The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople

by Phillips, Jonathan (Author)

• ISBN13: 9780143035909
• ISBN10: 0143035908
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-29
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

In 1202, Western Christians aflame with religious zeal gathered in Venice determined to liberate Jerusalem from the grip of Islam. But the Crusaders never made it to the Holy Land. Urged on by the canny Venetian doge and a pretender to the Byzantine throne, they descended instead on Constantinople, the world's most opulent city and the heart of Christian Byzantium. The Crusaders spared no one in their savagery: they raped and massacred thousands, plundered churches, and put the city to the torch. By 1204, barbarism masquerading as piety had swept aside one of the great civilizations of history.

Author Biography

Jonathan Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Roval Holloway, University of London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vi
Acknowledgements	p. vii
A Note on Nomenclature	p. viii
Preface	p. ix
Prologue: The Coronation of Emperor Baldwin	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
Maps	p. xxiii
The Origins and Preaching of the Fourth Crusade, 1187-99	p. 1
Abbot Martin's Crusade Sermon, Basel Cathedral, May 1200	p. 26
The Tournament at Ecry, November 1199	p. 39
The Treaty of Venice, April 1201	p. 56
Final Preparations and Leaving Home, May 1201-June 1202	p. 78
The Crusade at Venice and the Siege of Zara, summer and autumn 1202	p. 102
The Offer from Prince Alexius, December 1202-May 1203	p. 127
The Crusade Arrives at Constantinople, June 1203	p. 142
The First Siege of Constantinople, July 1203	p. 162
Triumph and Tensions at Constantinople, July-August 1203	p. 185
The Great Fire of August 1203	p. 206
The Murder of Alexius IV and the Descent into War, early 1204	p. 221
The Conquest of Constantinople, April 1204	p. 235
The Sack of Constantinople, April 1204	p. 258
The End of the Fourth Crusade and the Early Years of the Latin Empire, 1204-5	p. 281
The Fate of the Latin Empire, 1206-61	p. 304
Afterword	p. 310
Chronology	p. 321
Notes	p. 323
Bibliography	p. 349
Index	p. 362
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