No More Learning

Conta-
rini's successor, Domenico Silvio (1071-1084), proved once again that a
doge of Venice was a fit mate for an imperial princess by marrying
Theodora, sister of the Emperor Michael Ducas, a lady to whose oriental
luxury and refinement the rougher Venetians attributed the loathsome
malady of which she died. During this doge's reign Venice was called
upon to play a more prominent part in world-history than she had hitherto
done. A new power now appeared at the mouth of the Adriatic. The
Normans, after making themselves masters of Sicily and South Italy (Bari
fell in 1071 and Palermo in 1072), stretched across to the eastern side of
the Adriatic and threatened to advance on Constantinople itself. Under
their leader, Robert Guiscard, they laid siege to Durazzo, which com-
manded the western end of the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road which
led by Thessalonica to the capital. Alexius Comnenus had been called to
the imperial throne (8 April 1081) on purpose to replace the incompetent
bureaucratic government of Michael Ducas and Nicephorus Botaniates.
He saw at once that Durazzo must not be allowed to fall. He appealed
to Henry IV, but that sovereign was too deeply involved in the struggle
with the Pope to be able to lend aid, and he turned to request the aid of
Venice. The Venetians could not view with indifference the success of the
Normans, which threatened to make them masters of both sides of the
Adriatic, and thus to close the mouth of the water avenue which led to
and from Venice. Moreover, the Amalfitans, the vigorous commercial
rivals of the lagoon-state, were actively supporting Robert. All her
interests induced Venice to lend a willing ear to Alexius'appeal. A bargain
was soon struck (1081), and in June of that year a fleet of sixty Venetian
ships, under the command of Doge Silvio, set sail to relieve Durazzo.
The battle which followed was remarkable both for the tactics deve-
loped by the Venetian commander—the fleet drawn up in half-moon
Among other luxuries she used a fork, quibusdam fuscinulis aureis et bidentibus,
S. Petrus Damianus, Instit. Monialis, Cap. xi, Opera, Vol. 11.
1


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The Crusades
409
formation, the vessels lashed together with the lighter craft between the
horns—and for the ingenious engineering device by which iron-pointed
balks of timber were either launched against the enemy's hulls or dropped
on his decks from overhanging yards. The upshot was a complete
victory for the Venetians and the relief of Durazzo. But in a land
battle which took place in October of this year the Greeks were utterly
beaten; Durazzo fell into the hands of the Normans, and the Venetian
fleet sailed home, In May of the following year (1082) Venice received
the rewards for which she had stipulated. The chrysobull of Alexius con-
ferred on Venetians the privilege of trading free of dues throughout the
whole Eastern Empire, including the capital, and placed all Venetian
merchants under the jurisdiction of the doge, privileges which at once
gave Venice an advantage over her rival Amalfi. In return for these
concessions Venice was still pledged to support Alexius at sea. In the
next three years (1083-1085) the Venetian fleet carried on campaigns
against the Normans with varying fortune. At first (spring of 1084)
they captured Corfù and in the autumn of the same year they won a
great victory at Cassiopo. But at length Robert succeeded in breaking
up their strong formation, and the result was a crushing and bloody
defeat. The blame was laid at the door of the doge, who was compelled
to abdicate and retire to a monastery. It remained for his successor,
Vitale Falier (1084-1096), to witness the final freeing of the Adriatic
from the Norman fleet, thanks partly to a brilliant victory at Butrinto
(1085), partly to sickness which drove the Normans back to Italy.
Robert Guiscard died in July of that year.
But though Robert's plans were shattered and the Normans failed to
hold the mouth of the Adriatic, Venice was still compelled to fight for
her right to free passage in that sea, which was threatened by the ap-
pearance of the Hungarian sovereign upon the coast of Dalmatia. By
1097, however, the principal towns were once more in the hold of Venice.
We are now approaching the period of the Crusades, throughout
which Venice plays a prominent but distinctly self-interested part,
deliberately building up her commercial status until
, with the Fourth
Crusade, she emerges as the greatest sea-power, the most flourishing
commercial community, in the Mediterranean. As yet the state had de-
veloped no fixed constitution, nor did she until the close of the thirteenth
and the opening of the fourteenth century, when the constitution received
its rigidly oligarchical form by the closing of the Great Council (1296)
and the creation of the Council of Ten (1310). But during the period
with which we have now to deal (1096-1201) we shall find the germs of
several departments which went eventually to create the Venetian con-
stitution. These, and the further development of her sea-power, so
vigorously displayed during the Norman campaigns, form the chief points
of interest in Venetian history during the twelfth century.
The position of Venice as regards the Crusades was by no means easy.
CH, XIII.


## p. 410 (#452) ############################################

410
The First Crusade
On the one hand, if she joined with vigour she risked her flourishing
trade with the Saracens, and she would have to face the hostility of the
Eastern Emperors, who disliked and suspected the Crusades. Moreover
her sea-route down the Adriatic was far from secure; the Hungarians
were a standing menace to Dalmatia, while the Normans had not aban-
doned their designs on both shores of the Adriatic mouth. All these
considerations led Venice to desire a neutral place: she wished to trade
with the Crusaders and their enemies alike; she was prepared to supply
transport and provisions but not to draw her sword against the infidei.
On the other hand, the frank espousal of the Crusades by the commercial
rivals of Venice, Genoa and Pisa, threatened to give them such over-
whelming advantages in the East that the republic found herself forced
to abandon her neutral attitude.
In 1095 the Council of Clermont proclaimed the First Crusade. The
question of transport immediately presented itself. Of the three maritime
powers of Italy-Genoa, Pisa, and Venice—the latter undoubtedly offered
the greatest advantages both in ģeographical position and in strength
of armament. But Venice was the last of the sea-states to move. It was
not until Jerusalem fell (1099) that she made up her mind in view of the
growing importance of Genoa and Pisa. Under the Doge Vitale Michiel I
(1096–1101), the first Venetian fleet with crusaders on board sailed for the
Holy Land (1099). It wintered in Rhodes, and there almost immediately
revealed the true object of its presence in the Levant by coming to blows
with the Pisans who were also wintering in the harbour. In the following
spring the Venetians set sail for the Holy Land, plundering as they went,
notably at Myra where they broke up the church in their search for the
bones of St Nicholas. They arrived in time to take part in the siege of
Haifa, which fell in October 1100. The Venetians at once claimed and
received a trading quarter in the town and thereby opened the long list
of their factories in the Levant, but also by their new possession com-
mitted themselves to all the complications of the Levant. The fleet
returned home in 1100.
A long pause ensued. Venice was chiefly occupied with the effort to
secure her sea-route down the Adriatic and to settle the question of
Dalmatia with the Hungarians.
On the mainland of Italy too she was surely consolidating her trade.
In 1102 she had the satisfaction of seeing the rival city of Ferrara reduced
by the troops of Countess Matilda, and of establishing trading rights
there under the protection of a Visdomino or Consul.
During the reign of Ordelafo Falier (1101-1118), Venice continued to
prepare steadily for the part she was destined to play in the Levant.
The necessity for maintaining her sea-route, and the certainty that she
would be called on to fight in the Eastern Mediterranean, compelled the
State to turn its attention to its fleet. In 1104 the Arsenal was founded.
When Domenico Michiel came to the throne (1118-1130), the affairs


