The History of the Church through 100 Masterpieces

The Capture of Constantinople

The History of the Church 100 TheCapture of Constantinople After a century of crusading, enthusiasm had waned; volunteers were in shortage, as were funds. When Pope Innocent III preached a Fourth Crusade, only 10,000 knights enrolled. The crusaders hired Venetian ships to transport them to Egypt, where the confrontation was planned to take place. However, as they had not been able to amass the amount needed to pay for the fleet, a compromise was reached through which the Venetians participated in the expedition. As a result, a detour was made to Zara, a port in Croatia and therefore a Christian city, which was seized by the Venetians as compensation.* “It is only the first step that is difficult, as the Marquise du Deffand would say. The knights then proceeded to Constantinople, which they seized and pillaged on April 13, 1204. This brought about the establishment of a Latin Empire in the East, entrusted to Baldwin of Flanders, which purportedly brought an end to the Schism. It lasted only 50 years, for in 1261, Michael Palæologus restored Orthodox sovereignty to the city. Nonetheless, the Latin presence remained through a French holding in Morea, that is, the Peloponnese, until the Ottoman occupation. This derailing of the crusade was a great scandal at the time, but less than one would imagine today. Invading the schismatics was only slightly less legitimate than attacking the Muslims. Besides, the regularity with which Venetian artists have celebrated the event through the centuries stands witness to a perfectly good conscience. * Both the taking of Zara and the pillage of Constantinople were a scheme of the Venetians, planned and executed by their Doge, Enrico Dandolo. For this they were excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.—Trans. Tintoretto (1518–94) The Sack of Constantinople Palazzo degli Dogi, Venice ...