Fourth Crusade on Constantinople in 1204 AD and its effects on relations between the Church of Constantinople and Rome. Dr. SALAH.A.

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1 Fourth Crusade on Constantinople in 1204 AD and its effects on relations between the Church of Constantinople and Rome Dr. SALAH.A.A SULAYMAN Assistant Professor in department of the History. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Al marj. University of Benghazi- Libya Abstract Relations between Rome and Constantinople started since the mid of the 2 nd century AD to take a dangerous direction. The researcher can draw a curve of enmity rising between both peoples; the Latin and the Greek. This enmity between peoples started during campaigns, then, aggravated with the increase of these campaigns and when Christian peoples in the east and west realized their results. The Latin never gave up thinking that Byzantines were responsible for difficulties the first crusade in 1095 AD suffered from and that the Byzantine emperor was responsible for disaster of the crusade in 1101 AD. On the other hand, Byzantines never forgot that Rome asked Robert Guiscard to invade the Byzantine Empire and never forgot that Gregory VII deprived Alexius I Comnenus from the church. Also, Byzantines never forgot that Paschal II supported promised of campaign of Bohemond son of Guiscard against the Byzantine Empire in 1107 AD, besides, they did not forget that the Latin invaded Antioch dismissed the orthodox patriarch out of it. On the other side, the Latin did not forget the threat of John IV Comnenus to Antioch and humiliating its French, originally, prince, Raymond De Poitiers in 1137 AD. Moreover, Byzantines did not forget the pope's, Innocent II, decision to in which he asked the Latin to come out of John Comnenus army if as he threatened Antioch And the Latin properties in the east. In addition, Byzantines never forgot humiliation that happened to them at the hands of Arnot in 1185 AD. However, the Latin never gave up thinking that the disaster that happened to the 2 nd campaign ( AD) was because of the Byzantine Empire. While Byzantines never forgot that a European ally was formed against them due to the pope's sympathy and the western religion men in 1150 AD. Key words: the Byzantine Empire, Christian, the Latin, the fourth crusade, the church, Constantinople, Rome. 1

2 ISSN : الحملة الصليبية الرابعة على القسطنطينية عام 0412 م وآثرها على العالقات بين كنيسة القسطنطينية وكنيسة وروما د. صالح األمين عبدهللا سليمان أستاذ التاريخ الوسيط االوروبي المساعد بقسم التاريخ - كلية اآلداب والعلوم المرج - جامعة بنغازي - ليبيا الملخص: بدأت العالقات بين روما والقسطنطينية منذ منتصف القرن الثاني الميالدي التخاذ اتجاه خطير. ويمكن للباحث أن يرسم منحنى للعداوة بين الشعبين الالتيني واليوناني. هذا العداوة بين الشعوب بدأت خالل الحمالت الصليبية ثم تفاقمت مع زيادة هذه الحمالت وعندما أدركت الشعوب المسيحية في الشرق والغرب نتائجها. لم يتخل الالتيني أبدا عن التفكير في أن البيزنطيين كانوا مسؤولين عن الصعوبات التي تعرضت لها الحملة الصليبية األولى في عام 5901 م وأن اإلمبراطور البيزنطي كان مسؤوال عن كارثة الحملة الصليبية في 5595 م. من ناحية أخرى لم ينس البيزنطيون أبدا أن روما طلبت روبرت غيسكارد لغزو اإلمبراطورية البيزنطية ولم ينس أبدا أن غريغوري السابع حرم أليكسيوس األول كومنينوس من الكنيسة. كما أن البيزنطيين لم ينسوا أبدا أن باسكال الثاني أيد حملة ابن غوهيسارد بوهيموند ضد اإلمبراطورية البيزنطية في 5591 م فضال عن أنهم لم ينسوا أن الالتيني غزو مدينة أنطاكية وطرد البطريرك األرثوذكسي منها. على الجانب اآلخر التنسى الالتينية تهديد جون الرابع كومنينوس إلى أنطاكية وإهانة الفرنسية أصال األمير ريمون دي بواتييه في 5511 م. وعالوة على ذلك لم ينس البيزنطيين البابا األبرياء الثاني القرار الذي طلب من الالتينية للخروج من جيش جون كومنينوس إذا هدد أنطاكية والخصائص الالتينية في الشرق. باإلضافة إلى ذلك لم ينس البيزنطيون أبدا اإلذالل الذي حدث لهم على يد أرنو في 5511 م. ومع ذلك فإن الالتينية لم تتخل عن التفكير في أن الكارثة التي وقعت للحملة الثانية ) م( كان بسبب اإلمبراطورية البيزنطية. في حين أن البيزنطيين لم ينسوا أبدا أن حليف أوروبي شكل ضدهم بسبب تعاطف البابا ورجال الدين الغربيين في 5519 م. الكلمات الرئيسية: اإلمبراطورية البيزنطية المسيحية الالتينية الحملة الصليبية الرابعة الكنيسة القسطنطينية روما. 2

3 1. Introduction. The Western perception of the movement of the Crusades, was somewhat complicated, it has numerous analyzes about the reasons for the Crusades, the mismatch religious reasons, such as freedom of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the encroachments of the Seljuks 1, including the military and political causes of the ambitions of the Byzantine territory. But the Byzantine perception was completely different, when the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus 2 ( AD) seek help from the Pope Urban II, 3 the bulk of what was requested by some the difference mercenaries for the war with the Muslims, which is not something new to the Byzantine Empire. The recovery of the Asian region was the responsibility of the Byzantine Empire and not on all the Christian world in the east and the west. The Byzantine Empire looked at the Crusader movement as syphilis Burberry European project, and considered it a political movement and met with caution and suspicion, then withstood him later. The objectives of the Byzantine emperor and the interests of his state, contradict and conflict with the papal crusade movement and the goals which oversaw the organization: The Crusaders came to fight the Muslims, while the Byzantine Empire was the runner with a class of them all, they are the Seljuk Turks who grob of the Byzantine Empire Asia Minor. With the First Crusade in 1097 AD, the first shift in relations point came, it was the inauguration of the Patriarch of Latin at Antioch, and the expulsion of Patriarch the Orthodox to Constantinople, as well as the command in the Jerusalem.. which is in the rear was a historic victory for the center of the papacy and its ambition of global religious leadership. 