The Fourth Crusade is often considered one
of the pivotal events of world history. Although the depiction almost always focuses
on the Sack of Constantinople of 1204 the prelude and the aftermath of the sack are
really important, too. In this video, we will talk about the Rise
of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom, the Rise and Fall of the Latin Empire, the struggle
for supremacy in the region, and the final restoration of the Eastern Roman Empire. These long videos are very difficult to make,
so consider liking, sharing, and commenting! And if your hair is like the byzantine empire,
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or click the link in the description. That’s K-E-E-P-S dot com slash kings. The Komnenian restoration that started in
1081 by Alexios I Komnenos and provided a devastated Eastern Roman Empire still reeling
from the defeat at Manzikert the reforms it needed to survive. Three Emperors of this dynasty who ruled for
a century changed the course of history, leading to a cultural, military and territorial expansion
as well as opening the gates for the crusades that would ultimately undo all of their progress. Alexios I and his son John II knew that one
of the most necessary and radical changes was the replacement of the theme system, which
while effective was extremely expensive to upkeep. The solution to this problem was a new system
that was much more feudal and centralised, giving power to the royal family. Only the Emperor could hand out the titles
required for one to become a landowner - pronoi, who then had to supply Constantinople with
taxes and manpower. In a very short span, the local aristocracy
declined in favor of the extended royal family which received most of the titles and land. The competition was fierce and the entire
system relied on a capable ruler who could reign in his family, with the result being
a smaller, cheaper army that was easier to control. On the economic front, the debased currency
of the empire - solidus - was replaced with a gold coinage of higher fineness commonly
called the hyperpyron. The Empire experienced a revival in mosaic
art, built many new churches and fortifications, and annually hosted fairs and jousting tournaments. Then came Manuel I, who much like Justinian
was energetic and ambitious, waging wars constantly. In 1167, Hungary was defeated at the battle
of Sirmium and forced to become the vassal of the empire. In Italy, Manuel first supported Conrad III
of Germany against the Normans, and then the pope in his conflict with the emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire Frederick Barbarossa. He also fought wars against the Seljuks pushing
all the way to their capital of Iconium. Although largely successful, his wars drained
the treasury in return for small gains and created many enemies abroad and at home. Manuel placated the merchant republics of
Venice, Genoa, Amalfi, and Pisa giving them extensive privileges in return for naval and
political support. The rich trade republics bought their way
into power, built large estates, and treated the local populace as second-class citizens,
which aggravated the denizens of Constantinople who despised the Latins. When Manuel died in 1180 he was succeeded
by his 11-year-old son Alexios II, but in reality, his Latin mother Maria, the daughter
of the Crusader Prince of Antioch Raymond of Poitiers ruled as regent. Right away she betrothed her son to the 10-year-old
daughter of Louis VII - Agnes of France and gave even more privileges to the Latin merchants
as the Empire was now being attacked by Bela III Hungary in the west and the Seljuk Turks
in the east. Maria turned to her unlikely allies the Pope
and Saladin, but by that time it was too late. Maria Komnene, the Emperor's half-sister,
and her husband John were worried that Maria would continue her husband's pro-Latin policies
and they were the ones asking Hungary to attack. In 1182 they invited the exiled rebellious
cousin of Manuel, Andronikos to the capital. The latter sent his guards through the gates
of Constantinople and urged the citizens to take justice into their own hands. Years of frustrations against the Catholics
erupted in one of the most violent and bloody moments in the city's history, as tens of
thousands of Latins were slaughtered in the quarters given to them. The mob even cut off the head of the papal
legate cardinal John. The 4000 westerners who barely survived the
carnage were sold off to the Seljuks as slaves. Andronikos quickly turned on Maria Komnene
and her husband, poisoning them. The usurper then forced the 13-year-old Alexios
to sign the execution of his mother and proclaim him as co-Emperor in front of the city crowd. Afterward, Alexios was strangled and the 65-year-old
Andronikos married his betrothed Agnes of France who was just 12. The new emperor wanted to undo the reforms
of his predecessors, which was somewhat justified, as they had now spiraled out of control and
led to an unprecedented level of corruption. Andronikos forbade the sale of offices, appointed
new and fair tax collectors, brutally punished corrupted officials, and reconciled with the
Venetians, restoring trade relations disrupted by the killing of the Latins in 1182. While the people in the provinces enjoyed
these new changes the aristocracy and the populace of Constantinople who were subjected
to this new tyrannical government quickly began conspiring against him. The city and province of Philadelphia rebelled,
but was then crushed, while Cyprus and Serbia made their own attempts to break off, which
were successful. Srem, Zara, Zemun, Belgrade, Branicevo, Nis
and Serdica were all seized by the joint Serbian-Hungarian army of Bela III and Stefan Nemanja with little
to no resistance and Ragusa, which was previously the vassal of Constantinople, was forced to
pledge allegiance to the Norman King of Sicily William II. All of this happened in 4 separate campaigns,
none of which saw a single pitched battle. The Byzantine army was paralysed and in disarray. That same Norman King led an invasion against
the Eastern Roman Empire on both land and sea at the head of a massive army alongside
a pretender who claimed to be Alexios II. He first conquered Dyrrhachium and the Ionian
islands in June of 1185, and then marched on the Egnatia road to Thessaloniki unopposed,
reaching it in August. At the same time, a fleet of 200 ships arrived
under the walls of Thessaloniki. The great city was taken during the final
assault in late August which led to a brutal sack where 7 000 people died. On September 11, 1185, while the Emperor was
absent from the capital a popular uprising put a new candidate on the imperial throne:
Isaac II Angelos. This caught Andronikos by surprise and after
he was captured, Isaac decided to let the mob deal with him. For 3 days the former Emperor was tied to
a post and beaten. Then the old emperor was executed in a horrific
fashion, which marked the bloody end of the Komnenos dynasty which both centralised and
exhausted the state. Isaac II immediately turned his attention
to the west and launched a campaign against the Norman invaders. A momentous event happened sometime during
the campaign, as while the emperor was at camp he granted the audience to 2 brothers
whose names were Asen and Theodore, and who offered their help against the Normans in
return for autonomy over territory in the Haemus mountains. In response, the Emperor’s uncle John Dukas
commanded a eunuch to slap the more insolent of the two in front of the Emperor and sent
them on their way back north. The conquest of Thessaloniki opened the road
to Constantinople, but an army led by the general Alexios Vranas won two victories,
at Mosynopolis, and then decisively, on November 7, 1185, at Demetritzes, largely due to the
fact that the Norman soldiers lost discipline after extensive looting. Despite the fact that the Byzantines defeated
the Norman land forces and retook what most of the lost territory lost, the Norman navy
continued to wreak havoc in the eastern Mediterranean and crushed a force sent by Isaac II to retake
Cyprus. While Byzantium was busy with rebels and invaders
from all sides the two brothers previously insulted by the emperor’s servant rebelled
against the crown in one of history's most elaborate propaganda campaigns. The region of the Haemus mountains centered
around the well-defended fortress of Tarnovo was a multi-ethnic area with a mixed population
made out of Bulgarians, Vlachs, Cumans and Pechenegs as well as other semi-nomadic people
driven out from the steppe. The brothers were most likely Vlachs, but
to build a state they tapped into the Bulgarian heritage and culture which not only endured
but flourished during 167 years of Byzantine control. Up to this point, the rich cattle herders
of these lands were not directly involved with any conflict and remained loyal to Constantinople. To spread the flames of the rebellion the
brothers rebranded themselves in the image of the great Bulgarian tsars, changing their
names from Theodore and Asen to Peter and Ivan Asen, with Peter crowning himself with
a golden wreath wearing red boots and claiming the throne for himself. Next, they took advantage of the recent sack
of Thessaloniki telling their supporters that the patron saint of the city, Saint Demetrius
had abandoned it and bestowed his blessing upon Tarnovo instead. One of his icons taken by the Normans made
its way to the city and was placed in a hastily built wooden church. Peter and Asen declared their rebellion on
his feast day of October 26, 1185, which was an important date in the calendar of all Orthodox
Christians in the Balkans. Finally, they brought in soothsayers, who
were people suffering from epilepsy but regarded as prophets, who told tales that additionally
inspired people to rise up in rebellion. As the propaganda campaign was picking up
speed, Isaac II levied a new tax that fell heavily on the people of the region, especially
on the coastal cities of Varna and Anchialos to pay for the wedding to the Hungarian princess,
which was part of the terms of the peace he concluded with Bela III in order to secure
the west. Bulgarian minor nobles - the boyars were already
aggravated due to losing their positions to the Byzantine aristocrats, and this tax pushed
them to defect to the rebel cause. However, the rebellion lacked the means to
take many of the nearby fortresses including the old Bulgarian capital of Preslav, and
quickly turned to raiding Thrace and gathering more support. Desperate for new allies, Issac II offered
the hand of his sister Theodora to Conrad of Montferrat, an ally of Manuel I, who distinguished
himself fighting against Frederick Barbarossa in Italy In 1179. On his wedding day, he was also awarded the
rank of Caesar. Shortly after Alexios Vranas, the man who
had crushed the Norman threat was emboldened by his victories and the support of his men
who proclaimed him Emperor in his native city of Adrianople. From there he marched on Constantinople in
the spring of 1187 and attempted to take the city. Despite some initial success, he was unable
to breach the strong city defenses, when suddenly Conrad rallied the defenders and sallied out
with his Latin force. Alexios spotted the man and rushed over in
an attempt to kill the enemy leader, but lost the duel and his head. The rebellion was over and Conrad was a hero,
but in the end, he chose to board a Genoese ship and seek out more glory in the Holy Land,
where he would play a key role in the Third Crusade. Vranas was a popular general among the local
populace, so his killing by Conrad only exacerbated the animosity between the Latins and the Greeks. With the Vranas rebellion dealt with, Issac
II was ready to put an end to the raids of the north and mounted against the Vlacho-Bulgarian
rebels. The Byzantine astronomers knew that a total
solar eclipse would happen on September 4, 1187. so Issac used that to his advantage and attacked
the moment the darkness set in. The unsuspecting rebels were decisively routed
and forced to retreat north of the Danube. The Emperor then took the capital with ease,
taking Asen’s wife Helen and brother Kaloyan hostage as well as recovering the icon of
the patron saint. He then moved his army west to besiege Lovech,
but this siege failed after 3 months. Despite the fact that the campaign was a military
and symbolic victory, Angelos failed to capitalise on it, since he left no garrison in Tarnovo,
which the brothers quickly recovered with the help of their new Cuman allies. This forced Isaac to sign a peace treaty that
recognized the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom, but the hostilities were
far from over. The emperor took this time to uphold the promises
of his predecessor towards the Venetians and even expanded their rights, in return for
their obedience: the Doge was named the most loyal servant of the Emperor, the Venetians
regarded as Romans and forced to aid the Empire when called upon, in return for paying no
tariffs when trading in all of its ports. 2 years later in 1189 the Venetian quarter
was expanded by incorporating the smaller French and German quarters in the city in
a treaty that named the trade ports Venice had free access to, one that would become
the foundation of the partition of the Eastern Roman Empire 15 years later. On October 2 1187 Saladin took over Jerusalem,
which triggered the Third Crusade. Isaac II made an alliance with him to counterbalance
Frederick Barbarosa, whose budding diplomacy with the Seljuk Turks was worrisome. After gathering at the initial starting point
of Regensburg the crusaders passed Hungarian and Serbian lands where they were treated
with hospitality and the Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja proposed a coalition against Isaac
