The Hijacked Crusade

The loss of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 inevitably altered the dynamics of crusading in the following century. Saladin had proved that the Christian kingdoms were vulnerable, and this made it easier for subsequent Muslim leaders to inspire their followers with religious zeal. Meanwhile, in the West, crusaders and crusading had lost the aura of invincibility. Men increasingly doubted God’s Will when it came to the crusades. But the process was slow. Five more crusades – or six depending on how one counts – occurred before the last outpost of Outremer fell to the Saracens in 1291. (It is important to remember that the numbering of crusades is a historical convenience and completely anachronistic. No one in medieval times talked about "crusades" at all, much less referred to specific campaigns by set numbers.)

The first of the crusades that followed the fall of Jerusalem was, of course, the Third Crusade that achieved sufficient success to  make the crusader states viable for nearly a hundred years -- but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, so in 1198, when the crusaders had hardly returned, Pope Innocent III began preaching a new crusade.  

 Enthusiasm for this crusade was notably diminished compared to the three earlier ones. No king, nor any important nobleman, was prepared to lead it, and financing was so short that when the crusaders reached the port of embarkation, Venice, they were unable to pay for transport. The Venetians offered to provide the shipping for “free” – in exchange for crusader help in eliminating their (Christian) commercial rival, the city of Zara. Over the vehement protest of many participants -- and the Pope! -- and after much soul-searching, the crusade’s commanders agreed to do Venice’s dirty work, but a number of crusaders refused to follow their leaders and proceeded independently to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to offer their services there.

Following the capture of Zara, however, the crusaders still lacked the resources to sail for Egypt and their proposed crusade. They were no closer to recapturing Jerusalem than before they embarked. Furthermore, they had been excommunicated by the Pope for attacking a Christian city and pursuing material gain when under crusader vows. Many men abandoned the army altogether, the wealthy traveling independently to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to take up the struggle for Jerusalem as individual, armed pilgrims rather than as part of a crusading army.

It was now, however, that the son of a deposed Byzantine Emperor, sought their aid. Alexios Angelos alleged that he would be welcomed with jubilation by the people of Constantinople and offering huge rewards. The crusaders succeeded in putting Alexios on the Byzantine throne in August 1203, but his promises of pay proved empty. Worse, he was highly unpopular and deposed in a popular uprising in January 1204 -- an uprising that was directed against the Latins still camped outside the city.

There was now no hope the crusaders would be paid for their services and they were in worse straights than ever. At this juncture, Venice proposed taking the wealthy city of Constantinople on their own account.

It was a daring plan. The crusaders were few in number, and morale was low. On the other side was a city that had defied all attempts to capture it up to now. Twice, massive armies led by devout (not to say fanatical) Muslim leaders had failed to take the city after months-long sieges.

The crusader victory is largely attributable to the remarkable technology of the Venetian ships which enabled an assault from the sea -- something the Arabs had not been able to do. Equally important, however, is the fact that the mob in Constantinople did not elect a new emperor until the very day before the city fell. This suggests the population was divided and that there was no clear leadership of the defense. The great city fell to the crusaders on April 13, 1204, and the erstwhile crusaders captured and sacked one of the greatest Christian cities in the world.

Although this action was repudiated by the Pope and reviled by many devout Christians throughout Western Europe, the damage had been done. The reputation of so-called "crusaders" was besmirched forever -- and the "Fourth Crusade" is always held up as an example of the corruption of the entire concept by opponents. Yet the capture of Constantinople was not a crusade at all! The Pope had very explicitly prohibited the siege and capture of Constantinople and papal approval is the essence of a crusade. It is only a historical convention to refer to this hijacked crusade as the "Fourth Crusade."

Dr. Schrader's new series is set in the first half of the 13th century after the establishment of a Latin empire based in Constantinople. The first book in the series is:

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Dr. Helena P. Schrader holds a PhD in History.

She is the Chief Editor of the Real Crusades History Blog.