1 The Seljuk are attributed to their grandfather Seljuk (meaning the very strong) Ibn Dākāk, who was the leader of Kinik tribe of Oghiez and this tribe had no name before his leadership of them, so the tribe was attributed to him and gave in to his govern. Before 985 AD, Seljuk separated from his group of the large Ghuzz tribes, then, he settled down at the right bank of the down Syr Darya River in Jhond near Perowask currently. Thus, the Seljuk became neighbours of Samanians; this in turn led them to leaving Buddhism and embracing Islam. Then they were enthusiastic for Islam. This affected on their behaviours making them respect Imams strongly and lean to theosophy, consequently, theosophy spread in their era and the theosophical denominations won respect and appreciation of people and governors. See: L.S. Stavrianos, the Balkans since 1453, New York: University Press, 1958, pp Alexius I Comnenus was born in 1057 AD, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, and died August 15 th, 1118 AD, Byzantine emperor ( AD) at the time of the first Crusade who founded the Comnenus Dynasty and partially restored the strength of the Empire after its defeats by the Normans and Turks in the 11 th century AD. The third son of John Comnenus and a nephew of Isaac I (emperor AD) Alexius came from a distinguished Byzantine landed family and was one of the military magnates who had long urged more effective defence measures, particularly against the Turks encroaching on Byzantine provinces in eastern. See, Online: (4 th October 2015). 3 Urban II, or Odo of Châtillon-sur-Marne, was born in 1035 AD, Châtillon-sur-Marne, Champagne, France, and died July 29 th, 1099 AD, Rome, head of the Roman Catholic Church ( AD) who developed ecclesiastical reforms begun by Pope Gregory VII, launched the Crusade movement, and strengthened the papacy as a political entity. See: A. Kazhdan, the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, 1991, Vol. 1, p

4 The second turning point, when he was Bohemnd 4 a crusade out of Antioch, Constantinople and the support of Pope Paschal II 5 ( AD) him, causing a serious turning point in relations between the two churches and peoples. With the advent of the Second Crusade in 1147 AD, it was hostile attitudes have pervaded the ranks of all the military, so they came to the east have prior ideas about the Byzantines Kalmthel who says and became a radical wing in the campaign are the clergy Latins unlike the first campaign... and the failure of the second campaign trail in Europe, where King Louis VII 6 returned to tell about betrayal Byzantines, and calls for a European campaign on a Byzantine, but the Pope's project was not connected to the other. During the Crusades, in the twelfth century AD, there have been numerous attempts to reach a unity between the Churches of Constantinople and Rome. The most important reasons for the failure are: i. Doctrinal issues in the emergence and use of unleavened bread as well as secondary issues. ii. The political issues in the leadership of the Roman bishop and differences in the concept of Christian Unity, from Rome to imagine the absolute authority to the concept of community at the Eastern Church. iii. Mixing of political and religious objectives, the link between the unit and the crown, Rome were not willing to replace the German Emperor the Byzantine. Also, the position of the pope and political strength in Italy, was affecting his zeal in pursuing the subject of unity. iv. Oppose the Patriarch of Constantinople, where the negotiations were taking place mostly between the Pope and the Byzantine emperor and was the containment process of the Church of Constantinople rejected. v. Ego Byzantine public opinion, towards the behavior and actions of the Crusaders in Constantinople, the center of the Empire. In the context of the skirmishes in Constantinople, the massacres of the Latin community has got the year 1182 AD. In contrast, Norman came down on Thessalonica, where he earned a deliberate massacres of the year 1185 AD. During the Third Crusade, it was created for the Latin state in Cyprus in 1191 AD. 4 Bohemond I, also spelled Bohemund, (1058 AD- 3 rd March 1111 AD) Prince of Taranto and Prince of Antioch, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. The Crusade had no outright military leader, but instead was ruled by a committee of nobles. Bohemond was one of the most important of these leaders. See, Online: (11 th October 2015). 5 Pope Paschal II was born in 1050 AD, Bieda di Galeata, and died January 21 st, 1118 AD, born Ranierius, was Pope from August 13 th, 1099 AD, until his death. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created cardinal priest of the Titulus S. Clementi by Pope Gregory VII ( AD) about 1076 AD, and was consecrated pope in succession to Pope Urban II ( AD) on August 19 th, 1099 AD. See, Online: (13 th October 2015). 6 Louis VII, also called Louis the Younger, (1120 AD -18 th September 1180 AD in Paris) was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI. He ruled from 1137 AD until his death. He was part of the genetic ascendancy of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles (in particular with the Angevin family) and saw the beginning of the long feud between France and England. It also saw the beginning of construction on Notre-Dame de Paris, the founding of the University of Paris and the disastrous Second Crusade. See, Online: VII (11 th October 2015). 4

