that a crime was committed here in the city 800 years ago." "The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred," he said during a liturgy attended by Roman Catholic Archbishop Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France. "The spirit of reconciliation of the resurrection... incites us toward reconciliation of our churches. Constantinople was conside… Stephen of the Perche, was prevented from going with the main army on account of illness. [1]:xiii, In April 2004, in a speech on the 800th anniversary of the capture of the city, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I formally accepted the apology. By the first week of April, the Crusaders had begun their siege from their encampment in the town of Galata across the Golden Horn from Constantinople. The Sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. The Crusaders then founded several new Crusader states, known as Frankokratia, in former Byzantine territory, largely hinged upon the Latin Empire of Constantinople. [54], Following the siege of Zara, more contingents abandoned the main army. The Flemish crusaders returned to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to fight the infidel. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1204 Sack of Constantinople, the capital of the Greek Christian-controlled Byzantine Empire, rather than Egypt as originally planned. The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III.