The fall of Constantinople in 1453 has been remembered for centuries, by some as a great
tragedy, and others as a marvelous victory.
But for the former, the destruction of the Byzantine Empire and its dramatic collapse
under the weight of Mehmed the Conquerer’s spectacular invasion is not necessarily the
first or only catastrophe staining the history of Constantinople today.
In fact, possibly even more devastating, was not the siege of the Byzantine capital by
the Ottomans in the 15th century, but instead, the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 by the
Crusaders…
By 1204, three Crusades had already occurred and so had the Great Schism.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches had been officially divided since 1054, and politics
of that time had a lot to do with it… but even so, the Western church’s military expeditions
against their rival Muslim powers had seen unity between Christians regardless of which
side of the schism each fell on.
In fact, the First Crusade had been intended to lend support to the Eastern Christians
from the West, although some still believed the Orthodox to be heretics to the Catholic
church.
Nevertheless, at this moment, there was a necessity for the divided church to stand
together if they had any chance of pushing back against the expanding Muslim powers nearby...
That was, however, until the Fourth Crusade…
In spite of appearing united on the surface, the state of tensions between the West and
East was nowhere near nonexistent, and at times it was even increasing.
The pride and fervor that the Crusades had produced in Catholic Christians would often
backfire in the sense of creating an even stronger disdain for their Orthodox counterparts.
But, nonetheless, the Western Crusaders were still open to the concept of working together
with the East.
But first, Pope Innocent The Third began to call for another Crusade by the West, aiming
to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims as they had failed to do prior.
These preachings began at the start of the 13th century and were aimed at the Christians
of France, Germany, and England.
With the help of Fulk of Neuilly, these preachings eventually led to the formation of a new Crusader
army.
The plan, this time, was to reach Jerusalem via an invasion of Egypt.
In order to do that though, the Crusaders needed help with travel and subsequently reached
out to the Venetians.
Despite some hesitancy from the latter, they eventually agreed to assist their fellow Christians
and offered to deliver over 30,000 Crusaders to their desired destination.
As a result, 20,000-foot soldiers, 4,500 knights, and 9,000 squires were gathered for the new
crusade, but they would have to wait.
The Venetians still had to build a new fleet and prepare for the expedition, which would
take roughly an entire year.
Eventually, though, the ships were ready to set sail, as were the Venetian crews meant
to man them.
Not all of the Crusaders who had been intended to depart from Venice for Cairo actually showed
up though, as some opted to leave from other ports by other means.
This meant that only about 12,000 of the expected 33,000 or so would actually show up in Venice
to utilize the newly constructed Venetian fleet manned by the freshly trained Venetian
sailors.
Regardless, Venice had done its part in providing the transport and crews, and so, the Crusaders
were expected to still pay the full agreed-upon price despite only needing passage for under
half the number of men.
This quickly became problematic though, because the Crusaders that did show up didn’t have
all of the necessary funds, and the Venetians were refusing to accept anything less.
Venice had lost significant money due to stalled commerce while building the fleet of 50 war
galleys and 450 transports, making it impossible for them to accept a smaller sum.
The solution, according to Doge Dandolo of Venice, was for the crusaders to sack a nearby
city, particularly the port of Zaara which had recently become an enemy of the Venetians.
Zaara, at this point in time, was under the protection of King Emeric of Hungary and Croatia,
which horrified many of the Crusaders at the idea of attacking the city, because Emeric
was a devout Catholic and Crusader himself.
Many consequently left, either finding alternative travel to Egypt or simply going home…
Opinion from the papacy was also conflicted, as the Pope found the idea absolutely inexcusable
and grounds for ex-communication, while the papal legate, Cardinal Peter of Capua, insisted
that it was a necessary sacrifice for the Crusade to continue.
Refusing to budge on his perspective, the pope sent Peter of Lucedio to deliver a letter
to the Crusaders in Venice which stated that under no circumstances should they carry out
any acts of violence against their fellow Christians…but this was either ignored or
failed to reach the Crusaders in time.
By November 11, 1202, the army had arrived at Zara, and less than two weeks later, the
city collapsed under the Crusader’s siege.