5 The final chapter of the differences, he came up with the fourth crusade in 1204 AD, which sparked a final position between the two churches and the popular hostility reached its peak, the campaign has begun to occupy the Christian city of Zara 7 on the Adriatic shore, despite the sanctuary established by Pope Innocent III. As it has been the campaign for the primary purpose converter, which is Egypt, to Constantinople at the instigation of the ruler of Venice, the arrival of the crusader army to the capital, looted Hagia Sophia fully and burning many of the icons, manuscripts and holy books. Then the Crusaders inauguration Latin Emperor of Constantinople, and the Patriarch of Latin, which made the Byzantine patriarch fled to Nicaea city, 8 where the Byzantine Empire until the year 1261 AD and its return to Constantinople. This is the fourth campaign, came a temporary victory for the West, so the Greeks failed to Catholicism or to subject the Eastern Church, and led to the end of the relations between East and West. Church of Bulgaria, Trabzon and Serbs have resigned from the Byzantine Empire because of it. (Refer to Figure 1.1). 9 7 Siege of Zara city in 1202 AD, a major episode of the Fourth Crusade; the first attack on a Christian city by a crusading army, it foreshadowed the same army s assault on Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, in AD. Zara (modern Zadar, Croatia), a vassal city of the Venetian republic, rebelled against Venice in 1186 AD and placed itself under the protection of King Béla III of Hungary. Anxious to reassert their claims over Zara, the Venetians diverted the fourth Crusade from its original objectives, Palestine and Egypt, to attack the city. See: J. H. Hussey, Byzantine and its Neighbours, Vol. IV, The Byzantine Empire, Cambridge: Cambridge Medieval History, 1966, Vol. IV, p Nicaea, also İznik town north-western Turkey. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake İznik. Founded in the 4 th century BC by the Macedonian king Antigonus I Monophthalmus, it was an important centre in late Roman and Byzantine times. The ancient city s Roman and Byzantine ramparts, 14,520 feet (4,426 m) in circumference, remain. The town was besieged and conquered in 1331 AD by the Ottoman Turks, who renamed it İznik and built the Green Mosque ( AD). See, Online: (26 th October 2015). 9 A. Vasiliev, A History of the Byzantine Empire C.E, Vol. I & II, Wisconsin, n.p., Vol. II, p

6 2. The Crusade begins. Pope Innocent III 10 succeeded to the papacy in January 1198 AD, and the preaching of a new crusade became the prime goal of his pontificate, expounded in his bullpost miserabile. 11 His call was largely ignored by the European monarchs, the Germans were struggling against Papal power, and England and France were still engaged in warfare against each other. 12 However, due to the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly, a crusading army was finally organised at a tournament held at Écry-sur-Aisne by Count Thibaut of Champagne in 1199 AD. 13 Thibaut was elected leader, but he died in 1201 AD and was replaced by an Italian count, Boniface of Montferrat. 14 Boniface and the other leaders sent envoys to Venice, Genoa, and other citystates in 1200 to negotiate a contract for transport to Egypt, the object of their crusade; one of the envoys was the future historian Geoffrey of Villehardouin. Earlier crusades focused on Palestine had involved the slow movement of large and disorganised land hosts across a generally hostile Anatolia. Egypt was now the dominant Muslim power in the eastern Mediterranean but also a major trading partner of Venice. 15 An attack on Egypt would clearly be a maritime enterprise, requiring the creation of a fleet. Genoa was uninterested, but in March 1201 AD negotiations were opened with Venice, which agreed to transport 33,500 crusaders, a very ambitious number. This agreement required 10 Pope Innocent III was born in 1160 or 1161 AD Gavignano Castle and died 16 th July 1216 AD, was Pope from 8 th January 1198 AD until his death. His birth name was Lotariodei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni. Pope Innocent was one of the most powerful and influential popes in the history of the papacy, who exerted unilateral control over the Christian states of Europe using wealth, power, and religious support, and claimed supremacy over all of Europe's kings. Pope Innocent was central in supporting the Catholic Church s reforms of lay investiture, in which Innocent worked to prevent kings from selling of clerical positions to bishops and archbishops in exchange for money or service. Pope Innocent is notable for harshly punishing and even excommunicating lords and feudal lords who refused to comply with his rules. One of Pope Innocent's most critical historical decisions was in calling upon Christian forces to begin the fourth Crusade. Originally intended to support the Byzantine people of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople from attack by the Seljuk, the Crusades became one of the greatest wars in history. Pope Innocent attempted to exercise tremendous power and military control by calling upon armies of Christian European nations such as the Franks and the English to fight for religious causes and under his command. Pope Innocent decreed that the Muslims were heretical and decided upon unilaterally attacking them and seizing the Holy Lands, which included Judaea and modern day Syria, Jordan, and Palestine from Muslim Control. This was in direct response to the failure of the third Crusade to secure Jerusalem following the victory of the Muslim forces led by Saladin in 1187 AD. See: Nicetas, C In Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae Bonn. Bonn, O city of Byzantium, p Madden, Thomas F. (August 19, 2008). The Fourth Crusade: Event, Aftermath, and Perceptions: Papers from the Sixth Conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East in Istanbul, Turkey. ISBN Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, 1954, Vol. 3. p Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1976). The Papacy and the Levant, : The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. American Philosophical Society. p Boniface I of Montferrat was born in 1150 AD and died in 1207 AD, was Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. He was the third son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade. He was a younger brother of William 'Longsword', Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, and of Conrad I of Jerusalem. See, Online: (12 th October 2015). 15 Runciman, a History of the Crusades, Vol. 3. P

