The Crusades are some of the most iconic and
divisive wars fought in human history, and the image of knights in shining armour, had
a lasting effect on generations of history enthusiasts. Yet, even among them, The Fourth Crusade is
universally regarded as a failure, an example of the extent of human greed, and the tragedy
of loss. In this video, we will tell the story of this
doomed venture, and the repercussions that followed in its wake. This videos is sponsored by ExpressVPN. We use ExpressVPN as it provides a quick and
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find out how you can get 3 months free, go to expressVPN.com/kingsandgenerals In 1187, Jerusalem was conquered by Saladin. As a response, the Christian world initiated
the Third Crusade, and although the Crusaders managed to retake Acre and Jaffa, Jerusalem
remained a part of the Ayyubid realm, and the conflict ended in a truce. Resolve to retake Jerusalem was still strong. By 1198, Pope Innocent III had begun a call
for a fourth Crusade. An army, consisting mainly of soldiers from
France and the Holy Roman Empire, was mustered through the Charisma of the Italian Count:
Boniface of Montferrat. However, this army would still need ships
to carry them across the Mediterranean, and thus the crusaders turned to the strongest
maritime power of the era: The Republic of Venice. The Doge Enrico Dandolo, agreed to manufacture
a fleet capable of transporting the Crusader army, for the price of 85,000 silver marks. The plan was now as follows: The Crusaders
would sail south from Venice, and attack the center of the Muslim world: Egypt. After conquering the Ayyubid capital, they
would then proceed to take Jerusalem by land. However, problems began when the Crusader
army arrived in Venice in May of 1202. Out of an expected 33,500 soldiers, only 12,000
were present. This infuriated the Venetians, as they had
incurred a great expense building a total of 50 war galleys and 450 transport ships
for the Crusaders, who were incapable of paying their debt. Dandolo refused to allow the Crusaders to
leave his city before the debt was paid. The Crusaders managed to collect up to 50,000
marks, but by doing this, they now risked starving. Not wanting their investment to have been
a complete loss, the Doge Dandolo hatched a plan in order to use the Crusaders to serve
the Venetian agenda. He proclaimed the debts would be wiped, if
they were to take the city of Zara in the name of Venice. Zara, located on the eastern Adriatic coast,
was a Catholic city, ruled by the Catholic king of Hungary. For an army endorsed by the Pope in Rome,
attacking it was a problematic prospect. Knowing this, some of the Crusaders refused
the Venetians’ deal, and headed home. But most of the army set sail across the Adriatic
to fulfill the Doge’s request. When Pope Innocent III heard of this deal,
he immediately threatened the Crusaders with excommunication. Count Boniface hid this letter from the army,
and pushed on to Zara. When they reached the walls of the city, the
peoples of Zara hung banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic
faith. Despite this, the Crusaders sieged, breached,
then sacked the city, killing many. Furious at the disobeying of his orders, the
Pope excommunicated all the Venetians and Crusaders involved in the sack, but the Crusade
leaders once more hid this letter from the army, fearing it would cause panic and desertion. The Crusaders decided to winter in Zara, and
plan their next move come the Spring. Meanwhile, Boniface of Montferrat had left
the army and sailed to Southern Bavaria, to visit his cousin King Philip of Swabia. Here he met an exiled Prince of the Byzantine
Empire, Alexios IV Angelos. It is here that we must take a brief pause,
and contextualize the situation in the Byzantine empire. The Komnenian dynasty, which ruled between
1081 and 1180, managed to retake most of Anatolia from the Seljuks but, with the death of Manuel
Komnenos in 1180, things had changed, as the new dynasty, the Angeloi, was weak and despotic. In 1185, Isaac II became the emperor, but
he was highly corrupt, and in 1195 he had been blinded and usurped by his brother, Alexios
III. Emperor Alexios fared no better than his predecessor,
and revealed himself to be just as corrupt. Meanwhile, the son of the deposed Emperor
Isaac, Alexios IV, had fled to Swabia to avoid the wrath of his uncle. It is here our story rejoins the Fourth crusade. The young prince saw an opportunity to use
the Crusader army for his own means. He implored Boniface to lead the Crusaders
to Constantinople and depose his uncle, Emperor Alexios III. In exchange, he offered to pay 200,000 silver
marks, offered 10,000 Byzantine soldiers for the campaign into Egypt, and most importantly,