along with the new Bulgarian state, who Serbia initially assisted. Frederick refused and sent envoys to Isaac. Unfortunately, the emperor was fighting against
another pretender to the throne Theodore Mankaphas of Philadelphia, and his courtiers didn’t
think of anything better than taking the envoys hostage, which started a limited war between
the Holy Roman and the Eastern Roman empires. The crusader journey in Byzantine lands was
a series of hit and run attacks on their baggage train by Cuman, Vlach, Bulgarian, Serbian
and Greek detachments. When captured many admitted they were acting
on the orders of the Emperor. Mountain passes were blockaded and the cities
of Serdica and Philipopolis were found evacuated with their defenses torn down. Meanwhile, Peter and Asen also sent a proposal
to Barbarosa pledging their support and fealty if he would attack their common enemy. An offer that Frederick seriously considered
as he wintered at Adrianople for 3 months. From there he wrote to his son to gather a
fleet of ships to aid in the capture of Constantinople, but that plan never panned out. In February of 1190, the crusaders clashed
with a Vlacho-Cuman mercenary company hired by Byzantium and soundly defeated them near
Arkadiopolis. Shortly after this defeat Isaac II sent terms
and concluded a treaty allowing the crusaders past the strait free of charge. That same year the crusaders and the Seljuks
of Rum would collide at the Battle of Iconium. Barbarossa was victorious and continued towards
the holy land, which meant that neither him nor the Seljuks would trouble Issac for the
time being. Taking advantage of the absence of any Byzantine
army the Serbians sacked Skopje and occupied the region between Branicevo and Nis, but
Isaac decided to deal with the fledgling Bulgarian state first. A major expedition was launched in July 1190
landing in Messembria and heading straight to Preslav and Tarnovo while enduring the
typical guerrilla tactics employed by the locals. While preparing to capture Strinavos a spy
sent from Ivan Asen convinced Isaac II that a new Cuman wave was south of the Danube ready
to cut him off. The Emperor decided to move through the narrow
Tryavna pass to avoid being stuck between two forces. The giant baggage train stretched for kilometers
and the army was divided into three groups: the vanguard commanded by emperor’s cousin,
Manuel Kamytzes, and by his son-in-law, the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos; the main body
of the army under the command of the emperor and his brother, the sebastokrator Alexios
Angelos and the rearguard commanded by emperor’s uncle, John Dukas, the man who slapped Asen
in the face. Knowing exactly when and where the enemy would
be, Ivan Asen positioned his troops around the pass and allowed the vanguard to go through
it, and then attacked the main corps under direct imperial command. Isaac could not deploy his troops. Once the battle ensued the pinned roman soldiers
were showered with arrows and boulders from above. In order to get out alive, Isaac II’s bodyguards
had to cut through his own soldiers after he was injured and lost his helm. The Vlachs and the Bulgarians captured parts
of the imperial treasury, including many religious relics. Upon learning about the attack, the rearguard
used another pass, probably Šipka, through which John Dukas escaped. Yet another ambush that decimated the army
and supplied the Bulgarians with weapons, armor, funds, morale, and above all legitimacy. What followed was a whirlwind of conquests
that included Varna, Anchialos, Serdica, Nis all the way to Stob. And what was up until now a dual leadership
from two brothers with Peter at the helm shifted with Ivan Asen I being the leading figure
because of the military triumph. Back in Constantinople Isaac II disguised
his failure as a victory and energetically launched a new campaign against Serbia, crushing
them somewhere on the Morava in 1191. There he accepted Stefan Nemanja as ruler
of the region, as long as he was his vassal, forced him to abandon all agreements with
the Bulgarian brothers, and began contemplating a new attack, this time with the aid of Bela
III who would invade from the North, before Bulgaria could obtain the power and status
it once had. In 1192 the Emperor appointed one of his cousins
- Constantine Dukas Angelos, as strategos and gave him Philipopolis. That man proved his worth by securing several
major victories and returning Thrace into the fold. Like many before him, his successes on the
battlefield and the support of his men encouraged Constantine who rose up in rebellion against
Isaac. But when he wrote to his brother-in-law, who
controlled Adrianople, to join his cause, he was refused and the same supporters handed
him over to the Emperor making his rebellion short-lived. With the capable defender now out of the picture,
the Bulgarian raids resumed in 1194, now even more deadly thanks to the assistance of Cuman
allies. Isaac II responded by bringing in Alexios
Gidos from Asia Minor with fresh troops combined with those of the west, that force was annihilated
in Arkadiopolis, which was very close to Constantinople, and pushed the border between the two entities
to the Rhodope mountains. Two expeditionary forces were sent to counter-attack
both leading to a mutiny of the soldiers who feared that their commanders would lead them
to yet another mountain pass ambush. By this point, Isaac II was fed up by this
small spark that only included Tarnovo and its countryside, which grew out of control
so he turned to Bela III and prepared for a massive invasion on two fronts. In March 1195 the emperor left the capital
and gathered his force in Rodosto where he received reports that there was a plot to
put his brother on the throne. However, Isaac refused to believe that his
brother would betray him. This was a mistake, as soon Alexios III proclaimed
himself the Emperor, blinding and imprisoning his brother, and putting yet another campaign
to a halt, which allowed the Bulgarians to press towards Melnik and Serres. Two new armies under two new commanders were
sent against Bulgaria, both armies defeated and their commanders captured. However, what seemed to have been the greatest
triumph of the new state quickly turned into a tragedy as before the army reached Tarnovo
a Bulgarian noble killed Ivan Asen I, however by that time the Second Bulgarian Tsardom
was firmly established and became a major player in the region. Alexios III who became emperor by blinding
his brother Isaac II was one of the most inept rulers Constantinople ever saw, but at the
same time he was one of the luckiest. In order to solidify his claim, he took the
money gathered for military expeditions and spent it bribing the aristocracy. He made the sale of offices legal again and
despite his usurpation had no interest in ruling, so he left the administration of the
Empire in the hands of corrupt officials and his wife Euphrosyne. Another Alexios, who pretended to be Manuel’s
son, dyed his hair, mimicked his stutter, and convinced the Seljuks he was the rightful
heir to the throne. This started a war with the Seljuks, which
weakened the Byzantine hold over Anatolia. The diplomatic problems were mounting and
on Christmas 1196 Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI demanded a tribute of 1 600 pounds of gold,
for which Alexios plundered the imperial tombs and raised a heavy tax on the Empire. But just as the coin was collected, Henry
died. Luckily for Alexios, the pretender was assassinated
in 1197, which slowed down the Seljuk momentum. A big part of those funds was used to conclude
peace with the Sultanate of Rum. The Byzantine problems continued over the
next few years, the coastal regions of the empire were pillaged by the Genoan pirates,
showing the weakness of the empire. The internal situation was also difficult,
as in 1201 John Komnenos the Fat attempted to usurp the throne as his supporters chanted
his name and burned down several churches, but that night a loyalist cut his head off,
ending the coup. In the north, shortly after Ivan Asen I was
assassinated, his brother Peter became the Tsar of Bulgaria, but also was assassinated
soon after. The throne passed to their younger brother
Kaloyan, who was a powerful military commander in his own right. The start of his reign was focused on obtaining
legitimacy from the Pope and after a lengthy correspondence, he received the title of king,
in return for converting Bulgaria to Catholicism. To the west, a Serbian pretender rose to the
throne with the aid of the Pope and Hungary, reducing the buffer zone, but the original
Serbian monarch was restored with the aid of Bulgaria, which showed that the Second
Bulgarian Tsardom is becoming a player in the region. The pope who gave Kaloyan the title was Pope
Innocent III, whose 18-year reign influenced every part of Christendom and who was the
man behind the pro-Catholic coup in Serbia in 1202: He excommunicated monarchs, annulled
marriages, recovered central Italy and the Kingdom of Sicily from the Normans, involved
himself in the Holy Roman Empire’s succession crisis, created several holy orders, advocated
for the crusade against the Cathars and held a strict anti-Jewish policy. However, his greatest ambition was the recovery
of Jerusalem. As the Third Crusade failed to retake Jerusalem,
Innocent called for a new Crusade in August 1198. It took more than a year before several French
nobles took the cross. Their leader Count of Champagne Theobald III
was a 20-year-old energetic and charismatic man, related to English and French crowns,
and he was soon joined by other powerful aristocrats like Count of Blois Louis, Earl of Leicester
Simon of Montfort, and Renaud of Montmirail. By 1200, Theobald managed to recruit many
knights from Flanders. However, the timing of this crusade could
hardly be worse. Philip II of France was at war with John of
England and the Holy Roman Empire was in the middle of a succession war. Despite the lack of participants, the nobles
remained hopeful and devised a very ambitious plan to retake the Holy Land: Egypt was the
center of Muslim power and with Saladin dead, the crusaders would sail up the Nile, take
Egypt, and march on Jerusalem from this new base. The goal of the crusade was to retake Jerusalem
and to prevent desertion, so only the leadership knew this plan. The leaders sent envoys to the only city that
had enough naval power to turn it into a reality. In February 1201, the leader of the Venitian
republic doge Enrico Dandolo welcomed the envoys. This was the moment Venice was waiting for
- a crusade that would give it wealth, allies, prestige, and above all trade ports in the
richest part of the Mediterranean. So two weeks later the sides came to an agreement:
Venice would halt all commercial enterprises for a year in an effort to build the best
fleet in the world. While Crusaders promised an army of 4500 knights,
9000 squires, and 20000 footmen and crossbowmen and agreed to pay the Venetians 4 marks for
every horse and 2 silver marks for each man which amounted to 85000 marks. Additionally, the Venetians would supply the
army with food for 9 months and receive half of the plunder obtained on either land or
sea. But then disaster struck, Theobald died of
an unknown disease at the age of 22. For several months the crusaders sought out
a new leader, but every noble they asked declined, until they reached out to Marquis of Montferrat
Boniface, whose wealth and name gave new life to the expedition bringing in a wave of recruits,
including knights from Italy and Burgundy. Still, the prolonged delay, death of the leader,
general lack of interest due to regional conflicts, selection of a new leader who was Italian,
while the majority of the Crusaders were French, eroded the enthusiasm. Thousands of men sailed off from different
ports directly to the Holy Land and only 12000 crusaders showed up on the Venetian doorstep,
a far cry from what was pledged. This angered the Venetians, who lost a year’s
worth of trade while spending on the ships and supplies. The crusaders also failed to come up with
the silver they had promised. However, Dandolo proposed a solution: The
crusaders would loot the trade port of Zara, which Hungary took from Venice 20 years prior,
and pay their debts with the spoils they would take. Thousands of crusaders disliked this and left,
but the majority agreed. This new plan appeased the Venitian council
and the 93-year old blind Doge gathered his people in St Mark's square in an effort to
win their support. “Signors, you are associated with the most
worthy people in the world, and for the highest enterprise ever undertaken; and I am a man
old and feeble, who should have need of rest, and I am sick in body; but I see that no one
could command and lead, you like myself, who am your lord. If you will consent that I take the sign of
the cross to guard and direct you and that my son remains in my place to guard the land,
then shall I go to live or die with you and with the pilgrims." And when they heard him, they cried with one
voice: "We pray you by God that you consent, and do it, and that you come with us!" With that speech, the crusade took a new form,
with a new leader and tripled in number, as 20000 Venetians joined it, at least a quarter
of the population. Oarsmen, merchants, and marines took the cross
and now outnumbered the other crusaders 2 to 1. On October 1, 1202, the Fourth Crusade departed
for Zara, which was protected by high walls, and a small harbor chain. The port fell instantly and the city was besieged. The defenders sent an envoy to the Doge offering
their surrender. The crusaders could plunder and take the city,
as long as the people were unharmed. Dandolo went to consult his fellow crusaders
first, but while he was away, members of the faction that didn’t want to attack a Christian
city and wanted to go to the Holy Land contacted the envoy: "Why should you surrender your