She is an award-winning novelist and author of numerous books both fiction and non-fiction. Her three-part biography of Balian d'Ibelin won a total of 14 literary accolades. Her most recent release is a novel about the founding of the crusader Kingdom of Cyprus. You can find out more at: http://crusaderkingdoms.com

Venice and Byzantium: the Back-Story to the Fourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade, in which a host originally raised to relieve the Holy Land was instead deployed to attack and sack the Christian city of Constantinople, is usually described as an act of perfidy, barbarity and Western arrogance. Even at the time, it was highly controversial, with many of the initial crusaders, (e.g. Simon de Montfort the Elder and his brother) refusing to take part.

But no historical event is without its antecedents, and the Fourth Crusade is no exception. There was a long and complex history of interaction between the West and the Byzantine Empire that included both periods of cooperation and periods of deep suspicion, hostility, and conflict. While that long history is beyond the scope of a blog entry, two important incidents of that history go a long way to explaining the Fourth Crusade.

After a long and mutually productive alliance between the Eastern Roman Empire and the city-state of Venice, tensions began to develop in the mid-12^th century.  The Venetians opposed the Byzantine Emperor’s expansion in Dalmatia and his aggressive policies in Southern Italy. Meanwhile, the Venetian enclaves in the Byzantine Empire and especially in Constantinople were increasingly resented by the local population, who considered them arrogant and insufferable — largely because they were exempt from certain taxes and had become extremely wealthy.  So, in a move reminiscent of Philip IV of France’s arrest of the Templars 147 years later, on March 12, 1171, Emperor Manuel I ordered the simultaneous arrest of all Venetians in his realm by the local authorities.  He then confiscated all their property and held the captives prisoner.  

Venice launched a naval expedition to free the prisoners, but it was repelled and negotiations for the release of the prisoners got nowhere. For the time being, Venice had to capitulate, but the insult, the massive loss of wealth and loss of freedom for thousands of citizens was not something proud Venice was prepared to forget. Venice had good reason to hate the Byzantine Empire and to want revenge in 1204.

Meanwhile, Venice’s rivals Pisa and Genoa initially benefited from the abrupt elimination of Venetian presence in the Byzantine Empire.  For just over a decade, they basked in the sun of Imperial favor, expanding their own trading empires, especially after the death of Manuel I with the ascension of his 11-year-old son, Alexius II.  Alexius II was the son of a Latin princess, namely the Princess Maria of Antioch, and she and her lover pursued a decidedly “pro-Western” policy — which soon aroused the hostility of the bureaucracy and the people in Constantinople. The anti-Western faction in the capital found an ally in the ambition of an uncle of the late Manuel I, and in April 1182 the mob was set loose on the Latin population in Constantinople.

According to Charles M. Brand in his history Byzantium Confronts the West, 1180-1204, (Harvard University Press, 1968): “The populace turned on the merchants, their families, and the Catholic monks and clerics who lived in the crowded quarters along the Golden Horn…. When the mobs attacked, no attempt at defense was made. The crowds raced through the streets seeking Latins. The choicest victims were the helpless: women and children, the aged and the sick, priests and monks. They were killed in streets and houses, dragged from hiding places and slaughtered. Dwellings and churches full of refugees were burned, and at the Hospital of the Knights of St. John, the sick were murdered in their beds.  The clergy were the particular objects of the crowd’s hatred. The pope’s emissary, Cardinal John, was decapitated and his body dragged through the streets on the tail of a dog….The Orthodox clergy took the lead in searching out concealed Latins to deliver to the killers.”

Does this massacre of a few thousand people justify the Sack of Constantinople in 1204? Certainly not! But if the terror attacks of September 11, 2000 could fill a modern democracy with rage and the desire for revenge — including the willingness to conduct long, drawn-out and expensive wars in distant places and undertake state-sanctioned assassinations — than it is only reasonable to factor in the anger this massacre incited in the West when analyzing the causes of the Fourth Crusade.

Balian d'Ibelin's wife was a Byzantine Princess, Maria Comnena and the relationship between the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Byzantine Empire plays a minor role in my biographical novel of Balian d'Ibelin. 

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Dr. Helena P. Schrader holds a PhD in History.

She is the Chief Editor of the Real Crusades History Blog.

She is an award-winning novelist and author of numerous books both fiction and non-fiction. Her three-part biography of Balian d'Ibelin won a total of 14 literary accolades. Her most recent release is a novel about the founding of the crusader Kingdom of Cyprus. You can find out more at: http://crusaderkingdoms.com