Empire

Published by The National Herald, January 28, 2005

The Fall of the Byzantine Empire: The Fourth Crusade

By Prof. D. G. Kousoulas
Special to The National Herald

At the time of the Fourth Crusade in 1201, the Byzantine Empire had already been reduced to a relatively small area around Constantinople and its remaining territories in the Balkans. The Empire lived on borrowed time, a shadow of the empire which Constantine the Great once ruled.

After the defeat of Emperor Romanos at Manzikert in 1071 and the gradual loss of most of Asia Minor, the sacking of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 was the second crippling blow to what was left of the Byzantine Empire.

The Fourth Crusade set out in response to Pope Innocent III’s appeal to free the Holy Land. Officially, it did not start out having the sacking of Constantinople as its mission. How did it happen then? It is a fascinating story of intrigue, treachery, and greed, and of events with unplanned consequences.

Past experience had convinced the leaders of the Crusade that, as long as the Moslems controlled Egypt, any attempt to liberate and hold Jerusalem was doomed.

They were also convinced that it was impossible to reach the area by land through Asia Minor (Anatolia) and Syria, regions controlled by Moslems. This time, their strategic plan was to travel by sea to Egypt, destroy the Moslem rulers of that country and, with Egypt as their base, march north to liberate the Holy Land. It was an ambitious design, but at least one which made military sense.

To go to Egypt by sea, they needed ships, and Venice was the only power which could provide such a fleet.

As a first step, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade sent a delegation to the maritime republic of Venice to negotiate the terms for such assistance. The Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, a devious man with a sharp mind, offered to provide enough vessels for the transportation of 9,000 horses, 4,500 knights, 9,000 squires and 20,000 footsoldiers for a payment of 85,000 silver marks, a rather hefty amount of money at that time. The Venetian Doge promised to add another 50 armed galleys "for the love of God."

The crusaders’ representatives accepted the terms, which were then presented to the Venetian Grand Council which, in turn, granted its final approval.

At that point, the Ayyubid Sultan in Egypt learned about the crusaders’ plans and sent a delegation with valuable gifts to Venice. The Sultan’s representatives promised the Venetians that, if they could prevent the crusaders from going to Egypt, the Sultan would give them "great treasures" and many privileges in the port of Alexandria. For the maritime and trading power of Venice, this last was a most enticing offer.

The Sultan’s delegates left as secretly as they had come, and nothing more was said about it. But what followed leaves a strong impression that the Venetian Doge had struck a secret bargain, which he carried with great craftiness and trickery in the following months.

Apparently, the leaders of the crusaders were unaware of this secret agreement between the Venetians and the Sultan in Cairo.

When the time came to pay the agreed sum of 85,000 silver marks, the crusaders were unable to come up with more than 50,000 (although not only the nobles, but even ordinary knights, emptied their pockets to complete the required transaction). The Venetians refused to lower the price, so the Doge suggested a compromise instead:

"If you are willing to faithfully guarantee to pay us the remaining 35,000 marks, which you owe us, out of your share of the first conquests, we will carry you across the sea." The crusaders were only too happy to agree.

But the Venetians had no intention of waiting for their money until the crusaders had reached Egypt. They suggested an alternative: the Adriatic city of Zara.

"The city of Zara is very rich and well supplied with all kinds of provisions," the Venetians said, adding that since Winter was coming and they could not sail until Spring, why not use the time and attack Zara? Many crusaders found this unacceptable because Zara was a Christian city belonging to the Christian king of Hungary. The Abbot of Vaux, one of the religious leaders of the Crusade, said. "Sirs, I forbid you, in the name of the Pope of Rome, to attack this city, for the inhabitants are Christian, and you are pilgrims."

In November 1202, representatives of Zara came to speak to the Doge of Venice. Their city had been a competitor of Venice for a long time, and they knew Venice was behind the scheme to have the crusaders attack and pillage their city. The representatives of Zara offered to surrender their city and all their property if the lives of their people were spared.

The Doge agreed because he had no interest in seeing the citizens of Zara die. The city was surrendered, together with its treasure. Under the agreement, the Venetians kept half.

The Pope was so angered by all this that he excommunicated everyone who had taken part in the hijacking of Zara, but then, faced with the collapse of the Crusade, he rescinded the sentence.

As the spring approached, the crusader leadership came to realize that they had used up practically everything they had, and that they would be unable to go onto Egypt. They had neither adequate provisions nor sufficient funds to support them. Even the "riches" of Zara had already been expended.

The Doge, who had apparently not forgotten his secret bargain with Sultan in Egypt, went to the crusader leadership and offered another "helpful" suggestion: "Greece is a very rich land, and bountifully supplied with everything," he told them. "If we can find a sufficient excuse for going there and taking food and other things to supply ourselves, we could then easily go across the sea."

At this point, Boniface de Montferrat, one of the Crusade’s leaders, told the gathering that, when he was in Germany the previous Christmas, at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Philip of Swabia, he met a young man who was the Byzantine Emperor’s brother in-law. Philip’s wife, Irene, was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, Isaac II Angelos, who had been deposed by his brother in 1095. "This young man, Alexis, is the rightful heir to the throne and could certainly go to the land of Constantinople and take provisions and other things," Boniface said.

Obviously, Alexis could not simply go to Constantinople by himself and get what the crusaders needed. Montferrat was actually suggesting that the crusaders overthrow the current Byzantine Emperor and put Alexis on the throne.