city? The pilgrims will not attack you - have no
care of them. If you can defend yourselves against the Venetians,
you will be safe enough". This message essentially ended the negotiations. Meanwhile, the Doge and the nobles agreed
to accept the surrender and were stunned to find out the envoys were gone. To make matters worse a papal envoy arrived
threatening anyone who attacked the city with excommunication, but it was too late to turn
back now. The discord within the army was at an all-time
high as some camped further away from the city, while the main force began firing their
siege weapons at the walls and sent sappers to mine its towers. Five days later the city surrendered under
the same conditions as before, but already the cracks were showing, especially due to
their excommunication. Winter had arrived and the host quartered
in the rich city with the Venetians taking the coastal side and the crusaders taking
the inland side, both of which were plundered. Three days after the occupation a fight broke
out within the city between the Venetian and Latin crusaders. The battle engulfed Zara as steel clashed
and crossbows were fired until the morning, leaving many dead on both sides, including
some civilians. An uneasy truce was made between the Doge
and the nobles who desperately tried to keep the army from falling apart, which was particularly
difficult with the absence of Boniface who arrived two weeks later alongside a fresh
German contingent and an envoy from King of Germany Philip of Swabia. The latter was busy fighting over control
of the Holy Roman Empire but saw the opportunity to put his brother-in-law Alexios IV Angelos
in charge of the East and played a key role in convincing him to turn to the crusaders
for help. In our previous episode, we covered how the
founder of the Angelos dynasty, Issac II was usurped by his brother Alexios III, who blinded
and imprisoned him alongside his son Alexios IV. The latter was freed by Pisan merchants and
was waiting for the right moment to free his father and retake the throne. He had heard of the financial struggles of
the crusaders and offered them 200000 silver marks. Additionally, he promised to either go alongside
the crusaders to the Holy Land or send 10000 men in his stead. But above all, he promised to put the Orthodox
Church under the primacy of the Pope. Contemporary sources claim that the leaders
of the crusade were compelled to right the wrong done to Alexios IV because of their
code of chivalry. Still, even more men deserted, and with Simon
de Montfort going to the king of Hungary, most of the nobles who started the crusade
had either died or left. The crusaders sent envoys to Pope Innocent
III to obtain absolution and requested that he allow the expedition to restore Alexios
IV to the throne. Both were approved once Innocent III realized
this was the best chance to end the East-West schism. Once they celebrated Easter in April of 1203,
the Venetians razed Zara and tore down its walls, before departing alongside Alexios
IV. The fleet slowly made its way towards Constantinople,
with Corfu, Andros and Abydos willingly opening their gates to the young Alexios. This slow crawl didn’t go unnoticed by his
uncle Alexios III who prepared the city's defenses and rallied his people against the
invaders. Unfortunately, there was nothing for him to
do but wait since none of the provinces sent reinforcements to the capital. The Byzantine fleet of the time was made up
of 20 rotting galleys, which were stripped of anchors and sails by a corrupt official,
so there was no way to counter the crusaders. Unopposed, the crusaders disembarked and made
camp at Chalcedon and Scutari, with Constantinople on the horizon. The Emperor sent terms that were rejected,
had smaller contingents harass their foraging parties, and gathered his army at Galata. With Boniface and Dandolo beside him, the
young Emperor boarded a galley and revealed himself to the thousands of people gathered
on the city walls, but none cheered for him, so the crusaders prepared for battle. On July 5, 1203, the Venetians manned the
ships, while the crusaders formed seven divisions each led by one of the leaders. Alexios III was in a perfect position to defend
his shores, but he was up against the biggest amphibious assault in medieval history. The specially designed Venetian troop transports
unleashed the heavy knights, their charge covered by archers and crossbowmen. The first wave allowed for the infantry to
safely make their way to the beach and put more pressure on the defenders. As soon as the lances were lowered the Byzantines
began to flee to the fortress of Galata. With the beachhead secure the knights mounted
their horses and made their way to the Imperial tents and pavilions, which were abandoned,
leaving many spoils behind. In order to access the Golden Horn, the massive
chain had to be removed, and to do that Galata had to fall and so another siege began. It is here we see the first sign of resistance,
as the defenders rushed out of the gates in an attempt to surprise the enemy. However, the Byzantine force was no match
for the highly disciplined crusaders who pushed them back and managed to get to the gate before
it was closed. Galata was stormed while many defenders were
cut down or drowned. The chain was broken and the crusaders were
one step closer to achieving their goal. A city of 350000, Constantinople had around
15 000 men ready to defend it, of which 5000 were Varangian guards. Its great walls had seen many invaders come
and go over the centuries. The sea wall however was its weak spot, one
the Venetians were ready to exploit, tying scaling ladders to their masts as they loaded
up their mangonels. Meanwhile, the crusaders landed further down
the Golden Horn before camping outside the northwestern tip of the city. The camp was defended by palisades and constantly
harassed by Byzantine troops that rushed out of the gates to inflict minor casualties,
a strategy that proved very unsuccessful. During one of these sallies, the Burgundian
division broke the attackers and chased them back to the walls, inflicting heavy casualties. After 10 days of skirmishes and preparation,
the assault of the city began on 17 July 1203. Half of the crusader force mounted scaling
ladders and finally met their match as they clashed with the notorious Varangians. Sword met the ax, and in the end, the Norsemen
gained the upper hand, forcing the Latins to withdraw back to their camp. As the crusaders pressed the defenders, the
Venetian fleet engaged the other side of the city across the sea walls. Despite their siege ladders, mangonels, and
cover fire, they made little progress. Then suddenly the old Doge disembarked on
the coast in front of the walls, rallying his people with the banner of their patron
saint Mark in his hands. Emboldened by this act of bravery, the Venetians
rushed forward taking tower after tower. The defenders were overwhelmed and began to
flee, while the marines took 25 of the 103 towers across the walls. The Byzantines attempted to dislodge them,
but the Venetians lit a massive fire that engulfed the city and prevented any counter-attack. As the sea walls fell, Alexios III gathered
all of his forces and rode out to meet the crusaders head-on. Seeing this the crusaders formed up behind
their defenses, ready to meet their numerically superior foe. The Latins formed up in good order, with archers
and crossbowmen in front of the knights. Even the camp followers joined in, donning
horse quilts and copper cooking pots for protection. The leaders ordered their men to take no action
without a formal command, fearing desperate acts of heroism or retreat. Some would later write that it felt as if
a huge wave was about to come crashing down on them. But Alexios III froze and he and his army
halted their movement, waiting for the enemy to make the first move. Meanwhile hearing of this standoff the Doge
commanded his men to retreat from the walls and go to aid their allies. He was the first to disembark on the coast,
soon joined by his warriors. We are not sure what happened, but it seems
that seeing the Venetians approaching the area, Alexios ordered a full retreat. That night he stole 1000 pounds of gold from
the treasury and fled to Thrace. After almost a decade of being imprisoned,
blinded Issac II was dragged out of his cell and dressed in purple by the desperate citizens. The crusaders sent envoys to negotiate with
Issac and he received them well. The promises made by his son were confirmed. Immediately after the crusaders entered the
city with Alexios IV who was welcomed with open arms by the people who had recently refused
him. There was a great feast and a coronation that
made him co-emperor. In order to prevent another clash with the
local populace, crusaders stationed themselves in Galata, where soon after his coronation
Alexis IV arrived. He was well aware that the original agreement
the crusaders made with Venice expired on September 29 and found it difficult to gather
the 200000 marks he promised, so he asked for the term to be extended and for the Catholics
to winter in his lands until March, which would give him time to collect the funds. Additionally, he asked for Latin aid in vanquishing
his uncle in Thrace. Once again the crusade was delayed and many
were unhappy with the situation, but the Doge and other leaders convinced them that it would
be pointless to leave empty-handed, only to winter in the Holy Lands. The crusaders agreed and over half of them
left to attack Alexios III who was organising resistance in Adrianople. The Latin Quarter in Constantinople was repopulated
after the massacre of 1182, and while Alexios IV was away, a fight broke out between the
Latin and Greek inhabitants of the city, as the latter decided to scapegoat the Latins. The struggle escalated to a massive fire that
burned down a huge portion of it, melting down churches and killing thousands as the
crusaders watched from the other side of the Golden Horn. Approximately 15000 Latins made their way
to Galata where they joined the pilgrims seeking protection from the locals. The Emperor returned in November to a devastated
Constantinople, with an empty treasury and furious populace. Alexios paid small installments of the promised
payment, melting down precious church relics, while feeding the crusaders at his doorstep. Discontent with his weak and blind leadership
continued to increase, and a riot broke out in January 1204 which saw the co-emperors
sending their relative Alexios Mourtzouphlos to the crusaders for aid once more. The envoy used the discontent of the Varangian
guard, who probably weren’t paid and hated the crusaders. The guard was bribed, murdered the co-emperors,
and brought the envoy to the throne as Alexios V. The new emperor renewed the hostilities by
launching a preemptive strike on the Crusaders, as he knew that they would soon attack him
to avenge Isaac and Alexios IV. Giant wooden structures were to be built on
top of the sea walls, making them more difficult to take. While the defenses were strengthened the Byzantines
sent 7 large ships filled with lumber, tow, resin, and barrels and directed them towards
the Venetian fleet. The fire ships could very well have taken
out a big portion of the crusader navy, if not for the quick response from the Venetians
who managed to attach hooks to the approaching vessels, redirecting them away. This was the last time the crusaders argued
over departing to the Holy Land as they discussed the situation. In the end, the murder and usurpation, broken
promises and 15000 Latins who had fled to their camp led to one clear decision. The crusader forces would assault the city
and this time they would not do so to place some pretender on the throne but to take it
for themselves. In March 1204 the leadership laid out plans
on how to divide the Eastern Roman Empire among them and how to evenly distribute the
spoils. Once that was confirmed, they decided to focus
all of their efforts on the sea walls. On 9 April the assault began as the walls
were scaled on dozens of different points along the northern side, but a strong wind
made it difficult for the ships to disembark and many were left stranded between the Golden
Horn and the sea walls. The defenders relentlessly shot volleys of
arrows, bolts, and rocks and managed to repulse the attacks. Back in Galata, the defeated host made plans
and some suggested to readjust the strategy and strike from a different point, but the
Venetians managed to convince them that there were no other options, arguing that if an
attack was made further south on the walls, the currents would carry the fleet away. Instead, a decision was made to bind the galleys
in pairs and build giant fighting platforms that would act as naval siege towers. Meanwhile, Alexios V camped just outside the
city in an effort to draw the crusaders out, which only depleted the already weakened garrison. On April 12, the second assault commenced
and two of the largest ships in the fleet bound together embraced one of the towers. Elsewhere a small contingent armed with pickaxes
made way to the walls. The defenders tried everything to stop them,
but the armor and shields blocked most of the projectiles allowing for a small gap to
be opened in the wall. Knights crawled through the gap and held their
ground against the waves of Greeks trying to stop them. At this point, the Varangians, who still weren’t
paid, decided to desert, leaving the Queen of Cities to fall. Rather than overextend, the crusaders consolidated
their position. Dandolo remained on the ships, count Baldwin
took the scarlet tents that Alexios V abandoned, while his brother Henry took the Blachernae
palace and Boniface camped within the city. In anticipation of a midnight attack, the
latter group started a fire within the city which was carried further inward by the wind
and burned for nearly 24 hours. As his final attempt to rally the defenders
failed, Alexios V fled to the west. When the fire burned out, there was no resistance
left, no leadership, no Varangian guard, and no Empire. One of the leaders of the crusade, the marquis
of Montferrat Boniface took the Palace of Boukoleon, where he found all the prominent
ladies of the court, count Baldwin of Flanders took quarters in the Palace of Blachernae,
while the Doge Enrico Dandolo occupied Hagia Sophia. Alexios III had left with the entire treasury
and the crusaders were determined to receive what they were promised by Alexios IV, but
having learned their lesson from the infighting that occurred over spoils in Zara they laid
out a plan on how to sack the city. The citizens were not to be harmed, especially
if they were Latins and all the gathered spoils would be collected in designated piles within
several churches and then divided equally, half going to the Venetians and the second
half to the crusaders. Every major leader condemned acts of violence
and selfishness under the threat of excommunication. Despite these clear instructions many men
turned to savages as they took spoils for themselves while raping and killing innocent
citizens. One particular episode describes a knight
carrying loot on his shield stacked up to his chin. That knight and many others were hanged immediately. One of the primary contemporary chroniclers
Niketas Choniates describes an event from which we can draw several conclusions. As he and his wife were attempting to leave
the city five days after it fell, they saw a young girl who was grabbed by a knight and
dragged through the streets until he barred the door of his newfound home with her inside. The act was reported to other knights nearby,
who immediately threatened him with death if he did not release the girl, at which point
he obeyed. Yet again we see the division in the crusader
camp, with some choosing to disobey direct orders, but most following them out of discipline,
oaths, or fear. But while they did their best to limit violence,
their greed rolled over the city, destroying artifacts, monuments, and works of art. The imperial treasury was empty, so the crusaders
began stripping metal ornaments, ivory containers, pearls, and precious stones, melted down chalices
and relics, plundered churches, and the stone homes of the rich which were left exposed
by the fire after it devoured the timber houses of the commoners. Around half of the population of the city
was left homeless and became refugees, making their way to Bulgaria and the new successor
states. The Church of the Holy Apostles also known
as the imperial cemetery, which for more than 700 years was the second most important church
in the city was already ransacked by Alexios III when he was gathering a tribute that was
demanded of him from the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, but that did not stop the crusaders
from breaking into the sarcophagi of the buried Emperors, including Constantine, Justinian
and Theodora, Heraclius and many others. The invaders were surprised to find Justinian's
body still intact with no signs of rot, the bodies themselves were untouched, but the
precious objects Alexios III didn’t dare to touch were taken to the pile of spoils. Every church was ransacked, including the
great Hagia Sophia with its great golden altar, engraved with the colours of 72 pearls, cut
into pieces, and carted off on mules. The heavy load and slippery marble floor,
caused some of the animals to slip and fall and before long the floor of the temple was
covered in blood and excrements. The Empire was dead and now the vultures were
dismembering its corpse. Countless marble statues and columns were
shipped off and sold, the harbor chain that protected the Golden Horn was separated into
pieces and delivered to Acre alongside the very gates of the city. Doors, furniture, silk, and other valuables
were also sold or sent back to the west. The Catholics found no interest in icons,
which were not nearly as popular in the Catholic world, so they destroyed or desecrated a vast
quantity of them to the dismay of the local populace. And yet the biggest tragedy was what they
did to the numerous bronze works of art throughout the city. Giant statues, symbolising authority, beauty,
strength, and wisdom were thrown into the smelters and melted down to be turned into
cheap copper coins. Among them were a statue of Hera, charioteers,
a man wrestling with a lion, a monument celebrating Actium, a statue of Aphrodite, being handed
the golden apple of discord by Paris of Troy, a bronze statue of the she-wolf suckling the
founders of Rome, a tetrapylon, built by Theodosius, with a beautiful facade that depicted birds,
sheep, lamb, fish as well as mythological creatures and figures, with a large bronze
pyramid and a female figure that acted as a weather vane, showing the direction of the
wind. This is just the beginning of the list. Among the lost cultural items was a crocodile
with prickly bronze scales clutching a struggling African buffalo in its jaws. The Nile bull, as the locals called it, attempted
to break free by biting the crocodile, both killing each other in the process, neither
achieving its goal. Another smelted art piece was a large statue
that stood at the base of the Forum of the Theodosius depicting the hero of the ancient
Greek myth Bellerophon as he gazed towards the sun, riding the winged Pegasus, alongside
a large bronze eagle with extended wings and a coiled snake in its claws. The latter also served as a sundial, with
its wings split into twelve sections, from which the observer could determine the hour
of the day. Also lost was a massive bronze sculpture made
by the legendary Lysippos, the personal sculptor of Alexander the Great, whose pupil constructed
the Colossus of Rhodes. Lysippos created a giant Heracles, with the
lion’s skin over him and a club in his hands. His shin was as tall as a man and a man’s
belt could go around his thumb. The masterpiece was cut piece by piece and
thrown into the fire like all the rest. Sphinxes, sea monsters, and other mythological
creatures were also destroyed. For the description of the last notable statue
we turn to the contemporary chronicler: “What of the white-armed, beautiful-ankled, and
long-necked Helen, who mustered the entire host of the Hellenes and overthrew Troy, whence
she sailed to the Nile and, after a long absence, returned to the abodes of the Laconians? Was she able to placate the implacable? Was she able to soften those men whose hearts
were made of iron? On the contrary! She who had enslaved every onlooker with her
beauty was wholly unable to achieve this, even though she was appareled ornately; though
fashioned of bronze, she appeared as fresh as the morning dew, anointed with the moistness
of erotic love on her garment, veil, diadem, and braid of hair. Her vesture was finer than spider webs, and
the veil was cunningly wrought in its place; the diadem of gold and precious stones which
bound the forehead was radiant, and the braid of hair that extended down to her knees, flowing
down and blowing in the breeze, was bound tightly in the back with a hairband. The lips were like flower cups, slightly parted
as though she were about to speak; the graceful smile, at once greeting the spectator, filled
him with delight; her flashing eyes, her arched eyebrows, and the shapeliness of the rest
of her body were such that they cannot be described in words and depicted for future
generations. O Helen, Tyndareus's daughter, the very essence
of loveliness, off-shoot of Erotes, ward of Aphrodite, nature's most perfect gift, the
contested prize of Trojans and Hellenes, where is your drug granted you by Thon's wife which
banishes pain and sorrow and brings forgetfulness of every ill?"' Where are your irresistible love charms? Why did you not make use of these now as you
did long ago? But I suspect that the Fates had foreordained
that you should succumb to the flame's fervor so that your image should no longer arouse
spectators’ sexual passions. It was said that these Aeneadae condemned
you to the flames as retribution for Troy's having been laid waste by the firebrand because
of your scandalous amours. But the gold-madness of these men does not
allow me to conceive and utter such a thing, for that madness was the reason why rare and
excellent works of art everywhere were given over to total destruction.” Considering the extensive list of art that
was present all over the city, in the forum, Hippodrome, overlooking the streets and churches
it is easy to see why the citizens of the empire considered themselves Roman. The Fourth Crusade didn’t just demolish
monuments, it struck a blow against their identity, severing their ties with Antiquity. One of the few bronze works of art that were
not thrown into the smelters was the Quadriga. These four life-sized bronze gilded horses
originally sat on the top of Hadrian's Mausoleum, before they were moved to the Hippodrome. The Venetians took these horses, cut off their
heads, and transported them back to Venice, where they were reassembled and put on top
of the St Mark church, with collars on their neck to hide the cut. The brilliant works of art looked over the
city until history once again repeated itself, Napoleon took control of Venice in 1797 and
forcibly removed the statues along with an immense quantity of art from all over Italy. Yet again gold and silver objects were melted
down to pay for soldier salaries, but the chariot of the gods was placed on top of the
newly commissioned Arc de Triomphe, before it was returned to Venice following the Congress
of Vienna. Along with the horses, St Mark’s Basilica
was decorated with the Carmagnola, four life-sized sculptures of the tetrarchs, and marvelous
pillars of Acre. Additionally, Venice also seized the Colossus
of Barletta, a massive bronze statue of either Markian or Leo I, which washed up on the beach
of Barletta after the ship that carried it sank. This clearly shows that unlike the rest of
the crusaders, the Venetians preferred to preserve the bronze statues, rather than smelt
them and turn them into coins. One theory suggests that the reason behind
this is that the Franks considered the great bronze statues to glorify polytheism, making
them go out of their way to destroy them for very little monetary gain. But Venice was not the only one that got to
bring trophies home, over the next few decades many artifacts were shipped off to the west. The head relics and bones of multiple patriarchs
and saints, including Andrew the patron saint of Constantinople were taken by various cardinals
and clergymen. Conrad of Krosig, bishop of Halberstadt, was
one of the crusaders who sacked the city and a year later he returned home, enriching his
cathedral with several precious artifacts. The Blood of Christ, a strand of the Virgin
Mary’s hair, pieces of the True Cross, the crown of thorns, his purple robe, and his
sandals along with other objects attributed to various apostles and saints, several gold
disks, and two ivory panels. Traditionally splinters of the True Cross
were stored in special precious containers, which the crusaders scattered to Limburg,
Trier, Koblenz, Amiens, Rome with the largest of them going to Paris. The French city also obtained the mysterious
shroud of Turin bearing the negative image of a man, leading many to believe that this
was the burial shroud that Jesus was wrapped in. Paris received many other great artifacts,
a majority of which were destroyed during the French Revolution centuries later. Robert of Claris was a lowborn French knight
who provided us with a glimpse of the treasures that were lost to us: “not even one person
above Earth, as much as he had lived in this city, would be able to count and tell the
riches. Because whoever narrated even the slightest
about this wealth, about the beauty and precious things that were found in the monasteries,
churches, in the palaces, and in the city, would appear a liar and not one would believe
him”. Another account of one of the leaders of the
crusade tells us how the great heaps of spoils were split in half with the crusaders receiving
150000, of which 50000 went to Venice, alongside their own share of 150000 marks. But this figure does not account for all the
precious treasures that were destroyed, melted, sold, or shipped off. In reality, this was arguably the greatest
loss of art in human history. When the Western Roman Empire fell, Constantinople
became a bastion of knowledge and art, keeping the secrets of both behind its tall walls. The fourth crusade opened those walls and
spread the spoils all over western Europe, arguably setting the foundation of the Renaissance. The stone and marble statues were cut, the
bronze marvels smelted, the churches and palaces were plundered and now the crusaders were
preparing to divide the land and elect the first Emperor of this new Latin Empire to
spread their reign over the remnants of the shattered Roman one. The Latin Empire as we know it today is a
historiographical name, as the crusaders considered themselves the direct successors to the Roman
Empire and continued to call it Imperii Romaniae. They kept the customs, the bureaucratic systems
and the local government intact in an attempt to win over the local population. This came as a great surprise to the Holy
Roman Emperor, as for centuries the East and West argued over the title of Emperor, a dispute
which did not end with the dissolution of the Empire itself. The two most fundamental changes enacted by
the new regime were the creation of Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople and the introduction
of western feudalism. Despite his excommunications and outrage at
the sack of Constantinople, Pope Innocent III was eager to end the East-West schism