7 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 consist of 4,500 knights (as well as 4,500 horses), 9,000 squires, and 20,000 foot-soldiers. 16 The majority of the crusading army that set out from Venice in early October 1202 AD originated from areas within France. It included men from Blois, Champagne, Amiens, Saint-Pol, the Île-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 Holy Roman Empire, including the men under Bishop Martin of the Pairis Abbey and Bishop Conrad of Halberstadt, together in alliance with the Venetian soldiers and sailors led by the doge, Enrico Dandolo. The crusade was to be ready to sail on 24 th June 1203 AD and make directly for the Ayyubid capital, Cairo. This agreement was ratified by Pope Innocent, with a solemn ban on attacks on Christian states The fall of Constantinople at the hands of Crusaders in 1204 AD. The years from 1204 to 1354 AD are considered the worst and darkest years of the Byzantine history. This period starts with the Latin Crusaders' occupation of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This was a bitter bill to swallow for the Byzantine-Greek community after Constantinople became governed by a Latin western emperor. The Byzantine Empire could not rise again after this disaster in 1204 AD as it deepened in sequential phases of deterioration, declining and disputes. The fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Latin in 1204 AD was the fourth Crusade campaign ( AD) the Pope Innocent III, who took up then the throne of popery in Rome in February 1198 AD, called for. This Pope wanted to regain the complete sovereign of the popery and that the popery become at the head of the Christian movements against the Islam and Muslims. However, the key character that played an important role in this Christian campaign was Enrico Dandolo, 18 the Doge of Venice. Although he was eighty years old at that time, he was an able politician, he was active, firm and brave which then led him to hero rank. Dandolo was Venetian originally in his mind and qualities especially in the economic aspects and he put economical interests of Venice and its welfare above all, comes rain or shine. In addition, he had great experience and ability in dealing with men, and a state man of first class, a smart diplomatic man, and an economic expert. 19 The Crusaders reached Venice which was where Crusaders gather. Then, the Crusaders were unable to collect a sum of 85,000 Mark of silver, the sum that Venice asked for in exchange for transferring them to where they were heading for. Here, 16 Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th Edition, page 306 Macropaedia Volume Philips Hughes, "Innocent III & the Latin East," History of the Church, Sheed & Ward, 1948, Vol. 2, p Enrico Dandol (born in 1107 AD Venice and died 21 th June 1205 AD Constantinople) was the 41 st Doge of Venice from 1195 AD until his death. Remembered for his blindness, piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and is infamous for his role in the Fourth Crusade which he, at age ninety and blind, surreptitiously redirected against the Byzantine Empire from re-conquering the Holy Land, sacking Constantinople in the process. See: A. Vasiliev, "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond ( )". Speculum A journal of Mediaeval Studies, No. 1. Vol. XI, p Vasiliev, a History of the Byzantine Empire, Vol. II, pp

8 Dandolo suggested delaying the sum agreed on in exchange for that the Crusaders help Venetians to restore Zara city at the Dalmatian coast. It is the city Venice claimed that it had the sovereign over which than the Hungarians. 20 Then, Dandolo urged the crusaders to Venetians to restore Zara in exchange for that Venice transfer Crusaders on its ships to Egypt. So that, Venetians used the Crusaders to achieve their own interests. The attack against the Christian city of Zara was a strong strike to Crusaders and the Crusading movement and a victory for Dandolo. As Venetian entered negotiations before with al-malik al-ādil Ayyūbid in Egypt, no doubt they meant, otherwise, to protect Egypt from attack of Crusaders. 21 (Refer to Figure 2.1). Figure 2.1 the fourth crusade in 1204 AD 22 Consequently, Venetians exerted their best efforts after occupying Zara city to stop the Crusaders from doing what they aimed do, so they saw that invading Constantinople would achieve the best benefits for them after the Byzantine Empire, Alexius III Angelus ( AD), necked it for Venetians and their commercial community in Constantinople, while he granted their competitors of Piacenza plenty of 20 Hungarians is capital Budapest. The people are an amalgam of Magyars and various Slavic, Turkish, and Germanic peoples. Language: Hungarian (Magyar; official). Religion: Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic; also Protestant). Currency: forint. The Great Alfold (Great Hungarian Plain) with fertile agriculture land, occupies nearly half of the country. Hungary s two most important rivers are the Danube and the Tisza. Lake Balaton, in the Transdanubian highlands, is the largest lake in central Europe. Forests cover nearly one-fifth of the land. See: Hussey, Byzantine and its Neighbours, Vol. IV, p Luscombe, D., & Riley-Smith, J. The Fourth Campaign and Greek and Latin Empires C.E, Vol. 4, Part. I & II, In the New Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge: University Press, 2004, pp Vasiliev, a History of the Byzantine Empire, Vol. II, p

9 concessions. 23 Besides, Venice wanted to secure its special commercial roads in the Byzantine Empire pushed by jealousy of activities of its competing Italian Republics in the East, besides, Venice condemned of the new Byzantine trials to limit its several concessions. 24 After the Crusaders occupied Zara city, Alexius III started to bargain Crusaders, thus, Alexius III promised to pay for Crusaders the sum which was a debt for Venetians in exchange for help him to restore his father's throne in Constantinople. 25 The Crusaders were eager and determined to join the attack against Constantinople. Occupation of Constantinople was a new idea but it appeared at that time in its high time. In addition, the myth that says that Byzantines were always responsible for the bad luck of the Crusading movement was getting deep. Then, Crusaders stipulated that after they seize Constantinople, they would stay in it for a short while, then, they would head for Egypt as it was decided. 26 This means that, according to Henry Grégoire, changing the purpose of the fourth campaign was intended since the beginning, in other words since the moment at which Boniface I of Montferrat 27 was elected to be the successor of the Count Thibault of Champagne. 