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The Levant
411
of the Levant began to assume a prominent place once more in Venetian
history. Baldwin I died in the year of the doge's accession. Baldwin II,
threatened by Musulman power, appealed to the Italian sea-states for
help. The'doge convened the general assembly in St Mark's, laid the
situation before it, and insisted on the danger of allowing Pisa and Genoa
to reap all the advantage in the Levant. An expedition was voted, though
the dangers from the insecure sea-route and the hostility of the new
Emperor of the East, John Comnenus, who had refused to renew the
ancient privileges, were not overlooked. The pressure of Genoese and
Pisan rivalry in fact forced the hand of Venice. The splendid fleet of one
hundred ships, ablaze with colour (naves coloribus variis picturate erant),
set sail on 8 August 1122. The expedition assumed the aspect of a
marauding enterprise. Under cloak of wintering there the Venetians
tried to seize Corfù but failed. By 29 May 1123 the Venetians were at
Jaffa. The doge immediately attacked and defeated the Egyptian fleet
off Ascalon. The question now arose as to which of the two cities, Tyre
or Ascalon, the allies should besiege. The lot decided it in favour of Tyre,
but not until the doge had secured for his nation the promise of extensive
trading rights throughout the whole Latin kingdom: exemption from
dues, a church, a quarter, a bakery, and a bath, in each city. The siege
lasted from 16 February till 7 July 1124. On the fall of the city Venice
exacted the fulfilment of her bargain, and with the capture of Tyre laid
the solid foundation of her great Levantine trade.
The success of Venice in Palestine, and the numbers, wealth, and arro-
gance of the Venetians in Constantinople (it seems that the male Venetian
population between twenty and sixty years of age residing in the capital
was no less than 18,000 towards the close of the twelfth century), coupled
with the dislike and suspicion of the crusaders generally, rendered the
Greek Emperors hostile on the whole towards the republic. Circum-
stances, however, such as the need for Venetian assistance against the
Normans, prevented the unrestrained display of their animus. On the
fall of Tyre the Emperor John forbade all Venetians in Constantinople
to leave the city--they were to remain as hostages—while he refused to
renew Venetian privileges. The doge replied by plundering Rhodes, Chios,
Cos, Samos, on his triumphant journey home, and crowned his glories
by recovering Spalato, Traù, and Zara Vecchia from the Hungarians
on his way up the Adriatic. The Emperor was without a fleet; he was
entirely dependent on the Venetians for help at sea; the ruptiire of
commercial relations proved a serious loss to his capital. Willingly or
unwillingly he came to terms and in 1126 he renewed the treaties.
But Venice was presently called upon to face anew a complicated
situation between East and West. On Christmas Day 1130 Duke Roger
was crowned King of Sicily. The danger of a Norman power block-
ing the mouth of the Adriatic was still alive; while the menace to
the Eastern Empire, developed by Robert Guiscard, was renewed by
King Royer. In April 1135 ambassadors from Venice and Constantinople
CH, XIII.


## p. 412 (#454) ############################################

412
The Emperor Manuel
appealed to the Emperor Lothar, who seized the occasion to form a
combination against the Normans. In May 1137 the fleet of King Roger
suffered defeat off Trani, probably owing to the Venetians. But the
Norman power remained a standing menace to both Venice and Constan-
tinople. The Emperor Manuel, impotent at sea without a fleet, was
forced by circumstances to approach the sea-power which had saved Con-
stantinople in the days of Robert Guiscard and Alexius. · The Venetians,
as usual, made a bargain. The Emperor renewed the Golden Bull,
enlarged the Venetian quarter in Constantinople, conferred the title of
Protosebastos upon the doge in perpetuity, and confirmed the annual
tribute to the church of St Mark. The commercial supremacy of the
Venetians was asserted in the clearest terms (1147).
The bargain struck, the doge set sail to attack the Normans, but
died at Caorle. He was succeeded by Domenico Morosini (1148–1156).
The fleet pursued its course under the command of John Polani,
effected a junction with the imperial squadron, and beleaguered Corfù.
The siege lasted a year. But during the course of it the Greeks and
Venetians came to loggerheads. In derision the Venetian sailors dressed
up a negro slave as the Emperor and paid him mock homage. Manuel
Comnenus never forgave the insult and treasured its memory till his day
for vengeance arrived.
A new trend in Greek imperial politics was laid bare in 1151 by the
capture of Ancona. It was clear that Manuel contemplated the revival
of the Exarchate and possibly the recovery of Italy. Such a policy was,
of course, a peril for Venice, a menace to the supremacy in the Adriatic
which she was so carefully building up by her treaties with Fano (1141)
on the one coast, and Capo d'Istria (1145), Rovigno, Umago, Parenzo
on the other. In Dalmatia, too, the same object was steadily pursued
by the appointment of Venetian “counts” in Zara (1155) and other
Dalmatian cities. In fact the supremacy of Venice in the northern
Adriatic was officially recognised by the treaty of peace between William,
King of Sicily, and the republic (1154), which brought the war with the
Normans to a close, and that supremacy was threatened by Manuel.
To the west too, from the mainland of Italy, the independence, the
very existence of Venice, were likewise menaced. The
appearance
of
Frederick I Barbarossa in Italy, his declared hostility to the communes
and to the Italian aspirations towards independence, warned the republic
of what might be in store for her. She espoused the cause of Alexander III,
the anti-imperial Pope, drawing down upon herself the wrath of the
Emperor, who stirred her neighbours, Padua, Verona, Ferrara, and the
Patriarch of Aquileia, against her. In 1167 the Lombard League was
formed and Venice was forced to join it.
The confusion in Italy now seemed to the Emperor Manuel to offer
the opportunity for realising his dream of regaining the whole country
for the Eastern Crown. The assistance of Venice, powerful in the
Adriatic, was essential to his scheme. He approached thé republic


