1202–1204Reputable sourceWell documented
The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople
On the timeline · around 1202–1204 ·
What happened
Diverted by debts to Venice and Byzantine politics, the Fourth Crusade never reached the Holy Land. Instead, in 1204, the crusaders turned on the greatest Christian city in the world and brutally sacked Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, carrying off its treasures and installing a Latin emperor.
Why it matters
The sack of Constantinople was one of the great catastrophes of the Middle Ages. It fatally weakened the Byzantine Empire, poisoned relations between Eastern and Western Christianity for centuries, and revealed how far the crusading ideal had strayed.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Fourth Crusade · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The Byzantine Empire → — The sack that crippled the Byzantine Empire