28 This way, Dandolo exploited cleverly the Crusaders eagerness and the policy of the Byzantine dynasty, besides, the Germans joined the attack, and thus, he exploited all this to achieve interests of Venice in the Byzantine Empire. 29 The Crusaders and Venetians entered Constantinople in the summer in 1203 AD, and the emperor Alexius III Angelus restored the throne and assigned his son Alexius as the assistant of the emperor by the name of Alexius IV Angelus 30 ( AD). 23 G. Finlay, History of Greece from Conquest by the Roman to the Present time (146 B.C-1884 AD) Vol. IV, Oxford, n.p., 1877, pp J. M. Hussey, The Byzantine World, 3 rd ed. London: n.p, 1955, p J.R. Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, London: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1967, p The Crusaders thought of attacking Egypt at first thinking that if they conquered it, restoring Palestine would be a piece of cake as Egypt was the heart of resistance against Crusaders in the Levant, besides, it provided the Islamic struggle movement with human forces and materials to fight those Crusaders. However, for Venetians, they saw the opposite of this and did not want to join in the war against Egypt, besides, they had a big community in Alexandria and the Venetian quarter in it included two hotels, a bath, a bakery and a Church. Besides, al-malik al-ādil granted Venetians generous commercial concessions and exempted them from taxes. See: Vasiliev, A History of the Byzantine Empire, Vol. II, p Boniface I of Montferrat was born in 1150 AD and died in 1207 AD, was Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. He was the third son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade. He was a younger brother of William 'Longsword', Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, and of Conrad I of Jerusalem. See: Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, p Thibault I (30 th May 1201 AD - 8 th July 1253 AD), called the Troubadour, the Chansonnier, and the Posthumous, was Count of Champagne (as Thibault IV) from birth and King of Navarre from 1234 AD. He was the first Frenchman to rule Navarre. See: Luscombe & Riley-Smith, The Fourth Campaign, Vol. 4, part. I, p H. Grégoire, "The Question of the Diversion of the Fourth Campaign," Vol. XV, International Journal of Byzantine studies, 1941, pp Alexius IV Angelus, also spelled Alexios IV Angelos (died February 8 th, 1204 AD in Constantinople, Byzantine emperor from 1203 to 1204 AD. Alexius was the son of Emperor Isaac II ( AD). He regained control of his rights to the Byzantine throne with the help of the Fourth Crusade but was deposed soon after by a palace coup. Imprisoned in 1195 AD with his father (who had been blinded) by Alexius III, he escaped in 1201 AD and joined his sister and her husband, Philip of Swabia, in Germany. See: Hussey, The Byzantine World, p

10 However, Alexius IV was unable to achieve what he promised the Crusaders to pay a huge sum of money due to his bad need to money, besides; he was unable to fulfil his promise to join them in their campaign against Egypt. In addition, inhabitants of the Byzantine capital resisted any churchly ally with the Latin. Moreover, of things that increased tension of relations between the Latin and the Byzantine-Greek, what the Latin committed of Fleecing and pillaging of the Greek cities next to Constantinople, besides, they burnt a side of the capital itself. 31 In March, 1204 AD, the Crusaders held a meeting with Venetians outside walls of Constantinople, in which they decided to stop disputes against Muslims and held a treaty amongst them regarding dividing the Byzantine Empire after invading and occupying it. This treaty decided future of the Latin Kingdom in Constantinople. Then they agreed on that if a French person was chosen the emperor, the patriarch must be from Venetians, besides, they agreed on that a quarter of the city would be for the person who became the emperor as a private possession for him only. 32 However, the other three quarters would be divided into two, one of them for Venetians and the other for the Crusaders. Besides, everything would be considered a fief of the emperor. Then, they assigned a group of the Crusaders' army to bring what they got from fleecing and pillaging to the leaguer. In addition, they should not molester or harm women or monks and not to break into any Church or monastery. 33 In April, 1204 AD, the Latin attacked Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexius V Ducas escaped, and so did the patriarch Theodore I Lascaris with a group of other the Greeks, to Asia Minor and Balkan so as to form a resistance there. On the other hand, the Crusaders fleeced the greatest city in Europe. And the Latin soldiers spent three days killing and raping inhabitants of the Byzantine capital and fleeced and took all what they found of mention, antiques and treasures. Besides, they destroyed and ruined establishments of Constantinople, its squares, playgrounds and markets. 34 For Latin administration of Constantinople, Dandolo was frightened of enthusiasm of the Christian campaign leader, Boniface of Montferrat, as he was a very strong leader, especially as his properties were near Venice, thus, Dandolo saw that it was better to choose another less strength and enthusiasm than Boniface I to be the emperor. This one was Baldwin I of Flanders. Besides, another person of Venetians was chosen the patriarch, he was Thomas Morosini. In 26 th May, 1204 AD, Baldwin I was 31 Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, p R. Hassanein, the Financial System of Egypt A.D, London, n.p., 1972, p K. M. Setton, A History of the Crusades, Pennsylvania: University press, 1958, Vol. II, pp R. Frucht, Eastern Europe: an introduction to the people, lands, and culture, Santa Barbara: ABC- CLIO, 2005, Vol. 1, p Constantinople was a museum of the ancient art and the Byzantine art and was a rich and wonderful city. However, the Crusaders, who drank wine till being drunkard in its streets and raped the nuns and killed the Orthodox clergy, destroyed it. Then, the Crusaders expressed their hatred to the Byzantines and the Greeks through desecrating the greatest Christian Church of Saint Sophia. Besides, they ruined the shiner, other icons and holy books kept in that Church, then, the Crusaders sat on the chair of patriarch singing and drinking wine in holy pots of the church. Accordingly, the dissenter prevailed between the Orthodox east and Catholic west was reflected and increased during the past centuries due to that horrible massacre which accompanied crusaders' invasion of Constantinople. Then, concurrent Byzantines were sure that if Constantinople had fallen at the hands of the Turkish Muslims, they would not have done the same as the Latin Crusaders did in it. See: Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, p