## p. 413 (#455) ############################################

The constitution
413
יל
on the subject but met with no encouragement. His accumulated hatred
of Venice, caused by the part she had played in the Crusades, the insult
her sailors had offered him at Corfù, the arrogance and wealth of Vene-
tians in Constantinople, suddenly blazed out. In 1171 every Venetian
in the capital was arrested and his property confiscated.
When the news reached Venice there was a unanimous cry for war.
One hundred and twenty ships were soon ready, and in September 1171
the doge set sail. On his way he attacked Ragusa, which surrendered
and received a “count. ” At Negropont the Emperor began to open
negotiations and kept them dragging on till the fleet was obliged to go
into winter quarters at Chios. There the plague broke out, some said
from poisoned wells. The whole force was decimated, and when spring
came it was only just able to struggle home; here the doge fell a victim
to popular indignation (28 May 1172).
This disastrous close to the expedition against Manuel led to a
reform in the constitution. Events seemed to have proved that the doge
was too independent, and that the popular assembly was too liable to be
swept away by a storm of passion. To correct these defects a body of
four hundred and eighty leading citizens was elected, for one year, in
the six districts (sestieri) into which the city had lately been divided;
this body was consultative and elective, and in it we doubtless get the
germ of the Great Council (Maggior Consiglio). The doge, for the
future, was required to take a coronation oath, the promissione ducale,
by which he bound himself to observe certain constitutional obligations.
To the two existing ducal councillors were added four more; the duties
of the new body were to act with the doge, and to supervise and check
his actions. The doge was absolutely forbidden to trade on his own
account. In return for these restrictions he was now surrounded with
increased pomp. The Lombard League, for which Venice acted as banker,
and the war with Manuel, proved a severe strain on the treasury and
compelled the state to have recourse to a forced loan (1171). The loan
bore interest at four per cent. , and was secured on the whole revenue of
the state; the exaction and administration of the fund was entrusted to
a body called the Chamber of Loans (Camera degli imprestidi). The
amount of the loan was one per cent. of net incomes. The bonds could
be devised, sold, or mortgaged ; and here we find, perhaps, the earliest
example of national obligations, or consols.
Other important magistracies such as the Quarantia, or supreme court,
the Giudice del Proprio, or judge in commercial suits, and the avogadori
del Comun, or procurators fiscal, were created about this time. The cam-
panile was completed as far as the bell chamber, the Piazza was enlarged
and paved, the twin columns of San Teodoro and San Marco erected. In
short, it is clear that in the latter half of the twelfth century Venice was
rapidly developing as a constitutional state, though the completion of
her growth took place in a period beyond the limits of this chapter.
The affairs of the Lombard League had now reached a crisis. The
CI. XIII.


## p. 414 (#456) ############################################

414
The Peace of Venice
final issue was decided by the battle of Legnano (1176), in which the com-
munes were victorious. Frederick resolved to make peace. He expressed
a desire to meet Pope Alexander III, and Venice was chosen as the scene
of the conference, where the Peace of Venice was signed.
The advantages which accrued to the republic were great. All Europe
was assembled within her walls; she appeared as the equal and the friend
of Emperor and Pope alike; her independent position was apparently un-
challenged. Moreover by a special treaty (17 August 1177) the Emperor
renewed all previous privileges and declared that subjects of the king-
dom of Italy might trade "as far as Venice but no farther” (usque ad
vos et non amplius), a restriction which looks very much as if Venice had
established her claim to dominion in the upper Adriatic. From the Pope
Venice received the ring with which her doge wedded the Adriatic, and,
more important still, a final settlement of the long-standing quarrel
between Aquileia and Grado.
During the reign of the Doge Orio Mastropiero (1178–1192), the
position of Venice in the East was threatened once more and the seeds of
the Fourth Crusade were sown. Andronicus attacked the Latins in Con-
stantinople (1182) and sacked their quarters. The refugees appealed to
William, King of Sicily, and he and the Venetians set out to avenge the
massacre of Constantinople. Their approach caused the fall of Andronicus,
to whom succeeded Isaac Angelus, favourably disposed towards Venice,
ready renew the chrysobulls and to compensate for damage, in return
for which Venice pledged herself to supply from forty to one hundred
warships at the imperial request.
During the Third Crusade Venice played her usual rôle: that is to say,
she transported the crusaders, took a part in their sieges, and exacted
trading privileges ás her recompense.
In fact the commerce of Venice was steadily expanding under the
vigilant care of her rulers. She was now about to set the seal to her com-
mercial supremacy by her acquisitions after the Fourth Crusade, under
her great Doge Enrico Dandolo (1193-1205). Early in his reign, though
not without considerable trouble, the doge secured the renewal and en-
largement of the Venetian privileges in Constantinople, where their quarter
became as it were a little semi-independent state inside the Empire.
In 1201 the ambassadors from the French crusaders appeared at
Venice, begging, as usual, for transport. The bargain was struck. Venice
pledged herself to carry and to victual for a year four thousand five hun-
dred horses, nine thousand esquires, and twenty thousand foot soldiers; the
price was to be eighty-five thousand silver marks of Cologne. The republic
was to furnish for her own part fifty galleys on condition that half of all
conquests by sea or land should belong to her. It is a proof of the great
sea-power of Venice that she could undertake the transport of so large
an army. The last clause of the bargain left little doubt as to her real
intentions in the Fourth Crusade, which forms the subject of the follow-
ing chapter.


