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{{cleanup|Standardize headers, summarize chronology into prose, standardize formatting. Recommend possible replacement with [[Wikipedia:Fourth Crusade]].}}
The '''Fourth Crusade''' lasted from 1201-1204. Though the Crusades were for the most part an entirely Western phenomenon, this one affected Eastern Church history because the invading Crusaders took Constantinople on [[April 1312]], 1204. After defeating the Byzantine Emperor Alexius V (who had usurped the throne from his predecessor Alexius IV, put in power by the Crusaders), they conquered the city and famously looted and desecrated numerous churches, [[iconography|icons]], and [[relics]].{{<ref|1}} >[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html Nicetas Choniates: The Sack of Constantinople (1204)] - from the ''Medieval Sourcebook.''</ref> They then set up the [[w:Latin Empire|Latin Empire]], based in Constantinople; it lasted , lasting over 57 years until the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus recaptured Constantinople in 1261. This Crusade is widely regarded as having finalized the [[Great Schism]], as much bitterness towards the West remained even after the restoration of [[Byzantium]].{{stub}}
==Background==
After the failure of the [[w:Third Crusade|Third Crusade]] (1189–1192), there was little interest in Europe for another crusade against the [[Islam|Muslims]]. Jerusalem was now controlled by the [[w:Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid dynasty]], which ruled all of Syria and Egypt, except for the few cities along the coast still controlled by the crusader [[w:Kingdom of Jerusalem|Kingdom of Jerusalem]], now centered on [[w:Acre, Israel|Acre]]. The Third Crusade had also established a [[w:Kingdom of Cyprus|kingdom Kingdom on Cyprus]].
[[w:Pope Innocent III|Pope Innocent III]] succeeded to the papacy in 1198, and the preaching of a new crusade became the goal of his pontificate. His call was largely ignored by the European monarchs: , as the Germans were struggling against Papal power, and England and France were still engaged in warfare against each other. However, due to the preaching of [[w:Fulk of Neuilly|Fulk of Neuilly]], a crusading army was finally organized at a [[w:tournament (medieval)|tournament]] held at [[w:Écry-sur-Seine|Écry]] by [[w:Thibaut III of Champagne|Count Thibaut]] of [[w:Champagne, France|Champagne]] in 1199. Thibaut was elected leader, but he died in 1200 and was replaced by an Italian count, [[w:Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat|Boniface of Montferrat]]. Boniface and the other leaders sent envoys to Venice, Genoa, and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to Egypt, the object of their crusade; one of the envoys was the future historian [[w:Geoffrey of Villehardouin|Geoffrey of Villehardouin]]. Genoa was uninterested, but in March 1201 negotiations were opened with Venice, which agreed to transport 33,500 crusaders, a very ambitious number. This agreement required a full year of preparation on the part of the Venetians to build numerous ships and train the sailors who would man them, all the while curtailing the city's commercial activities. The crusading army was expected to comprise 4,500 knights (as well as 4,500 horses), 9,000 squires, and 20,000 foot-soldiers.
The majority of the crusading army that set out from Venice in October 1202 originated from areas within France. It included men from Blois, Champagne, Amiens, Saint-Pol, the Ile-de-France and Burgundy. Several other regions of Europe sent substantial contingents as well, such as Flanders and Montferrat. Other notable groups came from the [[w:Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Empire]], including the men under Bishops Martin of Pairisand and Conrad of Halberstadt, together in alliance with the Venetian soldiers and sailors led by the Doge of Venice [[w:Enrico Dandolo|Enrico Dandolo]]. The crusade was to make directly for the centre of the Muslim world, Cairo, ready to sail on June 24, 1202. This agreement was ratified by Pope Innocent, with a solemn ban on attacks on Christian states.<ref>Philips Hughes. [http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT "History of the Church"], ''Innocent III & the Latin East, p''.370, Philips Hughes, Sheed & Ward, 1948. pp.370.</ref>
===Papal [[Primacy and Unity in Orthodox Ecclesiology|primacy]] as developed during the Cluniac Reformation (10th-11th c.) and the Gregorian Reform of Pope Gregory VII.===
The [[Monastery]] of Cluny in French Burgundy taught the high doctrine of the power of the Apostolic [[See]]. The Church was to be organized under strict discipline, and [[bishop]]s, [[priest]]s, and [[monk]]s had no rights of their own that were not derived from the pope, the unique source of ecclesiastical authority. In 1039 Cluny's [[abbot]] Odilo turned his [[monastery]] into the head of a monastic feudal system whose influence spread all over Europe. In 1055 the Monastery of Cluny captured the papacy. Pope Innocent III (pope during the Fourth Crusade) carried these Cluniac ideas about the position of the pope as the sole and highest authority in the Church.
