The Fourth Crusade Essay Research Paper The — страница 3

  • Просмотров 378
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 18
    Кб

not attack Constantinople. On the way to Constantinople they captured the island of Corfu. They then made a few other stops, and arrived at Constantinople June 24 1203. There they prepared for battle. To begin the battle on July 5, the Venetians broke through the fleets that were blocking the harbor. This was definitely a good thing because it allowed the Crusaders to attack from both land and sea. The Franks attacked near the Blachernae palace, while the Venetians prepared to attack from the harbor side. The Franks were not able to defeat the land side because of the Varangian Guard, who were made up of English and Danish mercenaries. But the Venetians, led by Enrico Dandolo himself (who was at least in his 80s) were able to land on the beaches and attack. The Venetians had to

leave the area they just conquered because they had to help the Franks on the other side. Even though the Crusaders assault had only partially succeeded, that night Alexius cowardly grabbed what wealth he could and fled the city with his daughter. Now Constantinople was without a ruler, so they released the blind Isaac II Angelus, and said he was the rightful ruler and that there was no need to fight anymore. The Crusaders said they would only accept Isaac if his son were named co-Emperor. It was agreed, and Alexius was crowned August 1, 1203. (Knox, 9)Isaac II was blind and old and took little part in government and Alexius IV withdrew from public life and spent his time in the palace. Since the city was angry with these two Alexius Murzuphlus stepped in and took over the

government. He seized power by murdering Alexius IV and he put Isaac back in prison. As Alexius V, he reinforced the city’s defenses. He positioned himself as the leader of the anti-Roman faction and started serious problems with the Romans. Most of the Romans left Constantinople and went to their camp across the Golden Horn. (Bradford, 101-104) Alexius V made the crusade leaders very angry because of what he did to the Romans. In retaliation they decided to once again try to conquer Constantinople and take it from Alexius V. They had it all planned out. They found ways to split up the goods of the land amongst themselves and also pay off the Venetians. The Crusaders began their assault on April 9, 1204. The initial attack was driven back and the Crusaders took a couple of days

to re-group. They tried again on the 13th and after some sharp fighting, the Venetians got over the walls and attacked while another group went over and knocked down one of the city gates along the sea wall. Murzuphlus abandoned the city almost immediately, taking with him some jewels plus the widow and daughter of Alexius IV for ransom. (Bradford, 113-116)The first time the Crusaders captured the city, it was done in the name of Alexius IV. It was done to drive out a bad emperor, Alexius III, and to restore the rightful emperor, Isaac II and co-emperor Alexius IV. This time, however, the attack was purely one of conquest and the Romans joined with the Crusades and put Constantinople to the test. It was the worst looting the city ever experienced. It was called the sack of

Constantinople. Constantinople was the richest of all the Christian cities, for it had been slowly gaining its wealth for almost a thousand years. Over the next three days, the Romans managed to carry off a great deal of it. According to the terms of the agreement which were made when they originally decided to divide it up, after three days the loot was collected in great piles and apportioned out: three-eighths of it to Venice, one quarter to the new emperor, and the rest divided among the remaining Crusaders. Literal shiploads of gold, silver, jewels, artwork, and sacred relics left the city that year. Between the robbery and the fires that broke out during the two captures of the city, Constantinople was ravaged so badly that it simply never recovered. It would not return to

anything like its former glory until the Ottomans had conquered it and turned it into a great Muslim city. (Knox, 12)The fall of Constantinople in April 1204 marks the end of the Fourth Crusade. The Crusaders did not immediately turn the wealth of the Empire to the conquest of Jerusalem, for they were fully pre-occupied with simply preserving what they had won. They captured Murzuphlus a year later and had him killed, but rival Greek claimants appeared immediately, the most important of which were the emperor of Nicaea and the Despotate of Epirus, who tried to claim Constantinople and its booty. In addition to those empires Bulgaria also emerged as a deadly foe. The Roman knights and rulers of Constantinople ended up spending the entire time fighting for their own survival until