## p. 415 (#457) ############################################

415
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FOURTH CRUSADE AND THE LATIN EMPIRE. .
לל
On 28 November 1199 some great nobles of Champagne and Picardy,
who had assembled in the castle of Ecri-sur-Aisne for a tournament, re-
solved to assume the Cross and go to deliver the Holy Land. They elected
Theobald (Thibaut) III, Count of Champagne, as leader. The suggested
expedition coincided so entirely with the desires of Pope Innocent III
that he encouraged it with all his might. At his call, Fulk, parish priest
of Neuilly in France, and Abbot Martin of Pairis in Germany, began a
series of sermons, which by their fervour easily persuaded the mass of the
faithful to enlist in the Crusade. No doubt the Western sovereigns inter-
vened only indirectly in the preparation and direction of the expedition,
Philip Augustus being engaged in his struggle with John Lackland, and
Philip of Swabia entirely engrossed in disputing the Empire with Otto
of Brunswick; the Crusade was essentially a feudal enterprise, led by an
oligarchy of great barons, and, even at first, partly inspired by worldly
aspirations and material interests. In this particular the fourth Holy
War differed greatly from the previous ones. “For many of the crusaders,”
says Luchaire, “it was above all a business matter. ” And this consideration
will perhaps help us to a better understanding of the character which
this undertaking quickly assumed.
For the transport of the crusaders to the East a fleet was necessary.
In February 1201 the barons sent delegates, of whom Villehardouin was
one, to Venice to procure the requisite naval force from the mighty re-
public. After somewhat troublesome negotiations, recorded for us by
Villehardouin, a treaty was concluded in April 1201, whereby in return
for a sum of 85,000 marks of silver the Venetians agreed to supply the
crusaders by 28 June 1202 with the ships and provisions necessary for
the transport of their army overseas ;. Venice moreover joined in the
enterprise, astutely realising the advantage to be gained by guiding and
directing the expedition. The Doge, Enrico Dandolo, solemnly assumed
the Cross at St Mark's, and in return the crusaders promised to assign
half of their conquests to Venice.
Most of the knights regarded Syria as the goal of the expedition and
cherished the ambition of reconquering the Holy Land. The great
barons, on the other hand, wished to strike at the heart of the Muslim
power, i. e. Egypt. And this divergence of views heavily handicapped the
whole Crusade. It has been asserted that the Venetians, who were bound
1
CH. XIV.


## p. 416 (#458) ############################################

416
The Crusaders and Venice
by treaties with the Sultan of Egypt and did not wish to compromise
their commercial interests, were from the first hostile to the expedition,
and sought means of diverting the crusaders from their path, thus be-
traying Christendom. There is nothing to prove that they planned this
deliberately, but it is obvious that the stiff contract of April 1201
rendered the Christian army dependent on the republic.
The crusaders slowly prepared to cross the Alps. Meanwhile the
death of Theobald of Champagne had obliged them to find another
leader. On the recommendation of the King of France, an Italian baron
was chosen, Boniface, Marquess of Montferrat, whose brothers had played
a great part in the East, both Latin and Byzantine. At Soissons on
16 August 1201 he was acclaimed by the barons, after which he betook
himself to Germany, where he spent part of the winter with Philip of
Swabia, his intimate friend; and to this visit great importan
ultimate fate of the Crusade has sometimes been attributed. Meanwhile
the army was mustering at Venice, where it was assembled in July-
August 1202. But the crusaders had only paid the Venetians a small
part of the sum agreed upon as payment for the voyage, and it was im-
possible for them to collect the remainder. Interned in the island of
St Niccolò di Lido, harassed by demands from the Venetian merchants
and threats that their supplies would be cut off if the money were not
forthcoming, the crusaders were finally obliged to accept the doge's
proposal that they should be granted a respite if they helped the republic
to reconquer the city of Zara, which had been taken by the Hungarians.
In spite of the indignant protests of Innocent III and his legate at an
attack directed against a Christian city and a crusading ruler, the enter-
prise had to be undertaken in order to satisfy the Venetian demands. The
barons unwillingly agreed to engage in it (September 1202); and on 8
November 1202 the fleet sailed amidst general rejoicings. On 10 November
Zara was attacked, and surrendered in five days, when the Venetians
destroyed it utterly.
It was in vain that Innocent III threatened and ex-
communicated the Venetians. The crusaders were now preoccupied by
considerations of greater importance, which diverted the Crusade to a
new objective. It had been undertaken with the object of delivering
Jerusalem, or attacking Egypt; it ended in the conquest of Constantinople.
For over a century the West had for many reasons been casting looks
of hate and envy towards Byzantium. The Norman Kings of Sicily and
their German successor, the Emperor Henry VI, had several times
directed their dreams of conquest towards the Greek Empire. The
leaders of the various crusades, indignant at the treachery and ill-will of
the Byzantines, had more than once contemplated taking Constantinople
and destroying the monarchy. Finally the Venetians, who had for a
century been masters of the commerce with the Levant and were anxious
to keep for themselves the fine markets of the East, were becoming un-
easy, both at the increasing animosity displayed by the Greeks, and at