swore that the Eastern Orthodox Church would be placed under the authority of the Pope
in Rome. Many Crusaders were hesitant to accept, not
wanting to attack yet another Christian city. The Venetians, never ones to turn down an
opportunity to get rich, were fierce supporters of this plan. Doge Dandolo offered the Crusade leaders heavy
bribes to convince them to sail to Constantinople. Thus, the Latin army and the young pretender
Prince set sail for the capital of Eastern Christendom. On June 23rd, 1203, the Latin army came within
sight of Constantinople. The Byzantines were aware of the impending
arrival of the Crusaders. The city was defended by 15,000 soldiers,
5000 of whom were Varangians, an elite Imperial Guard made up of Saxons and Norsemen. It did not take long for fighting to begin. The massive crusader fleet crossed the Dardanelle
strait and laid siege to the suburbs outside of Constantinople proper. The Latin cavalrymen used the cleverly constructed
Venetian Horse-Transport ships, which carried the knights right onto the beach, allowing
them to charge directly out onto the shore to meet their foes. The Crusaders were repulsed in brief skirmishes
at Chalcedon and Chrysopolis, but won a beachfront entanglement outnumbered 80 to 500. Nothing conclusive was determined. The Latins now realized that in order to gain
a foothold in the city, they would need to take Constantinople’s famous harbour, the
Golden Horn, which was protected by a massive chain that prevented any ships from entering. Thus, the Crusader fleet sailed up the Bosphorus
strait. Emperor Alexios III had anticipated this,
and mustered a sizable defending force that waited on the shore, north of the suburb of
Galata. The Crusaders charged right out of their horse
transports and barreled down upon the Byzantine defenders in a full cavalry charge. The Greeks scattered, retreating to the Tower
of Galata, where they fortified themselves. Back and forth fighting continued for a while,
with the Crusaders barraging the tower, and being repulsed. Eventually, they breached the walls and chased
out the Byzantines. By taking the tower, the Crusaders were able
to lift the chain, and allow their fleet to sail into Constantinople’s harbour mouth. From their new foothold, they boarded the
young royal upon a Venetian barge, and sailed up to the city walls, shouting out their good
intentions, declaring themselves as restorers of the rightful Byzantine ruler. Instead, the sight of young Alexios IV brought
out jeers from the local population, who hurled insults, rocks, and rotten fruit at the young
pretender. This was a revelation, as Alexios IV had claimed
that he still had substantial support. But the Crusaders were in too deep now to
simply pack up and go home. The prelates within the Latin army insisted
that they remained within their right in supporting their patron Prince. The siege resumed in the coming days, in the
form of a two-pronged assault. The Venetian detachment sailed their ships
down the city’s sea-wall and launched an assault, while the Crusaders, led by Count
Boniface, assaulted the land-wall, northwest of the city. Here the Varangians proved their worth; the
Nordic warriors met the Crusaders outside the land-wall, and inflicted heavy casualties. With the land front handled, they made for
the sea. By this point, Venetian soldiers had secured
a section of the sea-wall encompassing 25 towers. After fierce fighting, the Varangians routed
the Venetians, who were forced back to their ships. The Venetians covered their retreat by lighting
a wall of fire, which spread and devastated a large chunk of the city. It was at this point that the Byzantine Emperor
finally sprung into full action. He rallied a host of 8,500 men, and rode with
them out of the Gates of St. Romanus to finally meet the Crusader host head-on. Yet, this would end in anticlimax. Fear overcame the despotic Alexios III, and
in his cowardice, he launched a full retreat back into the city walls before there had
even been a fight. This remarkably shameful display disgraced
the Emperor in the eyes of his people, and he quietly fled from the city, abandoning
his post. The Imperial Court quickly deposed Alexios
III, and reinstated the frail and blind Isaac II Angelos as Emperor. This move alarmed the Latins, who could only
hope to collect the payment offered to them under Alexios IV. As such, they demanded that the young Prince
be elevated to co-Emperor alongside his decrepit father. The Byzantines, wary of any further damage
to their city, accepted. Thus, the first siege of Constantinople was
successful, and the Crusaders and Venetians accomplished their goal in restoring Alexios
IV to the Roman throne. An uneasy status-quo had developed between
the people of Constantinople, and the Crusaders. The Latins demanded that the young new Emperor