With this background, and with the experience of the Great Schism in 1054, the papacy's position was that Byzantium was regarded as a rebel, a [[schism|schismatic]] or [[heretic]]al nation which should be brought back to order or eliminated.
===Resentment against Eastern Christendom===
The average European, especially those who lived in the northern territories and had no communication or knowledge of the [[Byzantine Empire]], were taught to believe that the Greeks were ungodly, a nation not worthy to bear the name of Christians. Two examples are: #One example is found in the ''[[w:Chronicle of the Morea|Chronicle of the Morea]]'' (a 14th Century text naarating the establishment of western-style feudalism in Frankish Greece), there is a speech recorded which clearly shows the division between the Latins and the Greeks; the papal legate at Zara (1202) stated: "''It is better to brings Christians into agreement and like-mindedness, the Franks and the Greeks, than go to Syria with no hope of success''."(Chronicle of Morea p.82). #In Also, in the acccount of the Second Crusade (1147-49), ''De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem (On Louis VII's journey to the East)'', written by Odo of Deuil, a chaplain to the French King Louis VII and later abbott of Saint-Denis, Odo explains the failure of the Second Crusade in terms of human action rather than as the will of God. He blamed the Byzantine Empire under Manuel Comnenus for the downfall of the Crusade. Odo's prejudice against Byzantium led historian Steven Runciman to describe Odo as "hysterically anti-Greek."
===Anti-Byzantine Sentement Sentiment in connection with Previous Crusades and Byzantine Relations with Muslim Empires==# Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexius I Comnenus]] helped the First Crusade but was very cautious, signing an uneasy treaty and alliance with the Crusaders.# Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel I Comnenus]] promised to help the Second Crusade and signed the same treaty with the Crusaders. However, he could not help because he was engaged in war against the Norman Prince Roger of Sicily, who had invaded Corfu. Manuel had also signed a treaty with the Turks of Iconium; the Crusaders, particularly the Franks, bitterly blamed him for their failure.# Emperor [[Isaac II Angelos|Isaac II Angelus]] foolishly imprisoned the ambassadors of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (Hohenstauffen), head of the Third Crusade, who were sent to negotiate passage through imperial territory. Issac also had concluded a treaty with the Sultan of Iconium, as he was fearful of Frederick's ambitions. =
==Response to Byzantine Attacks on Western Positions=Chronology of Aggressive Actions Between the West and Byzantium===# :* There were bitter memories of recent Byzantine attacks on Westerners (in Sicily, ; in West Greece(in 1098), ; and in Antioch during the First Crusade). # :* 1149: The King of France Louis VII supported the suggestion that a European League should launch a new crusade against the emperor who was "Christian Only in Name." The capture of Constantinople should be the crusaders first objective. The Norman Roger of Sicily was in support of the idea, but his ally Pope Eugenius III was hesitant only because he feared the possible increase of Roger's power.# :* 1171: Emperor Manuel, having concluded alliances with Pisa and Genoa, decided to strike at Venice by arresting all Venetians in the Empire and confiscating all their ships and goods, symbolizing the degeneration of the Empire's relationship with the West and between Latins and Greeks in Constantinople.# :* 1183-85: during During the reign of Emperor Andronicus I Comnenus, there was a great massacre of Italians in Constantinople, and all commerical concessions were withdrawn. Andronicus made many enemies and was eventually overthrown by riots in Constantinople.