## p. 417 (#459) ############################################

The diversion of the Crusade to Constantinople
417
the rivalry of the other maritime cities of Italy. In the course of the
twelfth century they had several times been obliged to defend their posi-
tion and privileges by force of arms; therefore their politicians, and
especially the Doge Enrico Dandolo, were considering whether the easiest
way of resolving the problem and securing the commercial prosperity of
the republic in the East would not be to conquer the Byzantine Empire
and establish on its ruins a colonial Venetian empire. All these various
causes, unrealised ambitions of conquest, old accumulated grudges against
the Greeks, threatened economic interests, almost inevitably led to the
diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople; all that was necessary
was that an opportunity should offer itself.
This opportunity occurred in the course of 1202. The Basileus
reigning in Constantinople, Alexius Angelus, had dethroned his brother
Isaac in 1195, and had cast the deposed monarch and his young son
Alexius into prison. The latter succeeded in escaping and came to
Germany, either at the end of 1201 or else in the spring of 1202,
to seek the help of his brother-in-law, Philip of Swabia, husband of
his sister Irene. But Philip had no means of giving direct support to
the young prince. Did he arrange with Boniface of Montferrat, or with
the Venetians, who were interested in re-opening the Eastern question,
that the crusading army, then inactive at Venice, should be utilised
against Byzantium? Scholars of to-day have devoted much discussion to
this very obscure historical point. It has been suggested that Philip of
Swabia, deeply interested in his young brother-in-law, and moreover
cherishing, like his brother Henry VI, personal ambitions with regard to
the East, immediately on the arrival of Alexius agreed with Boniface of
Montferrat that the Crusade should be diverted to Constantinople. It
has been suggested that he hoped by this means to checkmate the Papacy,
and, by threatening to ruin the projected Crusade, force Innocent III to
seek a reconciliation with him. The question has also been raised whether
the Venetians had long premeditated their attack on Zara, and whether
or not they had agreed with the Marquess of Montferrat that the fleet
should next set sail for Byzantium; in a word, whether the diversion of
the Crusade sprang from fortuitous causes, or was the result of deep
intrigues and premeditated designs. “This," says Luchaire wisely, “will
never be known, and science has something better to do than interminably
to discuss an insoluble problem. ” All that can be said is that the arrival
of young Alexius in the West suited the policy of the Doge Enrico
Dandolo admirably, and that the latter used it with supreme ability to
insist on an attempt upon Byzantium against the wishes of some of the
crusaders, thereby ensuring enormous advantages to his country.
Even before leaving Venice in September 1202 the leaders of the
Crusade had received messengers from the Greek claimant, and had
entered into negotiations with Philip of Swabia. After the capture of
Zara, envoys from the German king and his young brother-in-law brought
27
C. MED. H. VOL. IV, CA, XIV.


## p. 418 (#460) ############################################

418
Arrival at Constantinople
them much more definite proposals. In return for the help to be given
him in recapturing Constantinople, Alexius promised the crusaders
to pay the balance still owing to the Venetians, to provide them with
the money and supplies necessary for conquering Egypt, to assist them
by sending a contingent of 10,000 men, to maintain five hundred
knights to guard the Holy Land, and, finally, to bring about religious
reunion with Rome. It was a tempting offer, and, under pressure from
the Venetians and Montferrat, the leading barons decided to accept it.
No doubt a certain number of knights protested and left the army,
starting for Syria direct. It was represented to the majority that the
expedition to Constantinople in no way superseded the original plan,
that, in fact, it would facilitate its execution, that moreover it would be
a meritorious act and one pleasing to God to restore the legitimate heir
to the throne; it is also clear that at this time no one contemplated the
destruction of the Greek Empire. Whatever their real wishes, the majority
allowed themselves to be persuaded. On 25 April 1203 Alexius joined
Montferrat and Dandolo at Zara, and at Corfù in May was signed the
definitive treaty which established the diversion of the great enterprise.
The Pope, solicitous as always that the Crusade should not fall to pieces,
allowed matters to go their own way. On 25 May the crusading fleet
left Corfù, and on 24 June 1203 it appeared outside Constantinople.
Every one knows the celebrated passage in which Villehardouin
describes the impressions which the crusaders experienced at first sight
of the great Byzantine city. “Now wit ye well that they gazed at
Constantinople, those who had never seen it; for they had not dreamed
that there was in all the world so rich a city, when they beheld the high
walls and the mighty towers by which she was enclosed all round, and
those rich palaces and those great churches, of which there were so many
that none might believe it if he had not seen it with his own eyes, and
the length and breadth of the city, which was sovereign among all. And
wit ye well that there was no man so bold that he did not tremble; and
this was not wonderful ; for never was so great a matter undertaken by
any man since the world was created. ”ı
The crusaders had expected that the Greeks would welcome with
enthusiasm the monarch whom they had come to restore. But on the
contrary every one rallied round Alexius III, who was regarded as the
defender of national independence. The Latins were therefore obliged to
resort to force. They stormed the tower of Galata, forced the chain
across the harbour, and entered the Golden Horn; then on 17 July 1203
they assaulted the town by land and sea. Alexius III, realising his
defeat, fled ; his victims, Isaac and the young Alexius, were restored to
the throne; on 1 August they were solemnly crowned at St Sophia in
the presence of the Latin barons.
1 Villehardouin, ed. Wailly, N. de, ch. 128.


## p. 419 (#461) ############################################

Breach with the Byzantine government
419
pass
The new sovereigns received the Latins “as benefactors and preservers
of the Empire"; they hastened to carry out the promises they had made,
and lavished on them the wealth of the capital, thereby only increasing
the covetousness of the crusaders, which was already excited. This
friendship did not last long. Torn between the demands of his allies and
the hostility of the national party, which accused him of having betrayed
Byzantium to aliens, the young Alexius IV was soon unable to fulfil his
promises. Urged by the Venetians, the Latins had decided to the
winter season in Constantinople, but they had made the mistake of
evacuating the capital after an occupation of a few days, and the insolence
of the Greeks had been thereby greatly increased. Finally Dandolo, who
during the temporary absence of Montferrat was in command, seized the
opportunity of multiplying difficulties and preparing a breach by his
unreasonableness. In these circumstances a catastrophe was inevitable.
There were affrays and riots, followed by a revolution. In February 1204
the son-in-law of the Emperor Alexius III, Alexius Ducas, nicknamed
Mourtzouphlos, the leader of the national party, caused the downfall of
the two weak Emperors who were incapable of resisting the demands of
the crusaders; and a few days later Alexius IV was strangled in prison.
Henceforth any agreement was impossible. The only means of realising
the great hopes inspired by the capture of Constantinople, ensuring the
success of the Crusade, and attaining the union of the Churches, was to
seize Constantinople and keep it. The Venetians especially insisted on
the necessity of finishing the work and founding a Latin Empire; and
in the month of March 1204 the crusaders agreed on the manner in
which they should divide the future conquest. The French and the
Venetians were to share equally in the booty of Constantinople. An
assembly of six Venetians and six Frenchmen were to elect the Emperor,
to whom was to be assigned a quarter of the conquered territory. The
other three quarters were to go, half to the Venetians, half to the crusaders.
Dandolo succeeded in arranging everything to the advantage of Venice.
The city of St Mark obtained a promise that she should receive the lion's
share of the booty by way of indemnity for what was due to her, that all
her commercial privileges should be preserved, and that the party which
did not provide the Emperor (a privilege to which Venice attached no
importance) should receive the Patriarchate of Constantinople and should
occupy St Sophia. Moreover the doge arranged matters so that the new
Empire, feudally organised, should be weak as opposed to Venice. Having
thus ordered all things “to the honour of God, of the Pope, and of
the Empire,” the crusaders devoted themselves to the task of taking
Constantinople.
The first assault on 9 April 1204 failed. The attack on 12 April was
more successful. The outer wall was taken, and while a vast conflagration
broke out in the town, Mourtzouphlos, losing courage, fled. On the morrow,
the leaders of the army established themselves in the imperial palaces
CH. XIV.
27-2