pay what was promised to them. 200,000 silver marks was a massive debt, and
the fact that Alexios III had stolen a good chunk of the royal treasury when he fled the
city did not help. As a result, the Crown was forced to collect
precious Byzantine and Roman icons, many centuries old, and melt them down to produce enough
silver. This blemished the reputation of the new Emperor
in the eyes of his people, and paid only half of the debt. Things quickly deteriorated, and the Greeks
of the city became more and more resentful not only toward the Crusaders, but all Latin
peoples, including the minority that had lived in Constantinople for generations. A riot broke out and the Greek populace looted
and burned the homes of Italian residents, killing many civilians. In a retaliatory fervor, the Venetians rallied
a rabble of soldiers and stormed through the walls, attacking a mosque in one of the city’s
Muslim communities, but were fought off by the Muslims and Greeks standing side by side. Once again, the Venetians set a fire to cover
their retreat, burning yet another chunk of the city and leaving many homeless. It was becoming clear that Alexios IV would
likely never pay the rest of his debt. When the Crusaders issued an ultimatum the
young Emperor refused. At this point, Dandolo cried out: ‘Miserable
youth, we dragged you out of the mire and to the mire we shall return you!’ During this period a Byzantine Courtier of
the Doukas family, known as Mourtzouphlos, had been the main advocate for resistance
against the Latins, and his popularity increased. In February of 1204 this shrewd politician
declared that the Byzantine people were tired of the rule of the Latin-sympathizer Alexios
IV. The emperor was strangled to death and Mourtzouphlos
was publicly declared the new Roman Emperor as Alexios V. This change in leadership prompted the Crusaders
to call for a meeting under a banner of peace. The Latin demands were heavy: they expected
Mourtzouphlos to pay them 5,000 pounds of gold for their departure, swear his fealty
to Pope Innocent III, and restore Alexios IV to the throne- the Latins were unaware
he was dead. Before the Byzantines could reply, a Frankish
cavalry charge thundered down the docks, scattering the Emperor and his guard. Some Crusaders trusted no deal made with the
Greeks and it was now abundantly clear that hostilities would continue. By the end of February, the Crusaders had
fully resolved to complete a full conquest of Constantinople. The prelates of the Crusade declared that
the Greeks were heathens and traitors to the Christ. It seemed Mourtzouphlos knew a full invasion
was soon to come. He urgently tried to sway the Varangian guard
to his side. The Nordic mercenaries demanded more pay that
the new Emperor could not provide, and thus they abandoned the fight. Constantinople was left with almost no garrison. On April 12th, the attack began. Favourable winds carried the bulk of the Venetian
fleet right up towards the Theodosian sea-wall. Once more, from their ships the Latins managed
to seize a section of the fortifications in the northwest part of the city. They commandeered the Blachernai palace and
used it as a base from which they would strike out at the rest of the city. In order to defend their position, the Crusaders
lit a wall of fire around the Blachernai district. This fire spread, destroying yet another chunk
of the city. Mourtzouphlos tried to rally more defenders,
but the people of Constantinople were now in a panic, and in no shape to resist. Mourtzouphlos fled the city, and Constantinople
was left defenseless. And thus, the sack of Constantinople began. The Crusaders began a spree of looting, raping
and massacring that was near unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands would die and countless
priceless treasures were destroyed, or stolen. Reactions in Western Europe to the sack were
mixed. Many expressed shock and horror at the Crusader’s
actions, including Pope Innocent III, yet many defended the sack, claiming that the
Greeks were traitors to Christ. Following the sack of Constantinople, the
Byzantine Empire was partitioned among western Latin powers and the rump Byzantine states. The largest was the Latin Empire, with Constantinople
as its capital. Baldwin I, Count of Flanders and the most
charismatic of the Crusaders, was chosen to rule as the Latin Emperor. The fracturing of the Byzantine Empire greatly
weakened Christendom’s hold on Asia minor and the Aegean Sea. We release 2 new videos each week, so make
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Roger Crowley writes excellently on the fortunes of Venice, it's role in the 4th Crusade and subsequently its involvement in Byzantium and the Aegean - cannot recommend him highly enough for anyone who sees this video and wants to dive deeper.