FOURTH CRUSADE MAJOR PLAYERS Pope Innocent III  Called for the Fourth Crusade to liberate Jerusalem in 1198  Isaac Angeles  Emperor of Byzantium, 1185-1195  Alexius III  Emperor of Byzantium, 1195-1203  Alexius IV  Emperor of Byzantium, 1203-1204  Alexius V  Emperor of Byzantium, January thru April 1204  Enrico Dandolo, the Doge  Head of the merchant class that ruled the city of Venice  Boniface of Monserrat  Crusader General MAJOR BATTLES Zara  A Christian city taken by the Crusaders & turned over to Venice in order to delay debts owed to the city of Venice  Constantinople  Attacked twice by a coalition of Crusaders & Venetian merchants, finally fell in 1204    The political situation in Constantinople was very violent even before the start of the Third Crusade. The Byzantine Emperor of the Third Crusade, Isaac Angeles, had taken the throne only after the people of Constantinople had rebelled against their Emperor and killed him. Isaac wasn't capable of keeping the Turks on his borders at bay, so he too was usurped, by his brother Alexius III. Alexius III wasn't a popular ruler either, and he found his position as Emperor challenged by Philip of Swabia, who claimed rights to the throne through marriage. Philip also claimed rights to the recently vacated position of Holy Roman Emperor and was challenged by Otto of Brunswick. Both empires were on unstable ground. France and England were also at each other's throats, each desiring to conquer the other.   And into this situation Pope Innocent III interjected a call for the Fourth Crusade in 1198, the intent of which was to liberate Jerusalem. Pope Innocent tried to demand for peace, but it wasn't until the end of 1199 that enough truces were signed to make taking the cross a reasonable venture. Innocent finally convinced the city of Venice to provide the ships necessary to carry the Crusaders. This agreement was destined to go sour, however, and this would permanently change the course of the Fourth Crusade. At the beginning of the 13th century Venice was the richest city in the West. Merchants there had made a tidy living off of the import and export of goods from all over the civilized world. When the Doge Enrico Dandolo, the merchant head of Venetian government, was initially approached regarding the crusades, he agreed to provide the ships thinking that the venture would net him a large profit. He made the decision to risk angering his merchant ties with the East in order to win even more profit from the capture of his trading partners. The Crusading armies were formed and assembled in Venice in 1201. Their leader was Boniface of Montferrat.   Despite the prompt arrival of the Crusaders at the time expected, the Doge had become quite unhappy with the deal. He had not been paid the amount specifically stated in the contract for the ships, and was not about to comply until he was assured of a profit. Willing to make arrangements in order to avoid canceling the lucrative deal, the Doge offered to delay the Crusader's payment of fees if they would help him recover the city of Zara. They accepted the new deal. Coincidentally, it seems, at the same time that arrangements were being made to attack Zara, Alexius IV also happened to be staying in Italy. He appealed to the Crusaders to help him unseat his father from the throne of Constantinople. In return he promised the Crusaders that he would financially back the Crusades. Another deal was made which seemed to work for the benefit of all, for Venice herself had had recent difficulties arranging trade agreements with Emperor Alexius III. Alexius IV seemed much more willing to negotiate. At this point in time Innocent had clearly lost control of the Crusades. Zara was a Christian city and Innocent strictly forbid any attack on Zara, but the Crusaders were now motivated by a need to get out of debt. The city of Zara fell rather quickly to the Crusaders in 1202. Upon learning of the Crusaders' intent to follow-up the attack on Zara with an attack on Constantinople, Innocent also forbade this attack. But once again his demands were largely ignored, and the Crusade to conquer Constantinople set out from Zara in April of 1203. In July of 1203 the Crusaders attacked the city of Constantinople in force, with the help of Venetian warships in the city's harbor. The fighting lasted for many days, with the Venetians successfully landing, and breaching part of the city walls. Constantinople was set on fire. Meanwhile the crusader forces attacked the city with little resistance from Constantinople defenders. Alexius III, probably fearing the worst, snatched up his children and as much wealth as he could carry, and fled. The city still refused to surrender, and they released old Issac Angeles from prison and promptly claimed that he was the true ruler. The Crusader's found they really couldn't argue with this ploy, and they agreed to recognize Isaac as Emperor if Alexius IV was named his equal and co-Emperor. The treaty was ratified with the crowning of Alexius IV in August of 1203. Alexius IV did not turn out to be the Emperor that the Crusaders had hoped for. With the city ravaged and a great deal of its wealth spent on coronation gifts, Alexius couldn't offer the Crusaders the funding he had promised. Yes, there's another Alexius in the list of major players, and early in 1204 Alexius Murzuphlus decided that he wanted the throne of Byzantium. He had Alexius IV assassinated; Isaac re-imprisoned, and claimed the throne for himself in January of 1204. Alexius V was an open enemy of anyone from the western empire, and upon his usurpation of the throne the Crusaders quickly exited the city and reformed their armies. The Crusaders were desperate for money now, and decided the only way out of their predicament would be to take Constantinople and install a reliable western noble as its' Emperor. Once again the Crusaders successfully took the city in just a few days, and once again the Emperor fled taking his children and as much loot as he could carry. The enraged Crusaders ran mad in the streets, looting and plundering. For three days the Crusaders burned, disassembled, and harassed the city, before gathering together all of its wealth and dividing it out among Venice, the new Emperor, and the Crusaders. The city was taken and almost entirely decimated in April of 1204. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Fourth Crusade. Once debts were paid to Venice, the crusaders themselves seemed more concerned with protecting the personal wealth they had acquired from the city. The Crusade was contemporaneously hailed as a success, for the western kingdoms and empires had desired the re-unification of Byzantium with the western church for some time. In light of the destruction of Greek Orthodox churches and the re-emergence of Roman Catholic dominion in Constantinople, Pope Innocent was convinced to lift the excommunication he had placed on the Crusaders. The city of Constantinople would never recover under western rule, however. Only after the Turks captured the wounded city in 1261 would it return to its former glory.