## p. 420 (#462) ############################################

;)
420
Sack of Constantinople
and allowed their soldiers to pillage Constantinople for three days. The
crusaders treated the city with appalling cruelty. Murder, rape, sacrilege,
robbery, were let loose. “These defenders of Christ,” wrote Pope
Innocent III himself, “who should have turned their swords only against
the infidels, have bathed in Christian blood. They have respected neither
religion, nor age, nor sex. They have committed in open day adultery,
fornication, and incest. Matrons and virgins, even those vowed to God,
were delivered to the ignominious brutality of the soldiery. And it was
not enough for them to squander the treasures of the Empire, and to rob
private individuals, whether great or small. They have dared to lay their
hands on the wealth of the churches. They have been seen tearing from
the altars the silver adornments, breaking them in fragments over which
they quarrelled, violating the sanctuaries, carrying away the icons, crosses,
and relics. ” St Sophia was the scene of disgraceful proceedings: a drunken
soldiery might be seen destroying the sacred books, treading pious images
underfoot, polluting the costly materials, drinking from the consecrated
vessels, distributing sacerdotal ornaments and jewels torn from the altars
to courtesans and camp-followers; a prostitute seated herself on the throne
of the Patriarch and there struck up a ribald song. The most famous
works of art were destroyed, bronze statues melted down and used for
coinage, and, among so many horrors, the Greek historian Nicetas, who
in an eloquent lament described and mourned the ruin of his country,
declared that even the Saracens would have been more merciful than
these men, who yet claimed to be soldiers of Christ.
The Latins themselves at last experienced some feelings of shame.
The leaders of the army took severe measures to restore order. But
pillage was followed by methodical and organised extortion. Under pain
of excommunication all stolen objects must be brought to a common
store; a systematic search for treasure and relics was instituted, and the
spoils were divided between the conquerors. “The booty was so great,"
writes Villehardouin, “ that no man could give you a count thereof, gold
and silver, plate and precious stones, samite and silks, and garments
of fur, vair and silver-gray and ermine, and all the riches ever found
on earth. And Geoffrey de Villehardouin, marshal of Champagne, truly
bears witness, according to his knowledge and in truth, that never, since
the world was created, was so much taken in a city. " The total share of
the crusaders—three-eighths-seems to have amounted to 400,000 marks
of silver. The churches of the West were enriched with sacred spoils
from Constantinople, and the Venetians, better informed than the rest
as to the wealth of Byzantium, knew very well how to make their
choice.
After the booty, there was still the Empire to be divided. On 9 May
1204 the electoral college assembled to elect the new sovereign. One
man seemed destined to occupy the throne: the leader of the Crusade,
1 Villehardouin, ch. 259.
:


## p. 421 (#463) ############################################

Partition of the Empire
421
the Marquess Boniface of Montferrat, who was popular with the Lombards
because of his nationality, with the Germans because of his relationship
to Philip of Swabia, and even with the Greeks because of the marriage
he had recently contracted with Margaret of Hungary, widow of Isaac
Angelus. But for these very reasons, Montferrat was likely to prove too
powerful a sovereign, and consequently a source of uneasiness to Venice,
which meant to derive great advantages for herself from the Crusade.
Boniface was therefore passed over in favour of a less important noble,
Baldwin, Count of Flanders. On 16 May the latter was crowned with
great pomp in St Sophia. And those who admired the magnificent
ceremonial displayed in these festivities might well believe that nothing
had changed in Byzantium since the glorious days of the Comneni.
But this was only a semblance, as was obvious a little later when the
final division of the Empire took place. As his personal dominions, the
new Emperor was awarded the territory which stretched west and east of
the sea of Marmora, from Tzurulum (Chorlu) to the Black Sea in Europe;
and, in Asia Minor, Bithynia and Mysia to the vicinity of Nicaea ; some
of the larger islands of the Archipelago were also assigned to him, Samo-
thrace, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, and Cos. This was little enough, and even
in his capital the Emperor was not sole master. By a somewhat singular
arrangement he only possessed five-eighths of the city; the remainder,
including St Sophia, belonged to the Venetians, who had secured the
lion's share of the gains. They took everything which helped them to
maintain their maritime supremacy, Epirus, Acarnania, Aetolia, the
Ionian islands, the whole of the Peloponnesus, Gallipoli, Rodosto, Hera-
clea in the sea of Marmora and Hadrianople in the interior, several of
the islands in the Archipelago, Naxos, Andros, Euboea, and finally
Crete, which Boniface of Montferrat relinquished to them. The doge
assumed the title of “despot”; he was dispensed from paying homage to
the Emperor, and proudly styled himself “lord of one fourth and a half
of the Greek Empire. ” A Venetian, Thomas Morosini, was raised to the
patriarchate, and became the head of the Latin Church in the new Empire.
Venice, indeed, was not to hold in her own hand all the territory granted
to her. In Epirus she was content to hold Durazzo, and, in the Pelopon-
nesus, Coron and Modon ; she granted other districts as fiefs to various
great families of her aristocracy; Corfù and most of the islands of the
Archipelago thus became Venetian seigniories (the duchy of Naxos,
marquessate of Cerigo, grand-duchy of Lemnos, duchy of Crete, etc. ).
But, by means of all this and the land she occupied directly, she secured
for herself unquestioned supremacy in the Levantine seas. The Empire
was very weak compared with the powerful republic.
Nor was this all. Some compensation had to be given to Boniface of
Montferrat for having missed the imperial dignity. He was promised
Asia Minor and continental Greece, but finally, despite the Emperor, he
CH. XIV.


