Outcome Fourth Crusade

partition of byzantine empire latin empire, empire of nicaea, , despotate of epirus after 1204

only relatively small number of members of fourth crusade reached intended goal of holy land. research indicates tenth of knights had taken cross in flanders arrived reinforce remaining christian states there, plus half of Île-de-france. during ensuing half century unstable latin empire siphoned off of europe s crusading energy. legacy of fourth crusade deep sense of betrayal felt greek christians. events of 1204, schism between churches in east , west not complete solidified.

as epilogue event, pope innocent iii, man had unintentionally launched ill-fated expedition, spoke against crusaders thus:

how, indeed, church of greeks, no matter how severely beset afflictions , persecutions, return ecclesiastical union , devotion apostolic see, when has seen in latins example of perdition , works of darkness, now, , reason, detests latins more dogs? supposed seeking ends of jesus christ, not own ends, made swords, supposed use against pagans, drip christian blood, have spared neither religion, nor age, nor sex. have committed incest, adultery, , fornication before eyes of men. have exposed both matrons , virgins, dedicated god, sordid lusts of boys. not satisfied breaking open imperial treasury , plundering goods of princes , lesser men, laid hands on treasures of churches and, more serious, on possessions. have ripped silver plates altars , have hacked them pieces among themselves. violated holy places , have carried off crosses , relics.

nevertheless, pope accepted new situation. when crusaders took of piles of money, jewels, , gold had captured in sack of constantinople rome, innocent iii accepted stolen items. furthermore, @ fourth council of lateran pope welcomed , recognised western (catholic) prelates sees established in conquered lands – recognising legitimacy on formerly orthodox areas.

the latin empire faced number of enemies. besides individual byzantine greek states in epirus , nicaea, there seljuk sultanate , bulgarian empire. greek states fought supremacy against both latins , each other.

several of major greek , latin protagonists in event died or killed in years following fall of city. betrayal , blinding of murtzuphlus alexios iii led capture latins , execution in 1205. not long after, alexios iii captured boniface , sent exile in southern italy. died in nicaea in 1211. in 1205, kaloyan of bulgaria crushed latin crusaders cuman light cavalry. on 14 april 1205, 1 year after conquest of city, emperor baldwin decisively defeated , captured @ battle of adrianople bulgarians. in 1205 or 1206, bulgarian emperor kaloyan mutilated him , left him die, while others suggest kept captive in famous baldwin s tower in bulgarian capital veliko turnovo, died under unknown circumstances. venetian doge dandolo died in may 1205. on 4 september 1207, bulgarians killed boniface in ambush. succeeded infant son demetrius of montferrat, ruled until reached adulthood defeated theodore doukas, despot of epirus , relative of murtzuphlus. kingdom of thessalonica restored byzantine rule in 1224.

various latin-french lordships throughout greece – in particular, duchy of athens , principality of morea – provided cultural contacts western europe , promoted study of greek. there french cultural work, notably production of collection of laws, assises de romanie. chronicle of morea appeared in both french , greek (and later italian , aragonese) versions. impressive remains of crusader castles , gothic churches can still seen in greece. nevertheless, latin empire rested on shaky foundations. constantinople re-captured nicaean greeks under michael viii palaeologos in 1261, , commerce venice re-established.

during middle of 15th century, latin church (roman catholic church) tried organise new crusade aimed @ restoring eastern roman or byzantine empire, gradually being torn down advancing ottoman turks. attempt failed, however, vast majority of greek civilians , growing part of clergy refused recognize , accept short-lived near-union of churches of east , west signed @ council of florence , ferrara ecumenical patriarch joseph ii of constantinople. greek population, reacting latin conquest, believed byzantine civilization revolved around orthodox faith more secure under ottoman islamic rule. overall, religious-observant greeks preferred sacrifice political freedom , political independence in order preserve faith s traditions , rituals in separation roman see.

in late 14th , 15th centuries, crusades on limited scale organised kingdoms of hungary, poland, wallachia, , serbia. these not traditional expeditions aimed @ recovery of jerusalem rather defensive campaigns intended prevent further expansion west ottoman empire. during ottoman siege of constantinople in 1453, 2,000 venetian , genoese volunteers formed part of approximately 9,000 defenders of city.