1204 CEReputable sourceWell documented
The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople
On the timeline · around 1204 CE ·
What happened
In 1204 the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, diverted from the Holy Land, turned on Constantinople itself. They stormed and brutally sacked the great Christian city, carrying off or destroying its treasures and installing a short-lived Latin empire in its place. The Byzantine state fractured into rival successor kingdoms.
Why it matters
The sack of Constantinople by fellow Christians was a catastrophe from which Byzantium never truly recovered, leaving it a shadow of its former self and poisoning relations between Eastern and Western Christianity for centuries.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Fourth Crusade · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The Crusades → — The crusade that sacked Constantinople