and send out a Venetian Tommaso Morosini, who became the first Patriarch of Constantinople. Still, the Catholic influence did not extend
beyond the city itself, which continued to have a strong Orthodox clergy. There was no persecution or forced conversion
as the crusaders desperately tried to win over the vast population. As for the feudal structure of the Latin Empire,
one can view that change as a continuation of the reforms started by the Komnenos dynasty,
only even more complicated. The Empire was divided in fiefs with vassal
lords swearing fealty to the Emperor, who controlled a quarter of the imperial territories
and city, while the other 3 quarters were divided between the crusaders and Venetians. The Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo was officially
recognized as the ruler of one quarter and a half of the Roman Empire, was granted Hagia
Sophia and was the only one who didn’t have to swear allegiance to the Emperor. The rest of the crusaders were direct vassals
ruling vast lands at least in name, since nearly all of the lands they claimed were
unconquered. In fact, the Emperor considered Bulgaria,
Nicea and Trebizond not as enemies he had to vanquish, but rebels who defied his rightful
claim. As for the Emperor himself, the crown was
originally offered to the old and blind Enrico Dandolo, but keeping with the principles of
the Republic, the Doge declined. Afterwards a council of 12 electors, 6 Venetians
and 6 crusaders, was formed. In the end it was a tie between two candidates:
Boniface of Montferrat, and Baldwin of Flanders. The Venetians who had the decisive vote, picked
the latter candidate as they were worried that Boniface might favor the Genoans who
were close to his homeland. Boniface did not take the loss well and demanded
that he receive the second city in the Empire Thessaloniki as well as the already promised
islands of Euboea and Crete to which the new Emperor agreed. A month after the city fell, Baldwin was crowned
and soon his forces spilled out in all directions to solidify their feudal claims. City after city surrendered to them and had
Latin garrisons installed, but it was not long before the tensions escalated. Baldwin suddenly changed his mind and took
Kavala and Thessaloniki himself, while Boniface took up arms against him, seized Didymoteicho
and began attracting the locals, who preferred him, due to the fact he already married the
former wife of Isaac II Margaret of Hungary. Next, he laid siege to Adrianople, but by
that time the rest of the crusaders received word of the conflict and sent messengers to
both men in an effort to restore the peace. Realizing their struggle would mean the end
of their new Empire, Baldwin reaffirmed and expanded the rights of Boniface, who became
the King of Thessalonica. While no blood was spilled, the crusaders
showed weakness and the locals immediately sent out letters to their old enemy, Kaloyan
of Bulgaria who shared their hatred, and promised him the crown, if he saved them from the crusaders. This pact was solidified by none other than
the Patriarch of Constantinople who had taken refuge in Didymoteicho. The previous year Kaloyan reached out to the
crusaders and offered his help, but they scolded him, replying that he should address them
not as equals, but as a servant addressing his master. The king was furious, not only at the insult,
but at the fact that he spent years placating the Pope to receive his crown and insignia,
while a simple count without either was elevated to Emperor, which was the original goal of
the Asen dynasty. Baldwin solidified his rule over Thrace and
found Alexios V. The new emperor used this opportunity to solidify
his legitimacy, so he raised him on top of a tall marble column in the middle of the
Hippodrome and made the entire city of Constantinople watch their last Emperor fall to his death. In the east the Emperor’s brother Henry
advanced on Lopadium and Adramyttium, which fell without resistance, but then suddenly
he was ambushed by the forces of one of the Byzantine pretenders, Theodore Mangphas of
Philadelphia. However, the sight of the heavily armored
knights and their lances prevented his men from taking any action and they were decisively
routed, despite their superior numbers. That humiliating defeat ended the first successor
state which was absorbed by Theodore Lascaris of Nicea, who used the weakness of his rival
to expand his own claim. The other contender to the throne, David Komnenos
of Trebizond, who was able to take over his ancestral homeland with the help of the Queen
of Georgia Tamar the Great, moved his forces to occupy Nicomedia soon realizing that in
this conflict religion, culture and allegiances constantly shifted, as Theodore Lascaris moved
his troops through a secret pass outmaneuvering the forces of Trebizond. David Komnenos was caught off guard, but the
timely action of the Latins who came to rescue the city forced both successor states to abandon
their campaigns. One of the most important aspects of the regional
struggle was the fact that the crusaders were very few in numbers and in order to keep the
Empire from falling apart, Baldwin gave huge concessions to the locals and his allies,
but this meant that the Latins could not afford any drastic changes in command or signs of
weakness. Kaloyan finally decided to act and sent 5
000 Greeks to rebel against the Latins. The first cities to rebel were Adrianople
and Didymoteicho and their garrisons were killed. Most of the crusaders were either in Greece
or Asia Minor, spread even thinner, but since Nicea and Trebizond were busy fighting each
other, Baldwin managed to recall his men from the east to deal with this new threat. Most of the Philippopolis defenders also tried
to unite with the main host but were intercepted and slaughtered. On March 25, 1205, Emperor Baldwin, Doge Dandolo,
and Louis of Blois marched to Adrianople. We don’t have a concrete number of Crusading
army, but it had around 5000 troops, among them around 1000 horsemen and 300 knights. Upon approaching the city, they began constructing
siege weapons and digging tunnels underneath the walls which were flying Bulgarian banners. The crusaders wanted to deal with this threat
before Kaloyan could arrive, so they were disorganised, coming in waves, and very short
on supplies. Some of them attempted to assault a nearby
castle and raid its storages but were unsuccessful. On April 13 Kaloyan arrived with a large army
that included many Cuman horsemen. Once again, the number of troops Kaloyan had
is disputed, with the Crusader chronicler Geoffrey of Villehardouin claiming they had
around 50 thousand, while modern historians think that the number was around 8 thousand. The Bulgarians camped 8 kilometers away from
the city and sent a contingent of Cuman horse archers to harass the grazing sheep and horses. Mounted knights gave chase and tried to retaliate,
but the lightly armored Cumans gave them a taste of the feigned retreat tactic which
a certain Mongol warlord was preparing to unleash on the other side of the world. Taking light casualties in their unsuccessful
attempt, the knights returned to the camp. That night all of the leaders gathered for
a war council, and the Emperor ordered that no man should chase after the enemy, instead
the army was to form lines and hold their formation. On the next day, after studying the path the
small contingent of knights choose to follow, the Bulgarians gambled that they would repeat
their mistake and positioned their troops in an ambush at a narrow corridor between
the Tundja river and a forested hill, and dug out pits in the middle, which were concealed. This time the Cumans aimed at the tents where
many crusaders were having lunch. Despite the direct orders, one of the most
notable crusaders Louis of Blois gathered his men and charged at the light cavalry. The man was regarded as a capable commander
and hungered for glory and it is also important to remember that up until this moment the
crusaders didn’t lose an open battle and made an entire empire fall to its knees. Seeing one of the first nobles, who took the
cross ride out to certain doom, Baldwin rallied his troops and tried to aid his commander. The crusaders proceeded to mount their horses
in total disarray and follow after the Cumans while the Venetians continued the siege. Occasionally the Cumans would turn around
and fire at their horses, letting them close the distance before they galloped further
into the valley until eventually reaching the trap, where the rest of the Bulgarian
army awaited the crusader force. The Bulgarians rushed in from both sides,
while more Cumans wheeled around to block the withdrawal. The heavily armored knights were encircled
and taken down from their horses, their necks exposed to knives and noose or smashed by
blunt weapons. While the crusaders were few in number they
represented the best the west had to offer. Still, Count Louis and around 300 knights
perished that day along with an equal number of mounted sergeants. Emperor Baldwin refused to flee and was captured
by the Bulgarian force. The feudal system of the new Latin Empire
was entirely broken with a single stroke, but Kaloyan wanted to finish the job. He and his men rode out towards the main crusader
camp, which was ready to meet them now commanded by the marshal of the empire Geoffrey of Villehardouin. After a long staredown and the occasional
arrow volley, the crusader discipline did not fail and the Bulgarians withdrew back
to their camp for the night. Knowing that they would be assaulted the following
day, the crusaders lit many torches and quietly left the area, before either side realized
what was happening. Kaloyan was surprised to find the camp deserted
and sent out his scouts to locate the enemy, but to no avail. He then stood at the gates of Adrianople,
awaiting to be received by the citizens as their Emperor, but history took a dramatic
shift, as the Greeks refused to open their gates. Despite their promises and careful planning,
the key center Kaloyan needed to take on the road to the throne defied him and he transformed
into the mad tsar. Baldwin’s brother Henry was at that point
returning from his victory over Theodore Mangaphas in Asia Minor. He had 20 thousand Armenian men, women, and
children, who sided with him and thus drew the ire of the Greeks. Hearing of the defeat at Adrianople, Henry
rushed with his troops to Thrace, leaving the civilians to their fate. According to the sources, they were slaughtered
by the locals. Meanwhile, Kaloyan turned west and seized
Serres and laid siege to it in late May. The city fell, but the citadel was hard to
penetrate. The defenders offered their surrender if they
were allowed safe passage. Although Kaloyan accepted this, he then executed
them. Next came the cities of Veria and Almopia,
which were razed to the ground and their populace relocated. Kaloyan was here to destroy, not conquer and
before long he would take the nickname Romanslayer. Unlike Basil II the Bulgarslayer who received
his nickname long after his death, Kaloyan not only knew his title, but lived up to it,
razing the city of Philippopolis on the way back to Tarnovo. After the crusaders who survived Adrianople
reached Rodosto, they were joined by Henry’s host, alongside the garrisons that managed
to escape Kaloyan’s wrath. The fate of the emperor Baldwin was unknown
with some thinking that he died of his wounds. We also have sources claiming that he would
be the prisoner in Tarnovo, where Kaloyan tortured him to death. In any case, the situation looked bleak and
7000 of them decided to abandon the empire and sail back home, most of them Venetians. That same month the 98-year-old Doge Enrico
Dandolo died and was buried in Hagia Sophia. The republic would vote whether to move their
capital to Constantinople, but in the end, their commercial interests outweighed their
political ones and Venice would slowly shift its focus elsewhere. Henry, who was appointed as regent in the
absence of Baldwin. He attempted to take Adrianople but failed. His attempt to take Didymoteicho was also
unsuccessful, as he lost his siege equipment to a flood. Henry might have hoped to get the help of
Boniface, but the latter was busy laying siege to Nafplio. As a result, the Crusaders just didn’t have
enough troops to defend any of their territories: all of Thrace, except for Rodosto and Selymbra
rebelled or had been sacked, with only Biga under control on the other side of the channel. In January 1206 Kaloyan launched a new campaign,
this time even more devastating than the last. As the crusaders were still reeling from their
loss Kaloyan and his Cumans managed to destroy over a dozen major settlements: the cities
reduced to ash, with their populace and cattle moved back to Bulgaria. One particularly brutal episode was the destruction
of the great port city of Rodosto, where many panicked at the mere sight of the Romanslayer. So many Venetians jumped on their ships that
many of them sank and drowned, before the city fell and was destroyed like all the rest. As the crusaders were moving men from one
garrison to another, they were discovered by the Bulgarian force and had to accept battle
near Rusion. Several thousand men along with over a hundred
knights fought 7000 Bulgarians. The crusaders were soundly defeated as they
crawled towards the safety of the nearby fortress where all the defenders could do was watch
as some of the best warriors were cut down. Following this campaign, the few remaining
Greeks abandoned their own interests and sided with the Latins out of fear of the Romanslayer
and cooperated with Henry. Once he learned of this, Kaloyan immediately
laid siege to Didymoteicho and razed it to the ground. The newly crowned Emperor Henry gave chase
and after a short skirmish pushed back the Bulgarians who left 20000 men, women and children
