The area known as the Gateway to Venice inspired this (continued) detour through history. Now we find ourselves in Constantinople in the 13th century. Crusaders on the 4th Crusade had planned to attack Alexandria, Egypt. But the Venetian Doge convinced them to sack the nearby city of Zara first. Then, as described last time, he convinced them to attack Constantinople instead. Wow. He must have been in sales, eh?
The Crusaders reached Constantinople in June, 1203. There were 60 war galleys and 150 transport ships full of troops and supplies. They sent word to the Byzantine leaders inside Constantinople what they had come to do. If they didn’t meet the Crusaders’ demands, they’d be toast.
The terse reply came back immediately: “Scram!” (Or words to that effect). Then all heck broke loose.
The Attack of Constantinople
The Crusaders launched separate attacks on the sea walls and land walls. They’d brought along 300 siege engines to hurl boulders against the walls to break them down.
But the Byzantines must have had them, too, because boulders came flying out of the city, smashing into the Crusaders’ siege engines. The Byzantines put up a good fight and held off the Crusaders, but in the process, a fire destroyed part of the city.
The Crusaders called “time out” and entered the city to negotiate. They’d give the Byzantines one more chance to give up or face the consequences. The Crusaders had never intended to destroy the city. They had originally intended just to put the rightful heir back on the throne. What was everyone so riled up about? The Byzantine leaders sent ’em packing.
They started fighting again and kept on fighting all the way into the next year. Then in April, 1204, the Crusaders finally knocked a hole in the wall and stormed into the city. Then things really got ugly. Much of Constantinople was destroyed by fire. Eventually there were more negotiations and the Byzantines capitulated.
It had been pretty rough going for all concerned, but finally Alexius was back on the throne. Now he could make good on his end of the deal and the Crusaders would be on their way.
Things Go from Bad to Worse
Well, that didn’t happen. Alexius couldn’t or wouldn’t come up with the goods. As one might imagine, the Crusaders were pretty upset. “Crazy mad” might be a more accurate description. What happened next was very bad.
The Crusaders sort of went nuts, and for three days, they sacked what was left of the city. The richest city in the world, with the most jewels, gold, art, and treasures of all kinds was completely ransacked and looted.
So the Crusaders, whose original purpose was to go roust Infidels, end up rousting their own Christian brothers and sisters in the worst possible ways. When they got back to Italy, the Pope was very upset. Then they showed him all the cool stuff they brought back that he could have, and all was forgiven.
As for relations between the Orthodox and Catholic churches that were trying to get back together as one, well, the sack of Constantinople pretty much put the kaibash on that.
And guess who came out smelling like a rose?
And guess who came out smelling like a rose? The wily Venetians, of course. They saved Egypt from the Crusaders, as promised. They got rid of pirates in Zara that had been driving them nuts. Brought back tons of booty from Constantinople. AND they got paid for what they provided to the Crusaders to support the whole shenanigans.
There wasn’t much left of Constantinople, and not much of an army left to defend it. A couple hundred years later, the Ottoman Turks conquered the city and changed the name to “Istanbul.” The Ottomans changed the Hagia Sophia from a church to a mosque, and added the minarets that are still there today).
But enough history already! Who’s getting hungry out there? Let’s get a move on! We left Piazza San Marco and the throngs of tourists and went to find something good to eat. We decided to just start walking. After all, it’s an island. How lost can you get?
To be continued…