# :* 1185: Normans took Thessaloniki and subjected inhabitants to merciless treatment, partly for revenge of the massacre of Latins in 1183.# :* 1188: Emperor Isaac II agreed in 1188 to Sultan Saladin's request to build a new mosque (and not just use an existing one) in Constantinople. Its construction is mentioned by Pope Innocent III in a letter of 1210 to the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, Tommaso Morosini. (''Patrologia Latina'', CCXVI, col. 354.)# :* 1189: The Third Crusade (1189), headed by German King Frederick Barbarossa, an enemy of Byzantium, was almost turned against Constantinople. The folly of Isaac I in imprisoning Frederick's ambassadors enraged the Crusaders. They occupied Philippopolis in Thrace, and Frederick wrote to his son Henry to send a fleet and attack the capital. He also wrote to the pope for his blessing, stating that it was necessary to eliminate the Empire if they were going to have any success in their enterprise against the Moslems. Negotiations by Isaac and a treaty averted the danger at that time. # :* 1191: Cyprus taken from Byzantines by English King Richard I "Lion Heart," who sold it in 1198 to Frankish Crusaders from previous Crusades that had been ousted from Jerusalem in 1187 when the Arabs retook Jerusalem it after 88 years.# :* 1197: Henry VI, son of Frederick Barbarossa, made no secret of his hatred of Byzantium and his ambitions to build a Mediterranean dominion. In 1197 a German expedition landed at Acre in Palestine; it was to be the forerunner of a greater army led by Henry himself. Pope Celestine III made no attempt to dissuade him, but he advised him not to attack Constantinople because he was negotiating with the emperor the ''Union of the Churches''. Henry's sudden death at 32 put an end to this German expedition.
==Diversion to Constantinople==<!-- [[Sack of Constantinople]] redirects here -->[[Image:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 012.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople'Chronology ' ([[Eugène Delacroix]], 1840). The most infamous action of the Fourth Crusade (Diversion was the sack of the Fourth Crusade)'''==Orthodox Christian capital city of [[Constantinople]]]]
On the second attempt of the Venetians to set up a wall of fire to aid their escape, they instigated the "Great Fire", in which a large part of Constantinople was burned down. Opposition to Alexius IV grew, and one of his courtiers, Alexius Ducas (nicknamed 'Murtzuphlos'((These dates were largely taken from Jonathan Riley-Smith because of his thick eyebrows), soon overthrew him and Niketas Choniates))''had him strangled to death. Alexius Ducas took the throne himself as [[w:Alexios V Doukas|Alexius V]]; Isaac died soon afterward, probably of natural causes.
The Crusaders followed south, clergy discussed the situation amongst themselves and attacked the Tower of Galata, which held one end of settled upon the chain that blocked access to the Golden Horn. As message they laid siege wished to spread through the Tower, the Greeks counterattacked with some initial successdemoralized army. However, when the Crusaders rallied and the Greeks retreated They had to convince the Tower, men that the Crusaders events of [[April 9]] were able to follow not God's judgment on a sinful enterprise: the soldiers through the Gatecampaign, they argued, was righteous and the Tower surrenderedwith proper belief it would succeed. The Golden Horn now lay open concept of God testing the determination of the crusaders through temporary setbacks was a familiar means for the clergy to explain failure in the Crusaders, and the Venetian fleet enteredcourse of a campaign.
