How did a crusade to Jerusalem end with the sack of Constantinople?
The army set out to fight in Egypt and Jerusalem. A debt to Venice, a Byzantine prince with a plan and a broken promise sent it to the largest Christian city in the world instead.
▶ Start the storyIt was pulled there, step by step, by a chain of debts and bargains. The crusade's stated aim was to recapture Jerusalem by first defeating the Egyptian Sultanate, but a sequence of economic and political events led instead to the siege of Zara in 1202 and the sack of Constantinople in 1204.
The first link was money. In 1201 Venice contracted to build a fleet to carry the crusaders, but the leaders had overestimated the number of soldiers who would embark from Venice, and the army that appeared could not pay the contracted price. By May 1202 only about 12,000 crusaders had gathered, instead of the expected 33,500. In lieu of payment, the Venetian Enrico Dandolo proposed that the crusaders help him attack the rebellious city of Zara. The sack of Zara was the first attack on a Catholic city by a Catholic crusader army, despite the pope's calls not to attack fellow Christians, and the pope temporarily the army.
The plan
- Defeat the Sultanate in Egypt
- Then recapture Jerusalem
- Fleet from Venice for about 33,500 men
What happened
- About 12,000 men arrived and could not pay
- Zara was sacked in November 1202
- Constantinople was sacked in April 1204
The second link was an offer. In January 1203 the crusader leaders agreed with the Byzantine prince Alexios Angelos to divert their main force to Constantinople and restore his deposed father Isaac II as emperor, who would then support their invasion of Jerusalem. Alexios was crowned in August 1203, but a popular uprising deposed him in January 1204, depriving the crusaders of their promised payments.
The last link was the break. After Alexios was murdered, the crusaders decided to conquer the city outright, and in April 1204 they captured and plundered its enormous wealth. They sacked the largest and most sophisticated city in Christendom for three days, killing many of its civilians and looting its churches. The empire fragmented into three states, and only in July 1261 did the Nicaean Empire restore the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople.
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Recap
A debt to Venice led to Zara, a deal with a Byzantine prince led to Constantinople, and a broken promise led to the sack.
💡 A trick to remember it · Think of dominoes: the unpaid ship fare tips Zara, Zara tips Alexios, and Alexios's missed payments tip the whole crusade into Constantinople.
Surprising fact · Only about 12,000 of an expected 33,500 crusaders showed up at Venice, and that shortfall in money began the chain that led to Constantinople.
Connects to
- 🧱 How did the walls of Constantinople hold off enemies for centuries?
- 🪓 How did Vikings end up guarding the Byzantine emperor?
- 🏰 How did cannons and ships carried over a hill take Constantinople?
- ✝️ Why did one added Latin word help split Christianity in two?
- 🛶 How can a whole city stand on wooden stakes in a lagoon?
Sources (1)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (16 claims) cites at least one of these.