11 crowned the emperor in the Church of Saint Sophia. 35 Then, the Byzantine Empire was divided according to what was agreed on previously. Baldwin I took the South of Thrace 36 and 8/5 of Constantinople and a small part in the North-west of Asia Minor near the Bosporus and Marmara Sea and some of Aegean Sea islands like Chios 37 and Sámos. 38 However, his opponent the leader of campaign, Boniface of Montferrat, took Thessaloniki city and some near regions in Macedonia and the South of Thessaly 39 forming the kingdom of Thessaloniki which he governed as a follower to King Baldwin I. Then, Otto de la Roche 40 took Attica. 41 For Venetians, they claimed for areas which achieve safety and security for their commercial interests, most important of these areas were 3/8 of Constantinople, the Church of Saint Sophia, Dyrrachium city, islands of the 35 The Church of Saint Sophia is located in the city of Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia. The church is one of the most important monuments of Macedonia, housing architecture and art from the middle ages. It was built during the First Bulgarian Empire, after the official conversion to Christianity. Some sources date the building of the church during the rule of Knyaz Boris I ( AD) others during the rule of Tzar Samuel of Bulgaria ( AD). Originally the synod church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, it was later converted into a mosque during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The interior of the church has been preserved with frescoes from the 11 th, 12 th and 13 th century AD, which represent some of the most significant achievements in Byzantine painting of the time. The main part of the church was built in the 11 th century AD, while external additions were built by Archbishop Grigorie in the 14 th century AD. See: Frucht, Eastern Europe, Vol. 1, p Thrace ancient and modern region of the South-eastern Balkans. The historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. To the ancient Greeks it was that part of the Balkans between the Danube River to the north and the Aegean Sea to the South, being bounded on the East by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara and on the West by the mountains east of the Vardar River. See: Setton, A History of the Crusades, Vol. II, p Chios island Modern Greek Khíos, island, situated 5 miles (8 km) off the Western coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea that with Psará and other islands makes up the nomós (department) of Khíos, Greece. Of volcanic and limestone origins, it is about 30 miles (50 km) long North-south and from 8 to 15 miles (13 to 24 km) wide. It is traversed North-south by mountains culminating in Mount Pelinaíon (4,255 feet). Khíos, the capital and port on the east coast, has a small, safe harbour. See: Vryonis, Byzantium and Europe, p Sámos island Greek island in the Aegean Sea, the closest one to the mainland of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the narrow Sámos Strait. The 184-sq-mi (476-sq-km) island is wooded and mountainous; Mount Kerketeus, the highest peak (4,701 ft [1,433 metres]) forms the Western tip of the island. The East coast is amply indented, but the smoother South coast has broad, deep plains except around the port of Tigáni, which is hemmed in by hills. See: Hussey, The Byzantine World, p Thessaly region of Northern Greece South of Macedonia, lying between upland Epirus and the Aegean Sea and comprising chiefly the fertile Tríkala and Lárissa lowlands. It is well delineated by topographical boundaries: the Khásia and Cambunian mountains to the North, the Óthrys massif to the South, the main Pindus Mountains to the West, the Olympus massif to the North-east, and the coastal ranges of Óssa and Pelion to the South-east. See: Hussey, The Byzantine World, p Otto de la Roche (died 1234 AD) was a Burgundian nobleman from the castle of La Roche-surl'Ognon, in the Franche-Comté commune of Rigney, Doubs. He joined the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD and became the first Duke of Athens. The historians Geoffroy de Villehardouin and Robert de Clari both relate that Otto captured the Shroud of Turin and gave it to the Knights Templar, who brought it back to France. He took the title of megaskyr or grand seignior in Athens. He held his Greek possessions from the King of Thessalonica. See: Setton, A History of the Crusades, Vol. II, p Attica Modern Greek Attikí, Temple of Poseidon, Attica, Greece. Ancient district of East-central Greece; Athens was its chief city. Bordering the sea on the South and East, Attica attracted maritime trade. In early times there were several independent settlements there, centring on Eleusis, Athens, and Marathon. Athens may have been paramount in the Mycenaean age, but in the historical period it did not completely control Attica until the 7 th century AD. See: Luscombe & Riley-Smith, The Fourth Campaign, Vol. 4, part. I, p

