The Fourth Crusade from a Byzantine Perspective

As has been suggested by several accounts written from the Byzantine perspective, the crusades were nothing less than barbarian invasions from the West. Before the First Crusade ended, Latin and Greek Christians had already clashed on the field of battle, although these initial skirmishes were not terribly serious (except to the people who died in them). During the twelfth century, as Latin fortunes suffered a number of reverses in the Holy Land, two additional major crusades were sent eastward: the Second Crusade (1147-1149) and the Third Crusade (1189-1192). Each further exacerbated Latin-Byzantine relations by engendering increasingly sharp conflicts and misunderstandings.

Following Saladin's recapture of Jerusalem in 1187 and the failure of the Third Crusade to retake the holy city, the West was eager to strike back at Islam. In the early thirteenth century, a force made up largely of French warriors and Venetian sailors planned to strike at Islam by capturing Alexandria in Egypt, thereby relieving pressure on the embattled Latin settlements in the Holy Land. That particular assault never took place. Rather, circumstances led the army and fleet of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople, where the crusaders became embroiled in a dynastic power struggle between rival imperial claimants. Eventually the crusaders attacked Constantinople on April 12, 1204, and captured it the following day. After three days of brutal looting, the crusaders settle down and established the Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204-1261).

The Byzantines regained their capital city in 1261, but their empire was by then largely a shadow of its former self. Just as significant, the events of 1204 caused the final and, until today, irreconcilable rupture between between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox branches of Christianity.

The Byzantine nobleman, court official, and historian Nicetas Choniates included a vivid account of the Fourth Crusade in his Annals, a history that traces Byzantine imperial fortunes from 1118 to 1207. His account is especially telling inasmuch as he was an eyewitness to and victim of the crusaders' capture and pillage of Constantinople. The document that I would like you to read begins early on the morning of April 13. On the previous day, after bloody and bitter fighting, the crusaders had managed to penetrate the walls of the city and set up a small armed camp within hostile territory. With the situation still in doubt, they spent a sleepless night, wondering what the morning would bring. Please click here to read this excerpt (please read sections 573-576). After you are finished reading, please think about and discuss the following: According to Nicetas, how do the crusaders show themselves to be hypocrites? According to Nicetas, what is the crusaders' greatest sin? What, does he imply, could Constantinople expect if it were captured by Muslims? Ultimately, from what you have learned, how did the Crusades prove to be a game changer (economically, politically, and culturally) for Western Europe?