Together, the Crusaders and Venetians then sacked the city, which horrified Pope Innocent
III when word got back to Rome…
Furious… he excommunicated each of them and demanded that they continue their travel
toward the Holy Land immediately!
But, although this may have been the initial plan, the pope was about to be disappointed
again, and to an even more severe degree…
One of the Crusaders, Boniface The First of Montferrat, had left earlier on to visit a
cousin of his, who happened to be the brother-in-law of Alexios The Forth Angelos.
Alexios was the son of Isaac The Second Angelos, who had recently been ousted as Emperor of
Byzantium, and he was determined to take back the throne his father had held.
While in Philip’s court, Alexios and Boniface met, at which point the Byzantine requested
help from the Crusaders in regaining the crown back in Constantinople.
By 1203, most of the Crusade’s leaders had agreed to the deal proposed by Alexios, although
some refused as this would require them to attack Constantinople itself.
Those unwilling to participate found their own transportation onward, while the rest
joined Alexios in the controversial mission and sailed off for the capital of Byzantium…
The goal now was simple: restore Alexios to the throne and then carry on to Egypt and
Jerusalem.
The actual events that were to come, however, were not so straightforward.
Initially, the Crusaders were able to put Alexios back in power, although he would only
rule as a co-emperor alongside his father.
In response to the attack upon the Crusaders’ arrival and the reigning emperor’s decision
to flee the city, the Imperial Officials had actually re-crowned Isaac II, which made the
situation slightly confusing for the Crusaders who still wanted the rewards they had been
promised as part of their deal with Alexios.
As a compromise to ensure that their efforts had not been in vain, the Crusaders demanded
that Alexios must be crowned alongside his father, or else they would not relent.
On August 1, 1203, they got their wish…
In spite of their persistence though, the Crusaders were only temporarily successful.
Alexios was not well-liked within Constantinople to put it lightly, and tensions with his rival,
Alexios The Third, pushed him to ask the Crusaders for an extension on their contracts.
They agreed, but quickly became more of a menace than a help after rioting broke out,
resulting in Latin casualties and fiery Crusader retaliation.
Instability in Byzantium only grew from that point on… and the revolutionary efforts
of Constantinople’s citizens led to the ousting and assassination of Alexios The Forth,
which absolutely enraged the Crusading force.
The troops insisted that Alexios The Fifth who had been at the head of the movement to
rid Byzantium of the previous one, take over the deceased emperor’s portion of the contract
and pay the Crusaders what they were owed.
He simply refused…
Now in the spring of 1204, ignoring renewed resistance from the desperate pope, the Crusaders
yet again launched an offensive against the capital of Byzantium.
In a matter of days, the troubled city fell to the Crusaders….
It was at this point that the infamous and, to many, horrifying sack of Constantinople
was carried out…
The incensed Crusaders wreaked havoc throughout the ancient capital of the Romans, looting
homes and properties, burning down buildings, killing and defiling innocent civilians, and
even destroying the churches of their supposed brothers in Christ…
When word reached Pope Innocent of just how far the Crusaders had gone, he was infuriated
beyond belief.
Time after time these alleged Christian “heroes” had let him down and turned on their own.
And according to historian Speros Vryonis :
“The Fourth Crusade and the crusading movement generally thus resulted, ultimately, in the
victory of Islam, a result which was of course the exact opposite of its original intention.”...
So, the reason for the shocking and horrifying sack of Christian Constantinople by the Western
Crusaders can be explained in multiple ways.
On one hand, this particular band of fighters had shown back at Zara that they had no qualms
about attacking those who shared their faith.
Additionally, the offer made by Alexios The Forth, which was to reward the Crusaders with
treasures and submission of the Eastern church to the West for their efforts to support him,
was too good to turn down.
And lastly, the events that followed the rise and fall of Alexios as co-emperor, including
the death of his father during his reign, were enough to push the eager-to-fight Crusaders
over the edge and in complete opposition to not only Constantinople but Byzantium and
the whole East.
Any progress that had been made to bring the two sides of the church together seemed more
in vain now than ever.
Politics, money, and personal interests mattered way more than any biblical teachings or any
moral behavior.
The East-West Schism had never been so clear…