12 Ionian Sea and the largest number of Aegean Sea islands in the South of Peloponnese 42 in addition to some ports of Dardanelles and Marmara Sea and Adrianople city. Then, Ionian Islands, Crete and islands of Aegean Sea formed the rest of their kingdoms. After ruining the Byzantine Empire, the Crusaders started conflicts with Bulgarians around taking control of Balkans. 43 Since 1196 AD, Kaloyan was the tsar of Bulgarians and he was known for his hatred to the Byzantine Empire in the era of Angelus Dynasty. Then, relations between Bulgarians and the Latin got tensioned when the Latin asked Bulgarians to profess and approve their sovereign and threatened the Bulgarian king to invade Bulgaria. At the same time the Crusaders annoyed the Greeks in Thrace and Macedonia due to their prostituting of the Greek religious beliefs. Then, secret communications started between the Greeks and Bulgarians. The former patriarch of Constantinople, John Comaterus, played an important role in forming the Byzantine- Bulgarian ally ( AD) as he lived in Bulgaria before being the patriarch. The Bulgarian king wished to get the Byzantine crown. Then, Bulgarians fought the Latin Crusaders. In the battle of Adrianople 44 which occurred on 14 th of April, 1205 AD, the Bulgarian king Kaloyan, with the help of the Cumans knights was able to defeat the Crusaders. In this battle, the best Western knights were killed and the Latin emperor Baldwin I was captivated at the hands of Bulgarians and his destiny was not known. It seems that the Bulgarian king ordered, otherwise, to kill him in mysterious conditions Peloponnese, also spelled Peloponnesus, Modern Greek Pelopónnisos, peninsula of 8,278 square miles (21,439 square km) a large, mountainous body of land jutting southward into the Mediterranean that since antiquity has been a major region of Greece, joined to the rest of mainland Greece by the Isthmus of Corinth. The name, which is derived from Pelopos Nisos (Island of Pelops, a legendary hero) does not appear in Homer, who preferred to apply the name of Árgos, a Mycenaean city-state, to the whole peninsula. See: Hussey, The Byzantine World, p Nicetas Choniates, who was an eyewitness of the Crusaders' occupation of Constantinople, gave a very clear picture of fleecing the city and what happened in it of demolition till it was said that Muslims when restoring Jerusalem in 1187 AD, they were more merciful to Christians than those who were described as soldiers of the Christ the Crusaders. See: C. Nicetas, IN C.S.H.B, , pp There was another eyewitness of Constantinople's invasion incident, he was Nicholas Mesarites. He was of Ephesus's inhabitants and he gave a very sad description of what happened in Constantinople in the consolation speech which he gave on the occasion of his older son death. In which, he spoke about the Crusaders' demolition of Constantinople and "that cities of Western Europe were filled with treasuries and munitions from Constantinople, even the four bronze horses which beautified race ground in Constantinople Dandolo took to Venice and these horses are still beautifying the front of patriarchal cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark in current Venice. See: Luscombe & Riley-Smith, The Fourth Campaign, Vol. 4, part. I, pp The Battle of Adrianople occurred on April 14 th, 1205 AD between Bulgarians under Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and Crusaders under Baldwin I. It was won by the Bulgarians after a skilful ambush using the help of their Cuman and Greek allies. Around 300 knights were killed; including Louis of Blois, Duke of Nicaea and Baldwin was captured, blinded, and later died in captivity. The Bulgarians then overran much of Thrace and Macedonia. Baldwin was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry of Flanders, who took the throne on August 20 th, 1206 AD. See: R. L. Wolff, Baldwin of Flanders and Hainaut, First Latin Emperor of Constantinople: His Life. Death and Resurrection A.D, Speculum 27, n.p., 1952, pp Ambroise, The Crusade of Richard Lion- Heart, Translate From the old French by: M.J. Hubert, New York, n.p., 1941, pp

13 The Crusaders did not get any news about destiny of Baldwin I, his brother Henry of Hainault, 46 was chosen to govern the kingdom during his absence. The Doge Dandolo was one of those who took participated in this battle. However, he withdrew with those who were defeated and died soon after that in Constantinople and was buried in the Church of Saint Sophia. In fact, the battle of Adrianople in April 14 th, 1205 AD put the Crusaders in miserable conditions and was a very strong strike to the Latin kingdom. In addition, it was the beginning of its end. 47 Relations between Rome and Constantinople started since of mid-the 12 th centuryc.e to take a dangerous direction. The researcher can draw a curve of enmity rising between both peoples; the Latin and the Greek. This enmity between peoples started during the Crusades campaigns, then, aggravated with the increase of these campaigns and when Christian peoples in the East and West realized their results. 48 In fact the fourth Crusade was a natural result of the Church religious, politic and economical claims that lived for long in the hearts of European in general and the Italian Commercial Republics - as we will see later on - in particular in the Byzantine Empire. If the popery triumphed through this a campaign and the throne of the Church of Saint Sophia was taken up by a Latin patriarch who followed Pope of Rome and accordingly the popery achieved a dream which it had since the 4 th century AD, this victory was temporary as the popery failed to change the Byzantines into Catholics and hardly half a century passed and the priestly appearance that surrounded the Byzantine churches went away. 49 The Byzantine Church was destroyed and taken apart due to that 46 Henry of Hainault was born in 1174 AD Valenciennes, and died in June 11 th, 1216 AD, Thessalonica, was the second emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He was a younger son of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (later Baldwin VIII, count of Flanders), and Margaret I of Flanders, sister of Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders. See: Hussey, The Byzantine World, p G. Villehardouin, The Congest of Constantinople, Translated by: M. R. Shaw, London, n.p., 1963, pp The Latin never gave up thinking that Byzantines were responsible for difficulties the first Crusade ( AD) suffered from and that the Byzantine emperor Alexius I was responsible for disaster of the Crusade in 1101 AD. On the other hand, Byzantines never forgot that Rome asked Robert Guiscard to invade the Byzantine Empire ( AD) and never forgot that Gregory VII deprived Alexius I Comnenus from the Church. Also, Byzantines never forgot that the Pope Paschal II ( AD) supported promised of campaign of Bohemund I son of Guiscard against the Byzantine Empire in AD, besides, they did not forget that the Latin invaded Antioch dismissed the Orthodox patriarch out of it. On the other side, the Latin did not forget the threat of John Comnenus to Antioch and humiliating its French, originally, prince Raymond of Poitiers in 1137 AD. Moreover, Byzantines did not forget the Pope's, Innocent II, decision to in which he asked the Latin to come out of John IV army if as he threatened Antioch and the Latin properties in the East. See: Anon., Jālā' al-abṣār min Ghshā al- Aqdār, Manuscript No. 487, Belmnd, Arabic, n.d., paper 99. The fourth Crusade came ( AD) to make a bad matter worse between both churches Constantinople and Rome to form the reasonable result of aggravation of popular enmity, which started to increase a century before between the Byzantines and the Latin. The fourth Crusade is not important for us itself; however, the final point for us is what relations between both churches ended up to during this fourth Crusade and after it. A man with a great personality in medieval ages was assigned the Pope in 1198 AD, he was the Pope Innocent III, who put for himself and the Church and the popery a huge program starting with removing impacts of Saladin Ayyūbid wars in the east and taking Jerusalem again form Muslims. Besides, his great concern regarding unity of both churches, thus, Innocent III called for a Crusade. See: T. Balsamon, Canonical Images of Women, edited by: G. A. Rhalles & M. Potles, Athens, n.p., , Vol. III, pp Hussey, Byzantine and its Neighbours, Vol. IV, part 1, p

14 a campaign as Bulgaria, Trabzon and the Serbs got independent of the Byzantine Empire due to that as the legal patriarchs lived in Nicaea city. 50 However, this was not a loss in the long run as the Byzantine patriarch came back to their positions and thrones before half a century. The point is the fourth Crusade left and resulted in a real dissenter between both churches and simultaneously it was the end of the strained relations that lasted for around 8 th centuries past. 51 The Byzantines never ever forgot that fourth Crusade, especially they thought that the popery was after all this and the Crusaders were mere soldiers of the Rome Church. In addition, the churchly circles in the West European, in general, were convinced that since the early 12 th century AD the Byzantine Empire was the dangerous enemy of Crusaders, and thought since the disaster of 1101 AD Crusade that any Christian program would be launched in the future must be headed to solve the Byzantine problem and occupy Constantinople. Accordingly, the Pope Paschal II ( AD) supported the campaign of Bohemond in 1107 AD. 52 And at this very point declarations of the Saint Bernard of Clairvaux 53 came about the second Crusade containing that "Constantinople is a Christian city nominally but not actually" and Hence the saying, "that the cross and the tomb of the Christ will not be safe as long as that man (the Byzantine emperor) is taking up the throne of the Byzantine Empire as he is the enemy of Saint Peter the Apostle 54 and his throne." Thus, here the call of the Saint 50 Accordingly, the throne of the Byzantine Empire was taken up by a Latin patriarch and the legal Byzantine patriarch John X Camaterus, escaped. The Pope Innocent III realized that converting a complete people and affecting on it by Latin was impossible. Bishops advised the Pope Caressingly the Byzantines, and not to rush to a policy of appointing bishops of Latin, and realized the seriousness of the situation of the priests of the Latin on the Byzantine Orthodox Churches. Consequently, he sent a representative carrying the script of the oath the Byzantine bishops should take. The oath contained loyalty to Rome and professing the sovereign of the Pope. Anyway, the Byzantines bishops were shocked of what happened, thus, they left their positions and went to Nicaea city where a Byzantine kingdom was established in this city under the leadership of Theodore Lascaris and the Orthodox bishops chose a legal Byzantine patriarch in this city (Nicaea). Then, everything continued the same till the Latin Kingdom that was established in Constantinople fell down in 1261 AD, then, the Byzantine Empire returned back to Constantinople as it was before but with Lascaris, the legal Orthodox Greek. See: Frucht, Eastern Europe, Vol. 1, p J. Longnon, L Empire Latine de Constantinople et la Principaute de Morée. Paris, 1949, p Ibn Jubayr, Abū al-ḥusayn Muḥammad Ibn Aḥmad (died: 614 H / 1217 AD), Riḥlah Ibn Jubayr, edited by: Ḥusayn Naṣar, Bayrūt: DārṢādir, 1964, p Bernard of Clairvaux was born in 1090 AD, Burgundy, and died August 20 th, 1153 AD, Clairvaux, was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order. In the year 1128 AD, Bernard assisted at the Council of Troyes, at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar, who soon became the ideal of Christian nobility. Following the Christian defeat at the Siege of Edessa, the Pope commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade. The last years of Bernard's life were saddened by the failure of the crusaders, the entire responsibility for which was thrown upon him. Bernard died at age 63, after 40 years spent in the cloister. See: Hussey, Byzantine and its Neighbours, Vol. IV, part 1, p Saint Peter the Apostle original name Simeon (died in 64 AD, Rome), disciple of Jesus Christ, recognized in the early Christian Church as the leader of the disciples and by the Roman Catholic Church as the first of its unbroken succession of Popes. Peter, an angler, was called to be a disciple of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. He received from Jesus the name Cephas (i.e., Rock, hence Peter, from the Latin Petra). See: Setton, A History of the Crusades, Vol. II, p