===Final capture of Constantinople===On [[April 12]] 1204 the weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders. A strong northern wind aided the Venetian ships to come close to the wall. After a short battle, approximately seventy crusaders managed to enter the city. Some Crusaders were eventually able to knock holes in the walls, small enough for a few knights at a time to crawl through; the Venetians were also successful at scaling the walls from the sea, though there was extremely bloody fighting with the [[w:Varangians#The Varangian Guard|Varangians]]. The crusaders captured the [[w:Blachernae|Blachernae]] section of the city in the northwest and used it as a base to attack the rest of the city, but while attempting to defend themselves with a wall of fire, they ended up burning down even more of the city. This second fire left 15,000 people homeless.<ref name="exp">J. Phillips, ''The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople'', 209</ref>
Speros Vryonis in ''Byzantium and Europe'' gives a vivid account of the sack of Constantinople by the Frankish and Venetian Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade:
<blockquote>
The Latin soldiery subjected the greatest city in Europe to an indescribable sack. For three days they murdered, raped, looted and destroyed on a scale which even the ancient Vandals and Goths would have found unbelievable. Constantinople had become a veritable museum of ancient and Byzantine art, an emporium of such incredible wealth that the Latins were astounded at the riches they found. Though the Venetians had an appreciation for the art which they discovered (they were themselves semi-Byzantines) and saved much of it, the French and others destroyed indiscriminately, halting to refresh themselves with wine, violation of nuns, and murder of Orthodox clerics. The Crusaders vented their hatred for the Greeks most spectacularly in the desecration of the greatest Church in Christendom. They smashed the silver iconostasis, the icons and the holy books of [[Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)|Hagia Sophia]], and seated upon the patriarchal throne a whore who sang coarse songs as they drank wine from the Church's holy vessels. The estrangement of East and West, which had proceeded over the centuries, culminated in the horrible massacre that accompanied the conquest of Constantinople. The Greeks were convinced that even the Turks, had they taken the city, would not have been as cruel as the Latin Christians. The defeat of Byzantium, already in a state of decline, accelerated political degeneration so that the Byzantines eventually became an easy prey to the Turks. The Crusading movement thus resulted, ultimately, in the victory of Islam, a result which was of course the exact opposite of its original intention.</blockquoteref> (Vryonis, Speros. ''Byzantium and Europe''. Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, p1967. pp.152).</ref><ref>Philip Hughes. [http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT "History of the Church Vol II"], ''Innocent III & the Latin East, p372, Philip Hughes, ''. Sheed & Ward, 1948. pp.372.</ref> According to Choniates, a [[prostitute]] was even set up on the Patriarchal throne.<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/choniates1.html "The Sack of Constantinople"], Nicetas Choniates, 1204.</refblockquote> When Innocent III heard of the conduct of his pilgrims, he was filled with shame and strongly rebuked them.
According to Choniates, a prearranged treaty, the empire prostitute was apportioned between Venice and even set up on the crusade's leaders, and the [[Latin Empire]] of Constantinople was establishedPatriarchal throne. Boniface was not elected as the new emperor, although the citizens seemed to consider him as such; the Venetians thought he had too many connections with the former empire because of his brother, [<ref>[Renier of Montferrat]], who had been married to [[Maria Comnena (Porphyrogenita)|Maria Comnena]], empress in the 1170s and 80shttp://www. Instead they placed [[Baldwin I of Constantinople|Baldwin of Flanders]] on the thronefordham. Boniface went on to found the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]], a vassal state of the new Latin Empireedu/halsall/source/choniates1. html "The Venetians also founded the [[Duchy Sack of the Archipelago]Constantinople"] in the Aegean Sea. Meanwhile, Byzantine refugees founded their own [[successor state]]sNicetas Choniates, the most notable 1204.</ref> When Innocent III heard of these being the [[Empire conduct of Nicaea]] under [[Theodore I Lascaris|Theodore Lascaris]] (a relative of Alexius III), the [[Empire of Trebizond]]his pilgrims, he was filled with shame and the [[Despotate of Epirus]]strongly rebuked them.
A Roman Catholic patriarch was established and attempted to introduce Roman Catholicism by force. The new Venetian Patriarch in Constantinople, Tommaso Morosini, was appointed by the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo (the main person who engineered the diversion of the Fourth Crusade); and according to Gibbon, the Venetians employed every art to perpetuate in their own nation the honors and benefices of the Greek church. Morosini appealed to the Pope for aid, and being unable to serve so many derisive masters, he died a madman. The new papal legate, Pelagius, rode into Constantinople dressed in scarlet from head to foot, like a Greek Emperor himself, and soon asserted that the easy days were over: Thenceforth the Greek clergy must adapt themselves in all religious rites and beliefs to those of the Church of Rome. He was prepared to wade through blood, he quickly showed, should the Orthodox Greeks deny any part of his assertion<ref>Treece, Henry. ''The Crusades''. London, 1962. pp.230-231</ref>.
