4 crusade results. Fourth Crusade. Causes. Move. results

He demanded a huge amount for transportation - 85 thousand marks (more than 20 tons) in silver. The Crusaders could not raise such a sum. Venice at this time was waging a fierce struggle with the Byzantine Empire for primacy in trade with eastern countries. Venetian merchants had long dreamed of inflicting a blow on the Byzantines from which they could not recover. They decided to use the military forces of the Crusaders for this. The ruler of Venice persuaded the knights to intervene in the internal affairs of Byzantium, where at that time there was an intense struggle for the imperial throne.

The empire, which existed until 1261, of all Byzantine lands included only Thrace and Greece, where the French knights received feudal appanages as a reward. The Venetians owned the harbor of Constantinople with the right to levy duties and achieved a trade monopoly within the Latin Empire and on the islands of the Aegean Sea. Thus, they benefited the most from the Crusade. Its participants never reached the Holy Land. The pope tried to extract his own benefits from the current situation - he lifted the excommunication from the crusaders and took the empire under his protection, hoping to strengthen the union of the Greek and Catholic churches, but this union turned out to be fragile, and the existence of the Latin Empire contributed to the deepening of the schism.

Preparing for the hike

Latin Empire

More than half a century ancient city on the Bosphorus cape was in the power of the crusaders. May 16, 1204 in the church of St. Sophia, Count Baldwin of Flanders was solemnly crowned as the first emperor new empire, which contemporaries called not Latin, but the Constantinople Empire, or Romania. Considering themselves the successors of the Byzantine emperors, its rulers retained much of the etiquette and ceremonial of palace life. But the emperor treated the Greeks with extreme disdain.

In the new state, whose territory at first was limited to the capital, strife soon began. The multilingual knightly army acted in concert only during the capture and plunder of the city. Now the former unity has been forgotten. It almost came to open clashes between the emperor and some leaders of the crusaders. Added to this were conflicts with the Byzantines over the division of Byzantine lands. As a result, the Latin emperors had to change tactics. Already Henry of Gennegau (1206-1216) began to look for support in the old Byzantine nobility. The Venetians finally felt like masters here. A significant part of the city passed into their hands - three out of eight blocks. The Venetians had their own judicial apparatus in the city. They made up half of the council of the imperial curia. The Venetians got a huge part of the spoils after robbing the city.

Many valuables were taken to Venice, and part of the wealth became the foundation of that huge political power and trading power acquired by the Venetian colony in Constantinople. Some historians, not without reason, write that after the disaster of 1204, two empires were actually formed - the Latin and the Venetian. Indeed, not only part of the capital passed into the hands of the Venetians, but also lands in Thrace and on the coast of the Propontis. The territorial acquisitions of the Venetians outside Constantinople were small in comparison with their plans at the beginning of the Fourth Crusade, but this did not prevent the Venetian doges from henceforth pompously calling themselves “rulers of the quarter and half-quarter.” Byzantine Empire" However, the dominance of the Venetians in the trade and economic life of Constantinople (they took possession, in particular, of all the most important berths on the banks of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn) turned out to be almost more important than territorial acquisitions. Having settled in Constantinople as masters, the Venetians strengthened their trading influence throughout the territory of the fallen Byzantine Empire.

The capital of the Latin Empire was the seat of the most noble feudal lords for several decades. They preferred the palaces of Constantinople to their castles in Europe. The nobility of the empire quickly became accustomed to Byzantine luxury and adopted the habit of constant celebrations and cheerful feasts. The consumer nature of life in Constantinople under the Latins became even more pronounced. The crusaders came to these lands with a sword and during the half-century of their rule they never learned to create. In the middle of the 13th century, the Latin Empire fell into complete decline. Many cities and villages, devastated and plundered during the aggressive campaigns of the Latins, were never able to recover. The population suffered not only from unbearable taxes and extortions, but also from the oppression of foreigners who disdained the culture and customs of the Greeks. The Orthodox clergy actively preached the struggle against the enslavers.