Crusade leaders sent messengers to Philip of Swabia proposing that they help Alexis and his father regain the throne. Philip and Irene approved of the idea and promised that, "if God permits you to restore Alexis to his inheritance, he will put all of the empire of Romania (Byzantium) under the obedience of Rome (i.e., the Pope), from which it has been separated for a long time. In the second place, he will give you 200,000 marks of silver and provisions for all the members of the army, humble and noble. Third, he will go with you to the

land of Babylon (Egypt) himself, or he will send with you 10,000 men at his expense."

The offer was "hotly discussed." The abbot of Vaux and the French baron, Simon de Montfort objected that this was "fighting against Christians," and that "they had not set out for this purpose." They suggested that they go to Syria instead, which was under Moslem rule.

The other side argued that, "in Syria, they could do nothing," and that the Holy Lands could be recovered "only through the land of Babylon (Egypt)." They added that, as they all knew, they did not have enough money or supplies to reach Egypt. "If we refuse this offer," they concluded, "we shall always be ashamed." In fact, they had only two choices: either cancel the Crusade, or accept the offer.

The agreement was signed and sealed by Boniface of Montferrat and Baldwin, count of Flanders, and those barons who agreed with them. After this, the Doge of Venice spoke to the Crusade leadership: "My lords, we have now a sufficient excuse for going to Constantinople, if you think it wise, for we have the lawful heir." The wily Doge knew that the crusaders would never reach Egypt. He could keep his secret agreement with the Sultan in Cairo.

It had been easy for Philip and Irene to make all those extravagant promises on Alexis’ behalf, but Alexis could fulfill them only if the crusaders were successful in putting him on the throne.

In 1185, Isaac II Angelos became Emperor and remained on the throne for ten years. In April 1195, however, he was overthrown by his brother, who came to the throne as Alexios III Angelos. Isaac was blinded and thrown into prison together with his son Alexis. His sister Irene had married, as we mentioned earlier, Philip of Swabia, the Western Emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire).

Young Alexis escaped from prison and, with the help of his sister, came to the court of Philip. His father Isaac was still in prison.

The restoration of a legitimate ruler was a just cause in the canon of feudal law, and the bishops who were accompanying the Crusade offered their moral support. The fleet carrying the crusaders arrived off Chalcedon opposite Constantinople in June 1203. To his dismay, Alexios III, who had blinded his brother and had usurped the throne a little over seven years earlier, found that he did not have enough trusted forces to fight off the army of crusaders who entered Constantinople on 17 July 1203 virtually unopposed. During the night, Alexios III Angelos escaped, taking ten centenaria of gold (approximately 1,000 pounds of gold) with him.

The Crusaders liberated the blind Isaac II, who was placed on the throne together with his son Alexis as Alexios IV. Without much delay, they came to the palace and demanded their pay. Alexios said that he would certainly pay, after his coronation. He did pay, 100,000 silver marks, of which the Venetians received one half. They also received the 35,000 still owed to them. This left 14,000 paid back to the crusaders, who were advanced money earlier while they were still in Venice.

When the Crusade leadership came for the balance of the money, Alexis responded that he had given them enough. In a confrontation with the Doge, he said point-blank that he was not prepared to give anything more. Enraged, the Doge responded, "Wretched boy, we have raised you from the mire, and into the mire we shall throw you again."

Alexios IV had to face more than the demands of the Doge and the crusaders. Prominent citizens Constantinople were also incensed by the constant humiliations. In December 1203, a band of conspirators overthrew and murdered young Alexios and his father Isaac. On 28 January 1204, one of the conspirators, Alexios Doucas, was crowned Emperor Alexios V.

The new Emperor also rejected the crusaders’ demands for the rest of their money.

On Sunday morning, April 11, the bishops of Soissons, Troyes, Halberstadt and the abbas of Loos gave sermons, telling the crusaders, "This war was a righteous one, because the Greeks were traitors and murderers, and were also disloyal since they had murdered their rightful lord (Alexios IV)."

Moreover, the bishops said that, by the authority of God and in the name of the Pope, they would absolve all who attacked the Greeks. Then the bishops commanded the pilgrims to confess their sins and receive communion devoutly, instructing that they should not to hesitate to attack the Greeks, for the latter were "the enemies of God (Robert de Clari, LXXIII, Chroniques).

After this, they all agreed that one of them would be elected Emperor, and that the rest of the nobles would distribute the fiefs among themselves and would define the feudal services each of them would owe to the Emperor.

Niketas Choniates vividly describes the looting, the desecration of Aghia Sophia (the Great Church), the stealing of relics and precious ornaments, the destruction of "sacred wealth and of so great and infinite splendor." It was an orgy of looting and mayhem.

In May 1204, Baldwin of Flanders became the first Latin emperor of Constantinople, and a Venetian, Thomas Morozini, became Latin patriarch.

The Latin empire lasted until 1261, when Michael VIII Paleologos recaptured Constantinople. The Latin emperor, Baldwin II, a nephew of the first Baldwin, escaped in a Venetian galley. The Byzantine Empire was restored, but it had been weakened beyond remedy. Two centuries later, Ottoman armies, delivered the final blow in 1453.

NOTE: Translations and reprints from the original sources of European History, Vol. 3:1 Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania; Internet Medieval Source Book. Copyright, Paul Halsall, 1997 (all quotes are from this source); Piers Paul Read, The Templars, Da Capo Press, Cambridge: 2001.

Dr. Kousoulas is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is the author of several books, notably "The Life and Times of Constantine the Great (1999)," and numerous scholarly articles.



Volume 7 Number 5 - Tuesday, February 1st, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY