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The Fourth Crusade ( 1202- 1204), originally designed to conquer Egypt, instead, in 1204, conquered the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
1 Background
After the failure of the Third Crusade, there was little interest in Europe for another crusade against the Muslims. The Fourth Crusade was the last of the major crusades to be directed by the Papacy, before the Popes lost much of their power to the Holy Roman Empire and other secular monarchs. The later crusades were directed by individual monarchs, and even the Fourth quickly fell out of Papal control.
In 1198, Pope Innocent III called for a new Crusade, which was largely ignored among European leaders. The Germans were struggling against Papal power, and England and France were still engaged in warfare against each other. However, due to the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly , a crusading army was finally organized at a tournament held at Ecry by Count Thibaud of Champagne in 1199Events John Lackland, becomes King of England Births Deaths 6 April Richard I of England, from a crossbow during a minor siege in France Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder and first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan Heads of states England Richard I th. Thibaud was elected leader, but he died in 1200Events University of Paris receives charter from Philip II of France Births Matthew Paris, English Benedictine monk and chronicler (approximate date). Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, eldest, illegitimate son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1244) Deaths The prominent Chin and was replaced by an Italian count, Boniface of MontferratBoniface of Montferrat (died 1207) was marquis of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. When the original leader of the Fourth Crusade, Count Thibaud III of Champagne, died in 1201, Boniface was chosen as its new leader. Boniface's family was w. Boniface and the other leaders sent envoys to VeniceVenice ( Italian Venezia German Venedig , the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto, population 271,073 (2001). The city stretches across numerous small islands in a marshy lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater l, GenoaAlternate uses, see Genoa (disambiguation). Genoa ( Italian Genova (jen'o-vah), Genoese Zena (zay'nah), French Genes is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of Liguria. It has a population of ca. Genua was a city of the ancient Ligurians., and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transportation to Egypt, the object of their crusade; one of the envoys was the historianGenerally speaking, a historian is a person who studies history. This is harder than many think; the study of history requires careful attention to detail and neutrality. Historians can often have a profound impact upon the way people think. For example, Geoffrey of VillehardouinGeoffrey of Villehardouin (in French Geoffroi de Villehardouin ( 1160 c. 1212) was a knight and historian who participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade. He was Marshal of Champagne, and joined the Crusade in 1199 during a tournament held by Count. Genoa was uninterested but Venice agreed to transport 30 000 crusaders, a very ambitious number.