carrying their belongings on over 3000 wagons from the razed city, Henry rejoiced as he
managed to save the citizens of at least one of the destroyed cities, but this gives us
an idea of the level of devastation Thrace suffered. The Eastern Roman empire lost battles and
lands before, but it were these events that left a scar that would never heal. Henry proceeded to return the favor by razing
Thermopolis and Anchialos and several other Black Sea cities, before returning to Adrianople. While the Crusaders were losing their positions
in Thrace and Asia Minor, Theodore Lascaris of Nicea turned his sights on Phrygia, defeating
the claimant and splitting his lands with the Seljuk sultan. Within the span of a year, Nicea became the
dominant power in the region, consolidating the lands of two other claimants and stopping
the advance of a third. At the beginning of 1207, Lascaris proposed
a joint attack on Constantinople, which Kaloyan gladly accepted and began by laying siege
to Adrianople with 33 trebuchets in April 1207. The defenders desperately tried to repair
the damaged walls and once a breach was made, they built a wooden palisade behind it and
dug a trench in front of it, as the Bulgarians started pouring in. The wall was set ablaze and forced the attackers
to withdraw. After a month, Kaloyan lifted the siege. Henry also fought off the Niceans successfully
leading to a truce, which ceded some territory so he could focus on the bigger threat in
the west. Meanwhile, Boniface was still in Greece, where
the tendency for lands which were under control of the Empire and not some local noble to
willingly surrender at the sight of the crusader army continued. King Boniface already had a son with his queen
Margaret, named Demetrius and thousands of Greeks joined him at the sight of the small
boy, which they believed was their future Emperor. A powerful noble Leo Sgouros, who took control
of portion of Northern Peloponnese, prepared to make a stand at the pass of Thermopylae
like his ancestors before him, before losing his courage at the approach of the armored
knights. At the same time, the despotate of Epirus
controlled by Michael Komnenos Dukas chose the diplomatic approach. The city of Dyrrachium was lost to Venice,
which also managed to take Corfu from Genoa in 1207, but the republic was not interested
in the rest of the country, which was at least on paper their domain, so Michael simultaneously
swore fealty to Boniface, instead of Baldwin and corresponded with the Pope, promising
to accept Catholicism in return for protection. In reality, Michael was transforming his state
as a safe haven for loyalists who wanted to escape the Latins and ransomed Alexios III
after he was captured by Baldwin. Peloponnese was invaded by the north and south,
as many crusaders who kept their vows and sailed to the Holy Lands from other ports
now came towards Greece looking for land and glory. Even with complete naval supremacy, southern
Greece was hard to conquer, because of its many fortresses and mountainous terrain. All of that changed when the locals decided
to meet the crusaders in battle outnumbering them 5 to 1, where once again the crusaders
were victorious. The battle of the olive grove is sometimes
described as the Hastings of Morea. Afterwards nearly all of it surrendered, apart
from Nafplio, Corinth, Argos and Laconia who managed to resist for a few more years. After failing to move north into Bulgarian
territory Henry met up with Boniface in Kypsella to plan a joint attack against Kaloyan, but
on the way back to Thessaloniki, Boniface was killed in an ambush and his head was sent
to Kaloyan. The Bulgarians immediately made their way
to the city, ready to destroy the Kingdom, but the day before the planned assault, a
man snuck in Kaloyans tent and stabbed him with a spear. He was the last of the three brothers to be
assassinated and for a brief moment amidst the chaos, both Latins and Greeks were relieved
as the army went home. The assassination of Kaloyan managed to halt
the avalanche of Bulgarian conquests against the Latins, however the Kingdom of Thessaloniki,
which was more powerful than the Empire itself faced another crisis. In an attempt to win over the local populace
Boniface favored his infant son Demetrius, who was seen as more legitimate since his
mother Margaret of Hungary was a former Byzantine empress. When Boniface died the kingdom passed not
to his eldest son William, but his newborn with Margaret acting as regent, this however
angered the Lombard lords who held fiefs in his name all over Greece and they rebelled. Emperor Henry of Flanders tried to be lenient
and called the nobles to Ravennika in May 1209 in an attempt to resolve the issue, but
most of them didn’t show up. A 2-year war ensued ending with an uneasy
peace as the rebel nobles and their Templar supporters were defeated. Many were starting to see that this new Latin
Empire was unlikely to last and while they swore oaths of fealty to Henry instead of
the new Kingdom of Thessalonica ruled by an infant boy, most lords were only after their
own self-interest. The Principality of Morea and Despotate of
Epirus were vassals of the Latin Empire, but that same year they became vassals of the
Republic of Venice as well, granting them generous trade rights in all of their cities. Despot of Epirus Michael I Komnenos Dukas,
in particular, was trying to play each side, converting to Catholicism, but at the same
time ransoming Alexios III from captivity in order to gain a claim to the throne. Meanwhile, the ruler of Nicea Theodore Lascaris
was desperately trying to enforce his own claim, by annexing other successor states. After absorbing Phrygia and Philadelphia,
Theodore allied with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and attacked the Empire of Trebizond,
which was attempting to take Nicomedia from the Latins. The Empire of Trebizond was led by two Komnenoi
brothers supported by Georgia and despite having the best claim they were forced to
become vassals to Henry of Flanders in return for military aid in the form of 300 knights. The Nicean advance was stopped at Heraclia
and Trebizond responded by launching a punitive raid against Theodore Lascaris. However, the 300 Frankish knights separated
from the main force and were soundly defeated in an ambush. The tides turned, and in 1208 Nicea took Heraclea,
Cytorus and Amastris in quick succession. On the European side of the Bosphorous the
Bulgarian throne was usurped by Kaloyan’s nephew Boril who quickly married the Cuman
queen, giving rise to the theory that the assasination and usurpation were both part
of a pro-Cuman plot. This forced the legitimate heir Ivan Asen
II to flee from Tarnovo and take refuge in the Principality of Halych at the age of 14. This disputed succession caused several nobles
in Bulgaria to break off, including Boril’s cousin Alexios Slav, who became the despot
of a small realm in the southwest and received the backing of Emperor Henry. Boril knew he had to enforce his rule and
decided to attack the Latins. He managed to surprise them by attacking the
Latin camp near Beroe. There the Latins took heavy casualties as
a hail of arrows killed many of the knights who didn’t get the chance to put on their
armor. The Bulgarian cavalry attacked the flanks
and the Emperor was caught by a lasso, but just as disaster was imminent, a knight cut
off the rope and shielded his liege. Over the next 12 days the Latins retreated
to Philippopolis in good order, but still taking many casualties along the way. Finally, once they approached the city, Henry
took a stand and formed up his line. Around 3000 warriors remained, several hundred
of which were knights, against 30000 Bulgarians, of which 7000 were Cuman mounted archers. Boril tried to mimic what his uncle had done
in Adrianople 3 years prior, but this time the crusader army did not fall for the trap. Marshal Geoffroy de Villehardouin used his
heavy cavalry to repel a charge and the open fields allowed the Latin cavalry to compensate
for its small number and inflict heavy losses on the Cuman riders who had trouble fighting
in the summer heat. The day belonged to the Latins, but both sides
took heavy casualties and hostilities ceased for a few years. After the military approach failed to give
Boril the stability he craved for, he attempted to consolidate his power by persecuting the
Bogomils, summoning the Synod in Tarnovo in 1211, where he personally led the debates
against the heretics, which were very similar to the Cathars in southern France, who were
massacred in the Albigensian crusade during the same period. That same year, Boril managed to secure an
alliance with one of the breakaway Bulgarian states under a man named Strez and established
an anti-Latin coalition made up of the Despotate of Epirus, Strez and Nicea. Boril and Strez launched a campaign against
Thessaloniki and assaulted the city while Henry was fighting Nicea, but despot Michael
changed sides once more to aid the Latins, and the Bulgarians were soundly defeated at
the city. Meanwhile, the recently ransomed Alexios III
wanted to make a comeback and he allied with the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I who had recently
taken over Antalya. Together they marched at the head of a large
army totaling around ten thousand against the Niceans who brought 2000 cavalry along
with 800 mounted Latin mercenaries. The Seljuks laid siege to Antioch-on-the-Meander,
which was critical to the whole region. As soon as Theodore learned that the city
was about to fall, he ordered a forced march, leaving the baggage train and carrying just
a few days' rations in a desperate attempt to relieve the siege. Alexios III and the sultan abandoned the siege
and rode out to meet the enemy in a narrow valley where they couldn't deploy their full
force. As soon as the two armies met, the Latin cavalry
rushed into the enemy center, crushing many archers and slingers. It then pulled back and charged again, but
this second charge was less deadly as the soldiers got into a formation, withstanding
the charge before surrounding and slaughtering the Latins. The Seljuks kept on advancing and at the edge
of victory, Kaykhusraw I scanned the battlefield, searching for Theodore Lascaris, the two rulers
met and Theodore was struck with a heavy blow by a mace and fell from his horse, the sultan
barked orders at his servants to carry the pretender away, but suddenly the Nicean emperor
cut down the rear leg of the horse and decapitated the Seljuk leader. His head was impaled on a lance and the sight
brought terror to the remaining army, which retreated back to Iconium. Nicea was victorious but was unable to pursue
the enemy as they had sustained heavy casualties themselves. The ultimate prize was the capture of Alexios
III, who was stripped of his imperial insignia and spent the rest of his days in a monastery. This finally gave Lascaris the legitimacy
he needed to claim the title, but there was a long road ahead. Henry did not underestimate the severity of
this threat and used the opportunity to strike at Nicea in October 1211. After a day long battle, the Niceans could
not defeat the heavily armored knights and Henry pushed as far as Nymphaion. This successful campaign led to the treaty
of Nymphaion which solidified the Latin position on the coast of the Propontis as well as some
islands, but ended their vassalage over the Empire of Trebizond. The latter clause of the treaty meant that
the Latins weren’t protecting Trebizond any more, a cunning move that allowed Lascaris
to make up for the lost lands by annexing most of Paphlagonia. That same year the Seljuks would take Sinope
and kill David Komnenos who led the defense of the city. Shortly after, his brother Alexios managed
to retake it, but misfortune struck again as he was captured during a hunting expedition. The Emperor of Trebizond was then brought
in front of the walls of his city and was tortured at the sight of its inhabitants until
they opened the gates. Alexios was ransomed and the Empire of Trebizond
became a vassal of the Seljuks. Despite the fact that Trebizond retook the
Byzantine lands in Crimea, it would never again be a contender to the throne. The defeat at Philipopolis and Thessaloniki,
along with the truce with Nicea ended Boril’s ambitions and he married his daughter Maria
to Henry, while becoming his vassal and returning the lands Kaloyan conquered in Thrace as her
dowry. Bulgaria was once again in the sphere of influence
of Constantinople and would be inherited by Henry’s heir. Boril continued his diplomacy by marrying
another daughter to the king of Hungary Andrew II and this approach was incredibly successful
in helping him retain his power. Henry sent troops to aid Bulgaria in its unsuccessful
invasion of Serbia, while Andrew took Vidin after the local Cumans rebelled against Boril
and then returned the city to the Bulgarian Tsar. The only disturbance of this relatively peaceful
period was Epirus retaking Thessaly, Dyrrachium and Corfu while everyone else was distracted,
but the status quo wouldn't last. In 1215, the ruler of Epirus was assassinated,
in 1216 Pope Innocent III suddenly died, a month later Emperor Henry was killed by poison,
possibly by one of the Lombard nobles, all of which destabilized the region once again. When the new pope Honorius III called for
a Fifth Crusade to retake Jerusalem, Hungarian king Andrew II was the first to answer the
call, mustering the largest royal crusader army in history which was transported to the
Holy lands by the Venetian fleet. The Latin Empire held a new election and chose
Henry’s Peter of Courtenay, who was the husband of Henry’s sister Yolanda. He was consecrated as the new Roman Emperor
outside the walls of Rome by Pope Honorius III, and began his journey to Constantinople. Meanwhile in Bulgaria, a pro-Bulgarian faction