Results of the Fourth Crusade

Fourth crusade, transformed from the “path to the Holy Sepulcher” into the Venetian commercial enterprise, which led to the sack of Constantinople by the Latins, marked a deep crisis in the crusader movement. The result of this campaign was the final split between Western and Byzantine Christianity. Many call the Fourth Crusade “cursed,” as the crusaders, who swore to return the Holy Land to Christianity, turned into dishonest mercenaries hunting only for easy money.

Actually, Byzantium after this campaign ceased to exist as a state for more than 50 years; the Latin Empire was created on the site of the former empire

Fourth Crusade 1202 - 1204 has a special significance in history and occupies an exceptional position in literature. Not to mention the fact that in the fourth crusade what clearly comes to the fore is not religious, but political idea, it is distinguished by a well-thought-out and skillfully executed plan.
Directed against the Byzantine Empire and ending with the conquest of Constantinople and the division of the empire, this campaign is an expression of long-hidden hostility and satisfaction of the mood that the first Crusades . 4
By the end of the 12th century. no longer had any of the political figures any doubt that Crusades V Holy land there is an idle deed that cannot secure Jerusalem. After enormous sacrifices made to satisfy religious feelings, after three great crusades, in which the German emperors, French and English kings took part, Jerusalem still remained in the hands of the infidels.

Syria, Palestine and the mountain gorges of Asia Minor have already swallowed up to a million crusaders. Muslims mocked Christians, and the last thought that came to mind was that God was not blessing the cause of the European Christianity.

But most military and political figures of that time were of the opinion that failure crusades lies in the systematic opposition to Europeans on the part of the Byzantine emperor: he was said to incite Muslims and arrange ambushes crusaders, he enters into alliances with infidels and in every way harms success and development Christian principalities on holy land. 4
Main role in preparing new crusade played by Pope Innocent III.
Christianity in the Middle East. He wanted to reconcile the Latin and Greek churches again, strengthen the dominance of the church, and at the same time his own claims to supreme supremacy in Christian world.
The successes that he brought first crusade exactly one hundred years ago, the loss of Jerusalem and failure third crusade gave him no rest.
Innocent began a series of measures to stir up the Catholic world with the idea of ​​a new crusade, which should have been sent not to Palestine, but to Egypt, for from there Islam drew strength to fight against Christians. 4

In August 1198 he proclaimed a new crusade to the East and sent his prelates everywhere to preach it. They appealed to everyone to go to Holy land in the name of Christ's.
Then Innocent wrote letters to King Philip Augustus of France and Richard the Lionheart of England, who had been at war with each other since Richard's return from captivity in 1194. The Pope urged the kings, under the threat of an interdict on their possessions, to conclude peace or at least a truce on five years, not only because the war they unleashed brought unbearable misery to the ordinary inhabitants of their kingdoms, but also because military action would interfere with the recruitment of troops for crusade, planned by dad.
In addition, dad increased the tax on crusade, which all clergy and even monasteries, which until now were exempt from such taxes, were required to pay.
Innocent himself set an example of inspiration crusader idea: he equipped the ship at his own expense, provided it with a crew and supplies, donated a tenth of the income of the Roman throne to crusade and demanded deductions for the same subject of 1/40 of all income catholic church. 4
However, the pope’s call did not find such an enthusiastic response as happened before...
At the end of 1199 the idea of ​​a new crusade found its first supporters in France. These were Thibault, Count of Champagne, Louis of Blois and Baudouin, Count of Flanders and Gennegau.
The first two counts are like relatives royal house, their agreement to participate in the campaign largely ensured the success of the further movement, and, indeed, their vassals and subvassals soon joined them.
As for the Count of Flanders, his participation is also explained by family legends, for the Counts of Flanders from the time First Crusade were the liveliest exponents crusader ideas. 4
In May 1201, the commander-in-chief dies crusade, Count Thibault, and his place is taken by the Italian prince, Boniface, Margrave of Montferrat, who has since played a leading role in the campaign. As soon as in August he agreed to accept the cross and leadership, some German spiritual and secular princes, hitherto indifferent to the movement, began to prepare for the campaign.
Since, first of all, it was necessary to provide themselves with means of crossing to Muslim lands, the princes came to the decision to contract in Venice, as the first maritime power of that time, a sufficient number of ships for transportation crusaders to Alexandria.
For the provision of ships, ship crews and support crusaders For food, the Venetians demanded 85,000 marks in silver. The payment of the sum of 85 thousand marks was divided into three terms, the last term expiring in June 1202.
When, however, in 1202, at the appointed time, the army arrived in Venice, its strength was only 11,000 people, and cash did not even reach half of the required amount. 2
To avoid collisions between crusaders and the Venetians, the arriving army was stationed on the island of Lido near Venice. The Venetians, fulfilling their obligations in accordance with the treaty, delivered food to it for crusaders.
When crusaders it was proposed to fulfill part of the contract for the final payment of the agreed amount, they were unable to realize the required amount and were ready to pay only half. The Venetian government, for its part, suspended the supply of supplies to the Lido and refused to provide ships for transportation to Egypt.