## p. 422 (#464) ############################################

422
Assises of Romania
exchanged Asia Minor for Macedonia and the north of Thessaly,
which formed the kingdom of Thessalonica held by him as vassal of
the Empire. The counts and barons had next to be provided for, and
a whole crop of feudal seigniories blossomed forth in the Byzantine
world. Henry of Flanders, the Emperor's brother, became lord of
Adramyttium, Louis of Blois was made Duke of Nicaea, Renier of Trit
Duke of Philippopolis, and Hugh of St Pol lord of Demotika. On one
day, 1 October 1204, the Emperor knighted six hundred and distributed
fiefs to them. Some weeks later other seigniories came into being in
Thessaly and the parts of Greece conquered by Montferrat. The Palla-
vicini became marquesses of Boudonitza, the La Roche family first barons,
and subsequently dukes, of Athens; Latin nobles settled in Euboea, over
whom Venice quickly established her suzerainty; finally, in the Pelopon-
nesus, William of Champlitte and Geoffrey of Villehardouin, the historian's
nephew, founded the principality of Achaia.
In this new society, the crusaders introduced all the Western institu-
tions to the Byzantine East. The Latin Empire was an absolutely feudal
State, whose legislation, modelled on that of the Latin kingdom of
Jerusalem, was contained in the Assises of Romania. Elected by the
barons, the Emperor was only the foremost baron, in spite of the cere-
mony with which he had surrounded himself and the great officers of his
court. To render the Empire, thus born of the Crusade, living and
durable, a strong government and a perfectly centralised State were
necessary, whereas Baldwin was almost powerless. Boniface of Montferrat
in particular was a most unruly subject, and, to impose on him the
homage due to his suzerain, Baldwin was obliged to make war on him
and to occupy Thessalonica for a while (August 1204); and in these civil
disorders there was danger, for, as is said by Villehardouin,“if God had
not been pitiful, all that had been gained would have been lost, and
Christendom would have been exposed to the peril of death. ” Matters
were arranged more or less satisfactorily; but the emergency had clearly
demonstrated the Emperor's weakness. As to the vassals of the outlying
parts of Greece, the dukes of Athens and princes of Achaia, they gener-
ally took no interest in the affairs of the Empire. The position with
the Venetians was even more difficult, engrossed as they were in their own
economic interests and impatient of all control. Romania was their
chattel, and they meant to keep the Emperor dependent on them. By
the agreement of October 1205, a council was established, in which
sat the Venetian podestà and the great Frank barons, to assist the
Emperor; it combined the right of superintending military operations
with judicial powers, and had the privilege of controlling the sovereign's
decisions. A High Court of Justice composed of Latins and Venetians
similarly regulated everything which affected the relations between
vassals and suzerain. Furthermore the Venetians were exempted from all
taxation.


## p. 423 (#465) ############################################

Weakness of the Latin Empire
423
Thus the “new France," as it was called by the Pope, which had
come into being in the East, was singularly weak owing to the differences
between the conquerors, and Innocent III, who at first hailed with
enthusiasm “the miracle wrought by God to the glory of His name, the
honour and benefit of the Roman See, the advantage of Christendom,"
very soon experienced a grave disillusion. Many other difficulties, indeed,
endangered the new Empire. The manner in which the Latins had
treated Constantinople was ill adapted to gain the friendship of the
Greeks; the fundamental misunderstanding between victors and van-
quished could not fail to become intensified. It was impossible to
establish agreement between the two races, the two Churches, the two
civilisations. The brutal methods of conquest and the inevitable confisca-
tions (from the first the Latins had seized all the property of the Greek
Church) did not conduce to settle difficulties and to quell hatred.
There were, indeed, some Latin princes of greater political insight,
-Montferrat in Thessalonica, Villehardouin in Achaia, and Baldwin's
successor, Henry of Flanders—who sought to conciliate the vanquished
by assuring them that their rights and property would be respected,
But, except in the Peloponnesus, the results obtained were disappointing.
With the exception of some great nobles, such as Theodore Branas, who
adhered to the new government, the great mass of the Greek nation
remained irreconcilable, and the patriotic party felt deep contempt for
those “servile souls whom,” as Nicetas wrote, “ambition armed against
their country, for those traitors, who to secure some territory, had sub-
mitted to the conquerors,” when they should have wished to remain
eternally at war with the Latins.
The principal effect of the taking of Constantinople by the crusaders
was to arouse patriotic sentiment in the Greeks and to re-awaken in
them the sense of nationality. Round the son-in-law of the Emperor
Alexius III, Theodore Lascaris, had collected any of the Byzantine aristo-
cracy and leading Orthodox clergy that had escaped disaster, and in 1206
the Greek prince caused himself to be solemnly crowned as Emperor of
the Romans. Other Greek states rose from the ruins of the Empire.
Some princes of the family of the Comneni founded an Empire at
Trebizond, which lasted until the fifteenth century. In Epirus, a bastard
of the house of Angelus, Michael Angelus Connenus, established a
Despotat” which reached from Naupactus to Durazzo; and other
seigniories were founded by Gabalas at Rhodes, by Mankaphas at Phila-
delphia, and in Greece by Leo Sgouros. Of these States, two were specially
formidable, Epirus which threatened Thessalonica, and Nicaea which
aspired to conquer Asia Minor preparatory to regaining Constantinople.
Herein were many sources of weakness for the Latin Empire. The
Bulgarian peril added yet another cause for uneasiness. Since the end
of the twelfth century an independent state had arisen in Bulgaria, at
whose head was the Tsar Kalojan, or Johannitsa (1197–1207), who styled
CH. XIV.