who financed and staged an uprising against Boril, and replaced him with Ivan Asen II,
who returned to his homeland with Rus mercenaries and blinded his uncle. Once on the throne, the new Tsar proved to
be very different from the rest of his dynasty as he did not pursue a war with any of his
neighbours, and maintained the truce with the Latins. When king Andrew II wanted to return to Hungary
by land Ivan Asen II declared that he would allow his army to pass only if he marries
his daughter Anna-Maria. The two houses were joined and Bulgaria was
given Belgrade and Branicevo which were exchanged for the 5th time in our story. The warmongering opportunism that Bulgaria
was known for since the uprising of his father Ivan Asen I, was now replaced with caution
and diplomacy, which allowed the state to recover and rebuild while ending internal
instability. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Epirus
was now ruled by Theodore Dukas, an extremely ambitious man who was determined to restore
the Eastern Roman Empire. After absorbing Alexios Slav and allying with
Serbia, Theodore hosted what could best be described as the Red Wedding, luring the previously
mentioned Peter of Courtenay with the offer of food and drink, as well as support for
the Fifth Crusade. Once the Latins let their guard down, they
were captured or massacred. Despite his betrayal, Theodore Dukas managed
to trick the Pope into thinking he regretted his decision and would release his prisoners. Trying to save the life of the doomed emperor,
Pope Honorious forced Venice to back down from the invasion they were preparing to retake
Dyrrachium. Instead Thedore proceeded to expand in every
direction, taking Neopatras and Lamia in the south, then castle Platamon, Serres and many
other fortresses around Thessaloniki, which was completely cut off. This time the Pope excommunicated the Epirote
ruler and mustered a large crusader army at Brindisi which made its way towards Serres,
however the only remaining powerful crusader state of Morea did not assist this crusade,
because the same pope excommunicated its leader the previous year for mistreating the local
clergy and declaring him an enemy of God “more inhuman than Pharaoh”. In Nicaea, the successful ruler Theodore Lascaris
died in 1221, which led to a succession crisis between his two brothers and his son-in-law. Emperor Robert I, the son of Peter, had just
taken the throne of the Latin Empire that same year and intervened on the side of the
brothers, hoping to gain land and leverage in the east. And so, in 1223 the new Nicaean Emperor, John
III Vatazes fought a Latin army under the two pretenders, which were decisively defeated,
captured and you guessed it - blinded. The news of the defeat reached the crusading
army at Serres, where many panicked and rushed to Constantinople to regroup and reconsider
their strategy. On the way there, however, they were intercepted
by Theodore Dukas who destroyed the majority of the army. In the following two years, the Latins lost
Thessaloniki to Epirus and signed a treaty with Nicaea which ceded all of their lands
in Asia except for Nicomedia, only to be invaded immediately after and lose Adrianople as well. The Duchy of Morea became an independent state
and the Latin Empire was a mere prize the rest of the contenders fought over. Another desperate crusade was launched trying
to retake Thessaloniki, but the host was struck by dysentery and those who didn’t succumb
to the illness returned to Italy. Theodore Dukas used this opportunity to crown
himself Emperor of Thessaloniki, directly challenging Nicaea’s claim, and launching
a campaign which took over much of Thrace including Adrianople. He now began planning the final step towards
the ultimate goal. In 1228, the reign of Emperor Robert came
to an end with his death, this was the moment Ivan Asen II was waiting for. He kept faith with the Catholic church for
a decade, upheld the alliances, resisted the urge to take advantage of the chaotic situation
and married into the royal family. Now when the crown passed to the 10-year-old
Baldwin II, the Tsar offered the hand of his daughter Helen and proposed to take up the
regency, coming up with a plan on how the Latins could retake the lands they lost to
Epirus. The nobles began negotiations with the Bulgarian
ruler, but behind the scenes they were frantically trying to find another regent, trying to pick
the lesser of two evils. They found that candidate in the 60-year-old
John of Brienne, a French noble who held the title King of Jerusalem, but not the city
itself. In order to get him to accept, the Latin nobles
made a bizarre agreement. John would rule as regent until the heir turned
20, but at that point Baldwin II would be Emperor in name, with effective control over
only the Latin holdings in Asia, which were almost non-existent. Furthermore, John’s two sons would inherit
Epirus and Macedonia upon his death, and once again neither region was even close to being
controlled by the Empire. Ivan Asen II was furious and instantly enacted
a drastic change in policy, converting Bulgaria back to Orthodoxy after three decades under
Catholicism and securing a marriage alliance with the Empire of Thessaloniki. Together they formed a coalition against the
Latins and Nicea. During that same time the rift between the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the Papacy was at an all-time high, and since John of
Brienne was a strong supporter of the Pope, Frederick II sent a large contingent to Epirus
to aid them in their conquest of Constantinople. In 1230 a massive army assembled in the second
city of the Empire, ready to avenge the fourth crusade, but in the very last moment Theodore
Dukas changed his course and invaded Bulgaria instead, hoping to get rid of the rival he
just allied. He was so confident in his victory that he
brought his entire family and most of the aristocracy to witness his triumph. The army moved slowly, plundering villages
and churches along the Maritsa river, once Ivan Asen II learned of this he quickly rallied
his forces and called in a small, but elite Cuman contingent from the Steppe marching
in front of the army with the treaty Theodore broke on his spear for all to see. The Bulgarians possessed a force of 10000,
a thousand of which were Cumans positioned on a hill overlooking the Klokotnitsa river,
while the invaders had an army of 20000 with a sizable contingent of German knights. The speed of the Bulgarians caught Theodore
completely off guard, but he was still poised to show off his military might and reaffirm
that he was the true Emperor of the Romans, so he ordered his army to cross the river
and crush the numerically inferior side, while his family and supporters watched from the
camp. The spring crossing of the river, defended
by the Bulgarian infantry, caused heavy casualties, slowed down the army and threw it into disarray. At the critical moment in the battle, the
Cuman mounted archers, who were patiently waiting on the forested hill leaped into action. The fighting quickly turned into a slaughter,
and Theodore Dukas found himself pressed between the Bulgarian line and the river he and his
men barely crossed, while the nomadic marksmen decimated his rear and captured the camp. Yet again the Cumans played a vital role in
the Bulgarian success and the majority of the enemy army and emperor’s retinue was
captured, except for Manuel Dukas, the emperor's brother who fought his way back with a small
force. Once again in a stark contrast to his predecessors,
Ivan Asen II pardoned all the soldiers and followers in the enemy army and allowed them
to return home, while holding on to the nobility which he treated with respect. With just one strike the Bulgarian tsar annexed
the majority of the Eastern Balkans as people flocked to him and changed sides. From that moment onwards, he styled himself
as “King of the Bulgarians, Romans and other peoples”. And so, yet another competitor in the race
to Constantinople was eliminated and two unlikely candidates - the Second Bulgarian Tsardom
and the Nicean Empire stared each other down. The fate of the region now hung in balance
between the two... In 1230, after just one decisive encounter,
the lands of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom stretched from Thessaly to Belgrade and from
Dyrrachium to Adrianople. The Serbian king Stefan Radoslav who supported
the now captured ruler of Epirus Theodore Dukas became the next target and after a successful
raiding campaign, he was replaced by his brother Stefan Vladislav in 1234. The latter was positively predisposed towards
Ivan Asen II and even married his daughter, and the two Orthodox nations formed a bulwark
against Hungarian expansion and Cumans who recently broke off. With that front secure, the Tsar now looked
to Nicea for an alliance against the Latin Empire. He was concerned with accomplishing his dream
of restoring the Empire, as evident from the coins he minted, showing him with the symbols
of imperial power. The regent John of Brienne wasn't idle as
he brought in 500 fresh knights and 5000 infantry with the help of Venice to Constantinople
and prepared to make his last stand. However the reluctance to attack in either
direction didn’t suit the French knights and most of them abandoned his cause. But it was in this very critical moment that
Geoffrey II succeeded his father as Prince of Morea and pledged his full support to the
Latin Empire, sending John 30000 gold coins annually. The stage was set and in the summer of 1235
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and John III Vatazes of Nicea laid siege to Constantinople, which
was defended by John of Brienne, a small garrison and 160 knights. Venice immediately responded to the call to
aid, as the Pope was urging Christendom to protect the Queen of Cities and shift their
focus from the Holy Lands to the Latin Empire, and 25 galleys reinforced the city. The wall was attacked from multiple sides,
but the energetic regent managed to repulse the attackers each time, before charging at
the enemy camp with a small band of heavy knights inflicting heavy casualties on the
besiegers, some chroniclers even described his valor and skills to equal that of Hector
of Troy. The Nicean fleet, which had 100 galleys, attempted
to penetrate the Golden Horn, but it took heavy losses against the Venetians and the
siege was broken. On 16th of December the two forces regrouped
and laid siege to the city once more, after the Venetians had sailed back home. This siege lasted well into the spring of
1236, until a massive fleet came to the aid of Constantinople, composed of the fleets
of Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Morea. Geoffrey II alone brought 100 knights, 300
crossbowmen and 500 archers and together they lifted the blockade. After their defeat, the Niceans and Bulgarians
signed a two-year truce with the Latin Empire, but the failure had a profound effect on Ivan
Asen II, who once again radically changed his stance. After John of Brienne died in 1237 and the
throne passed to 20-year-old Baldwin II, the Tsar hoped he would become regent, so he broke
off his alliance with Nicea, allied with the Latins and started a correspondence with the
Pope in an effort to reconvert back to Catholicism. These actions might have been taken under
the pressure of a new crusade which was being organised as Baldwin II toured France selling
precious artefacts in his attempt to gather a large army to recover the lost lands. The Tsar continued to call himself Emperor
or Bulgarians and Greeks and wanted to take Constantinople, but his policy changed as
he continued to fund massive building projects which would transform the capital of Tarnovo
into the third Rome. The massive Tsarevets royal citadel which
was situated on a hill, and surrounded by a river was expanded, and became a spiritual
centre after the Tsar brought dozens of precious relics and built a patriarchal church. The two palaces were built to symbolize the
relation between the spiritual and the secular authority, a symbolism derived directly from
Byzantine culture. He minted gold coins in Ohrid bearing his
image and traded extensively with Ragusan merchants, leading to a reign of stability
and prosperity while he deliberated on how to further expand his influence. While the various contenders were fighting
for Constantinople, a dark cloud which travelled all the way from Karakorum was ready to consume
them all. The Mongols had reached the Kievan Rus, inflicting
destruction on a massive scale. Cumans fled in their wake and this giant host
of nomadic people which played a key role in the establishment of the Bulgarian Empire
now wreaked havoc in Thrace and Macedonia, and there was nothing Ivan Asen II could do
to stop them, so instead he hired some of them to assist his army in the joint siege
of Tzourlum by the Bulgarians and Latins in 1237. It seemed that the uneasy alliance would lead
to the complete conquest of Thrace by Bulgaria, while the Latins were hoping to regain land
on the coast of the Propontis. But then news arrived that plague broke out
in Tarnovo, taking the lives of many, including the patriarch and Ivan Asen’s wife and son. The Tsar was overwhelmed with grief and took
this as a divine sign that betraying the Niceans and fighting alongside the Latins was wrong,
so he burned down his siege engines and abandoned the siege. The relations with Nicea were restored, without
any hostilities towards the Latins as the Bulgarian state took an ambivalent stance
towards the regional conflicts and prepared for the impending Mongol invasion. Now a widower, Ivan Asen II married Irene,
the daughter of Theodore Dukas who was a guest since the battle of Klokotnitsa alongside
her father who was blinded after a failed attempt to stir a riot. Immediately after the marriage Theodore Dukas