[[Image:Greece_in_1214.JPG|right|thumb|Greece in 1214]]
After the ''[[w:Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros|Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros]],'' which took place in the spring of 1205, in Messinia, Peloponnese, between the Franks and the Greeks, all the castles and cities of the Peloponnese fell to the Franks. Meanwhile, the Venetians took possession of Crete in 1211, and retained it until ousted by the Ottoman Turks in 1669, a full 458 years later.
===Recovery===
In 1261 Emperor [[w:Michael VIII Palaiologos|Michael Palaeologus]] reconquered Constantinople for the Byzantines, and control of the city at last passed from the Venetians to the [[w:Palaiologos|Paleologus Dynasty]]. Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus made the city of [[w:Mystras|Mystras]] in the Peloponnese the seat of the new [[w:Despotate of Morea|Despotate of Morea]], where a Byzantine Renaissance occured, which was to last until 1460.
[[Image:Greece_in_1278.JPG|right|thumb|Greece in 1278]]In September of 1259, the Byzantines defeated the Latin Principality of Achaea at the ''[[w:Battle of Pelagonia|Battle of Pelagonia]]'', marking the beginning of the Byzantine recovery of Greece.
In May of 2001, Pope [[John Paul II]] visited Athens, Greece, the first visit of a pope in nearly 1300 years. Pope John Paul II and Archbishop [[Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens|Christodoulos]] met at the Aereopagus, where the [[Apostle Paul]] preached to Athenians 2000 years ago.
Pope John Paul II stated: "''For occasions past and present when the sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by actions and omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the forgiveness we beg of Him.''" Many Orthodox regard this as a "political" apology for the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, as well as for other issues, but it was clearly not in any way or form a religious/or doctrinal apology on the part of the Roman Catholic Church.
In April 2004, in a speech on the 800th anniversary of the city's capture, Ecumenical Patriarch [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]] formally accepted the apology. "''The spirit of reconciliation is stronger than hatred,''" he said during a liturgy attended by Roman Catholic Archbishop Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France. "''We receive with gratitude and respect your cordial gesture for the tragic events of the Fourth Crusade. It is a fact that a crime was committed here in the city 800 years ago.''" Bartholomew said his acceptance came in the spirit of Pascha. "''The spirit of reconciliation of the resurrection... incites us toward reconciliation of our churches.''"<ref>[http://www.incommunion.org/articles/issue-33/news-issue-33''Patriarch accepts Pope’s Apology.'']'' '''In Communion: Website of Orthodox Peace Fellowship''' '', News - Issue 33.</ref>
==Further reading==
*[[Wikipedia:Fourth Crusade]]
* [http://aggreen.net/church_history/1204_sack.html The Sack of Constantinople] - by Nicholas A. Cooke
* ''The Cambridge Medieval History: Vol. IV-The Byzantine Empire: Part 1-Byzantium and Its Neighbours''.
==References==
<div class="small"><references/></div>
==Sources==
* Morris, Colin. ''Geoffrey De Villehardouin and the Conquest of Constantinople''. (article).
* Folda, J. "''The Fourth Crusade 1201-1203: Some Reconsiderations''." in Byzantino-Slavica 26(1965),pp.227-290.
* Hughes, Philip. [http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/HUGHHIST.TXT "A History of the Church Vol II"]. Sheed & Ward, 1948.
* [http://www.incommunion.org/articles/issue-33/news-issue-33 ''Patriarch accepts Pope’s Apology.''] '' '''In Communion: Website of Orthodox Peace Fellowship''' '', News - Issue 33.
===Primary Sources===