## p. 424 (#466) ############################################

424
Defeat and death of the Emperor Baldwin I
himself Tsar of the Wallachians and the Bulgars. He was hostile to the
Byzantines and quite disposed to be friendly with the Latins. He was
also on good terms with Rome, and had even been crowned by a legate
of Innocent III. When, therefore, he heard of the taking of Constanti-
nople, he was quite ready to come to terms with the crusaders. But they
took a high hand, and summoned the Bulgarian Tsar to restore the
“portion of the Greek Empire unjustly retained by him. ” This was a
grave mistake, and was recognised as such by Pope Innocent III. Had
the Latins been on peaceful terms with the Bulgars, they might have
had some chance of opposing the Greeks, but their methods were such as
to unite all their adversaries against them.
Without money, without authority, almost without an army, what
could the weak sovereign of the new Latin Empire do, when faced by the
hostility of his Greek subjects and of the external enemies, Byzantines
and Bulgars, who were threatening him ? It was in vain that he posed
as the successor of the Basileus, and sometimes caused uneasiness to the
Pope by his daring claims on Church property; his position was pre-
carious. The Latin Empire, offspring of the Fourth Crusade, lasted
barely half a century (1204–1261), and this short-lived and fragile crea-
tion embittered yet more the antagonism which separated the Greeks
and the Latins.
Nevertheless, in the first period of confusion which followed the taking
of Constantinople, the Latins met with success everywhere. Boniface of
Montferrat made a magnificent sally across Thessaly and Central Greece
which carried him to Athens and to the very walls of Corinth and
Nauplia (the end of 1204-May 1205). About the same time Henry of
Flanders undertook the conquest of Asia Minor (November 1204). With
the assistance of the Comneni of Trebizond, who were jealous of the
new Empire of Nicaea, he defeated the troops of Theodore Lascaris at
Poimanenon (December 1204), and seized the most important cities
of Bithynia—Nicomedia, Abydos, Adramyttium, and Lopadium. The
barely-established Greek State seemed on the point of destruction, when
suddenly the Frank troops were recalled to Europe by a grave emergency,
and Theodore Lascaris was saved.
The Greek population of Thrace, discontented with the Latin rule,
had revolted, and, at their call, the Bulgarian Tsar Johannitsa had
invaded the Empire. The Emperor Baldwin and the aged Doge Dan-
dolo advanced boldly with the weak forces at their disposal to meet the
enemy. On 14 April 1205, in the plains of Hadrianople, the Latin
army was defeated. Baldwin, who was taken prisoner by the Bulgars,
disappeared mysteriously a few weeks later, and Dandolo led all that
remained of the army back to Constantinople, where he died and was
buried with solemnity in St Sophia, his conquest. It seemed as though
in this formidable crisis the Empire must perish, but it was saved by the
energetic measures of Henry of Flanders, Baldwin's brother.


## p. 425 (#467) ############################################

Accession of Henry of Flanders: his early successes 425
Chosen by the barons first as regent of Romania, then crowned as
Emperor on 21 August 1206, Henry of Flanders, by his courage, energy,
and intelligence, was quite equal to the task imposed on him. He was
able not only to encounter the Bulgarian invasion and repel it, but also
to restore unity among the Latins, and even to secure the submission of
the Greeks; during his ten years' reign (1206-1216) he was the real
founder of the Latin Empire.
The Greeks, indeed, began to be uneasy at the violence and brutality
of their terrible Bulgarian ally. Johannitsa pillaged everything, burnt
everything, and massacred every one, in his path. He longed to avenge
the defeats which in bygone days Basil II had inflicted on his nation,
and, just as the Byzantine Emperor had styled himself the “ slayer of
Bulgars ” (Bulgaroctonos), so he proudly flaunted the title of “ slayer of
Romans” (Romaioctonos). The horrified Greeks therefore soon reverted
to the side of the Latins. The Emperor Henry knew how to profit by
these sentiments. He secured the assistance of Theodore Branas, one of
the great Byzantine leaders, by granting him Demotika and Hadrianople
as fiefs (October 1205). In person he waged victorious warfare with the
Bulgars. He relieved Renier of Trit, who was besieged in Stenimachus,
and retook Hadrianople (1206). Finally, to the great advantage of the
Empire, he became reconciled with Boniface of Montferrat, whose
daughter Agnes was betrothed to him. Undoubtedly the death of the
marquess-king, killed in battle in 1207, and the Bulgarian attack on
Thessalonica, were fresh causes of disquietude. Fortunately for the Latin
Empire, Johannitsa was assassinated outside the city he was besieging
(October 1207). The Greek legend assigns the credit for his death to
the saintly patron of the city, St Demetrius, who, mounted on his war-
horse and armed with his invincible spear, is said to have stricken down
the terrible enemy of Hellenism in his own camp. It is unnecessary to
add that it happened in a less miraculous manner. But the death of the
Bulgarian Tsar delivered the Empire from a great danger. His successor,
Boril, after his defeat in 1208 at Philippopolis, soon made peace, which
was sealed in 1215 by the marriage of the Emperor Henry with the
Tsar's daughter.
About the same time matters improved in Asia Minor. In 1206, at
the instigation of David Comnenus, Emperor of Trebizond, who was
uneasy at the aggrandisement of Theodore Lascaris and wrathful at the
imperial title recently assumed by the Despot of Nicaea, the Latins
resumed the offensive in Asia Minor and seized Cyzicus and Nicomedia,
which they retained until 1207. But the Bulgarian danger necessitated
the concentration of all the forces of the Empire; in order to be able to
recall all his troops from Asia Minor, Henry concluded a two years'
armistice with Lascaris. The struggle was resumed as soon as the Bul-
garian peril had been averted. Lascaris, having vanquished the Turks
on the Maeander (1210), became a source of uneasiness to the Latins, as
CH.