was freed and he returned to Thessaloniki disguised as a beggar. His blindness meant that he was unable to
rule according to the custom, but it seemed that plotting was in his blood, since he immediately
usurped his brother Manuel and placed his son John in his place. Normally this would outrage the Bulgar ian
overlord, but his newfound love for Theodore’s daughter neutralised his usual temperament. Manuel however was not too happy and started
a civil war within the country with the aid of John III Vatazes. The two sides eventually agreed to divide
the realm, with Manuel receiving most of Thessaly, while Michael II Dukas, Theodore’s nephew
controlled Epirus. In 1239 Baldwin II finally returned at the
head of a massive crusader army 700 knights and 30000 footmen which were allowed passage
through Bulgaria to take the majority of the lands Nicea controlled in Thrace. A year later Kiev was razed by the Mongols
prompting Hungary and Bulgaria to sign a defense pact as thousands of Cumans penetrated their
borders. Ivan Asen II realized the dangers these nomads
posed as he had learned of the chaos which unfolded after Bela IV of Hungary tried to
weaponize many of them, so he secretly killed thousands of Cuman men, women and children
before they could erode his authority from within. Bulgaria was now the most dominant power in
the Balkans and knew exactly which tactics the Mongols would employ against them, however
fate had other plans as Ivan Asen II became the first and only member of the Asen dynasty
to die of natural causes in 1241. He was succeeded by his son Kaliman who was
only seven at the time, and while there was no war of succession, the country was left
in the hands of a regency. That same year, the Mongols under Batu devastated
Hungary and Poland. They proceeded to ravage Croatia, Bosnia,
Serbia and Bulgaria until they reached the Theodosian walls. Emperor Baldwin II’s army was completely
annihilated in a classic feigned retreat somewhere in Thrace and this turned Constantinople into
a Mongol tributary. On their way back the Mongols repeated the
Byzantine mistake and were caught in a Bulgarian ambush in a mountain pass, sustaining heavy
casualties. This only made matters worse for the Tsardom,
however, as the wrath of khans rolled over the countryside laying waste to the citadels
of Vidin, Tărnovo, Dristra, Preslav, Šumen, Varna, Červen, Loveč, Svištov and the majority
of the countryside, until the regency agreed to pay a yearly tribute to what would become
the Golden Horde. Meanwhile, a completely different Mongol force
under Baiju was sent to subjugate Anatolia after the Seljuk Sultan of Rum failed to pay
homage in Karakorum. After Erzurum fell in the winter of 1242,
sultan Kaykhusraw II organised a massive force comprised of Seljuks, Latin mercenaries, Armenians,
Niceans, Trapezuntine, Georgians and even a large force sent by the Ayyubid prince of
Aleppo which was ready to meet the Mongols. However yet again a confident sultan with
just a quarter of his force, ignored his generals and rode out to meet his foe, only to be lured
into a feigned retreat and be defeated. The Mongols took over Sivas and Kayseri without
much opposition, before making the Sultanate of Rum and Empire of Trebizond their newest
tributaries. The Nicean Emperor realized that there was
much to gain within this new political landscape and he began by inviting the ambitious Theodore
Dukas to a feast. There was no Red Wedding this time, but Dukas
was not allowed to leave, even as he accompanied John III’s army which took the now leaderless
Thessaloniki. Theodore’s son was allowed to keep the city,
but swear fealty to Nicea, while Michael II Dukas who had recently taken over Thessaly
remained neutral. As for Serbia, Stefan Vladislav was left powerless
after the Mongols ravaged his country and crushed his Bulgarian allies, and in 1243
his brother Stefan Uros rebelled and replaced him. Uros would prove to be a capable administrator
and diplomat and initiate extensive mining excavations which would transform Serbia from
a buffer state neighbours fought for, into a regional power. In 1246, the young Tsar Kaliman and the Patriarch
who was in favor of uniting the Bulgarian church with the Roman one were both poisoned,
most likely by Kaliman’s stepmother Irene, who’s seven year old son Michael II Asen
took the throne under a new regency which was very hostile towards Hungary and the Papacy. The demoralised and exhausted Bulgarian state
was immediately attacked by Michael II Dukas who took over Albania and Northern Macedonia,
while John III Vatazes captured Serres, where the Bulgarian commander Dragotas switched
sides and not only helped the Nicean campaign, but convinced the locals to accept the rule
of the Emperor of Nicea flipping most of the Via Egnatia. In August 1247 this allowed John III in cooperation
with the Bulgarians and Cumans to take over the remaining Latin garrisons in Thrace. He was now breathing in the neck of Baldwin
II, who once again toured Europe for reinforcements, even leaving his son as a collateral in Venice
as a promise to repay his debts. In the same period William II of Morea finally
completed the conquest of the Peloponnese by capturing Monemvasia and accompanied the
French king on his doomed seventh crusade, during which a band of Genoans captured neutral
Rhodes, before they were expelled by the Niceans. In the spring of 1251, Theodore Dukas hatched
his final plot as he and his nephew Michael II Dukas launched a surprise attack on Thessaloniki. The city managed to resist the attack until
John III crossed along with his army, forcing the Epirotes to retreat.. Nicea took on the initiative by taking several
fortresses up to Kastoria and after a brief skirmish, two Epirote generals and the governor
of Kruja switched sides, thus ending the war in a treaty which not only expanded Nicea,
but handed over the troublemaker Theodore Dukas who was imprisoned and killed shortly
after. The successful campaign was the last one John
III would ever undertake as he died in 1254 leaving the throne and a powerful Empire to
be inherited by his son Theodore Lascaris II. The new Emperor was very promising and immediately
gave his close companions high offices based on their merit and not their blood, which
displeased a large portion of the nobility, and even elevated a hermit named Arsenius
to the patriarchy. As soon as the news of the death of John III
reached Tyrnovo, the Tsar organised a campaign and reclaimed much of Nicean Thrace, but Theodore
Lascaris II personally led a counter attack which broke the Bulgarian army and Michael
II was forced to sign a unfavorable peace, which made him seem weak in the eyes of his
boyars. Soon after he was murdered by his cousin on
a hunt, who was himself assassinated by another cousin, until eventually a man named Konstantin
Tih ascended to the throne with boyar support in 1257. This new Tsar, descended from the Serbian
royal family was the first to ascend not by means of dynastic legitimacy, but boyar election
and this would start an unbroken pattern until Bulgaria’s disappearance in 1393, one which
would decentralise the state and put it in the hands of various feudal lords. With Bulgaria vanquished, Theodore Lascaris
II was now in a position of absolute power so he demanded that Epirus cede Servia and
Dyrrachium to complete his dominion over the Via Egnatia. Michael II Dukas was in no position to refuse,
but the demand pushed him to a radical last ditch effort to defeat Nicea by allying with
the Duchy of Morea and marrying his daughter to King Manfred of Sicily, who had just taken
Dyrrachium. That coalition wasn’t Theodore Lascaris’s
only problem, as he suffered from a disease, most likely a brain tumor, which got significantly
worse in November 1257 and impacted his judgement. He believed that his madness was caused by
the sorcery of his courtiers, especially Maria Palaiologos, so he had her thrown in a sack
filled with cats, before he panicked that she may curse him again and released her. Fearing her brother's revenge he imprisoned
Michael Palaiologos, but then set him free. In 1258 Theodore even named his eight-year-old
son John as sole heir under the guardianship of his best friend George, before retreating
to a monastery where he died as a monk. Wanting to reduce the tension George called
an assembly of nobles planning to resign, but to his dismay the group, led by Michael
Palaiologos encouraged him to keep his rank and swore oaths of loyalty to him and the
young emperor. It was all part of a conspiracy. A few days after the death of Theodore II,
a memorial service was held in his honor in a monastery which served as his burial place. The entire court attended, with the army encamped
on a nearby plain. As soon as George and his brothers arrived,
the service began. The soldiers and Latin mercenaries wanted
to see the young Emperor who went outside and raised his hand to quiet them, but the
men mistook this as their signal and leaped into the middle of the procession, swords
in hand along with a large mob which found George hiding under an altar. He was brutally murdered, while his estate
was ransacked by the outraged populace. Everyone who was close to the previous Emperor
was brutally murdered, while the man who instigated the plot - Michael Palaiologos proclaimed
himself co-emperor alongside the young John IV. Even with the backing of the clergy and nobility,
his usurpation hanged by a threat ready to be snapped by the anti-Nicean coalition, so
Michael sent his brother John who quickly raced to Kastoria, catching the Epirotes off
guard, while their allies were still scattered throughout northern Greece. Manfred was busy in Italy and sent 400 elite
knights, who joined the leaders of Epirus, Morea, Athens, Archipelago, Euboea and their
considerable hosts. The Nicean army was composed of Greek contingents
From Asia, Macedonia and Thrace, backed by 300 German knights, 1500 Hungarian mounted
archers, 600 Serbian horsemen, Bulgarian cavalry, 1500 Seljuk and 2000 Cuman cavalry and some
Latins. For the first time since the sack of Constantinople,
the conflict involved two sides, which included every major state in the region. Over 50 years of constant plotting, betrayal,
conflicts and marriages led to this moment. The numerous participants of this campaign
make the task of estimating the two sides impossible, but the outcome of this battle
would determine who would rule the region. After Michael II Dukas was pushed out of Kastoria
and suffered many casualties in his retreat he regrouped with his allies near Pelagonia. John knew he was outnumbered so instead of
engaging in an all-out battle he performed hit and run tactics with his nomadic contingents
plundering the Nicean baggage trains, while positioning his heavily armored knights on
good defensive positions. In the meantime, he sent spies to the enemy
camp which spread misinformation and rumors about betrayal and desertion from one contingent
to another. On one occasion the illegitimate son of Michael
II Dukas was angry at several knights from Morea, who were openly flirting with his wife,
but when he pointed it out to their commander he was dismissed as a bastard. This prompted a large detachment to change
sides and start a cascade which neutralised the entire Epirote contingent. Having learned of the enemy's plans and positions,
John struck a devastating blow against the army of Morea, capturing its leader and securing
the western frontier, but he was unable to gain any new lands because of the difficult
terrain and pulled back to prepare for the upcoming 1260 siege of Constantinople. Nicea mobilised its army, navy, built large
siege towers and sent agents within the city, but despite all of their efforts the Latins
barely held on. Michael knew he needed naval support to finish
the job, so in 1261 he signed a treaty with Genoa to counterweight the powerful Venetian
presence in the region. That same year he sent a general at the head
of 800 Cumans to keep on eye on the Bulgarians and scout the defenses of city, but as they
came across one of the nearby villages of Selymbria a few farmers told them that the
Latins and Venetians had left the city to raid a Nicean island. The general considered his chances, knowing
that if they failed to penetrate the city, the returning army would have no trouble wiping
them out, but in the end he decided to try the gamble. On the night of 24 July 1261 he and his men
hid at a monastery near the city gates, before entering through a secret passage. After a short struggle the guards who were
completely taken by surprise were killed and the Venetian quarter was set ablaze. Panic spread through the city and Emperor
Baldwin II rushed out to save his life evacuating along with many other Latins with the help
of the Venetian fleet which came just in time to save them, but not the city. At dawn Michael refused to believe what had
just happened, until a second messenger brought him the Imperial crown and sword, which Baldwin
forgot in his flight. He quickly moved to the city and crowned himself
Emperor of the restored Roman Empire. To solidify his claim, that Christmas he blinded
John IV on his 15th birthday, banished him to a monastery and married his three sisters
to lesser Latin and Bulgarian nobles in an attempt to wipe out his bloodline, an act
which would lead to his excommunication by his own patriarch. The newly established Palaiologos dynasty
would become the last and longest-ruling dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire and dedicate most
of its attention to rivalries in the west and within, rarely paying any mind to the
new storm brewing on its eastern frontier. After all, what was a small Turkic beylik
to the restored Empire? We will talk about the history of the region
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