You can understand how despondent they are crusaders being without food under the hot sun summer months. Hunger began in the camp, diseases appeared, discipline was upset, many fled, others indulged in robbery and robbery...
How were the Venetians going to make up for the lack of money?
Finding the treasury empty, the head of the Venetian Republic, 90-year-old Doge Dandolo, proposed crusaders to recapture for his republic the city of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia), captured by the Hungarians in 1186, and only then Venice would show generosity.
The situation was extremely indecent. Zadar was a Christian city that previously recognized the authority of the Republic of St. Mark, but in 1183 came under the authority of the King of Hungary.
Moreover, the Hungarian king Imre had recently accepted the cross himself, and therefore his property - including the city - was under the protection of the Holy See...
The plan to capture Zadar was discussed between the leaders of the campaign and the Venetians, but simple crusaders They knew nothing about him, he was kept strictly secret from them, and although many warned against this step, crusaders agreed to the Doge's proposal...
Zara was well defended by the Hungarian garrison and provided soldiers of the cross significant resistance, but on November 24, 1202 it was taken by storm and suffered terrible devastation, including the inhabitants of the Christian city crusaders treated as infidels: captured, sold into slavery, killed; churches were destroyed and treasures were stolen.
In response, the pope excommunicated the entire army crusaders- for shedding “brotherly blood.” But for the majority crusaders it didn't make much of an impression. They spent the whole winter in the city, which again belonged to Venice. 2
In the spring of 1204 army of the cross headed for the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The Venetians supported them in this enterprise, as they wanted to strengthen their position as a trading power in the eastern Mediterranean at the expense of Byzantium.
In March 1204, an agreement took place between the commander-in-chief of the forces crusaders Prince Boniface and Doge of Venice Dandolo, whose subject was a plan for the division of the empire. This agreement decided:
take Constantinople military force and establish in it a new government of Latins;
the city should be plundered and all the loot, put in one place, divided amicably. Three shares of the spoils should go to repay the debt of Venice and satisfy the obligations of Tsarevich Alexei, the fourth share should go to satisfy the private claims of Boniface and the French princes;
upon the conquest of the city, 12 voters, 6 each from Venice and France, will begin to choose an emperor;
the one who is elected emperor receives a fourth of the entire empire, the rest is divided equally between the Venetians and the French;
the side from which the emperor is not elected receives the Church of St. into its power. Sophia and the right to elect a patriarch from the clergy of their land;
the contracting parties undertake to live in Constantinople for a year in order to establish the new order;
a commission of 12 persons will be elected from the Venetians and French, whose duties will be the distribution of fiefs and honorary positions among all participants in the campaign;
all leaders wishing to receive fiefs will give the emperor a vassal oath, from which only the Doge of Venice is exempt.
The signing of this agreement was followed by detailed plan distribution of parts of the empire. It can be seen that this plan was drawn up well those who know the empire people: Venice had the most tasty morsel: the coastal areas, important in commercial, industrial and military terms. This is how the history of the immediate fate of the empire was written. 4
And although this time there was no shortage of warning voices crusaders it didn't stop. Having anchored in front of Constantinople, they demanded that the city pay compensation “for protection.”
When it became clear that there were no people willing to pay, at the military council of the Latins it was decided to storm Constantinople from the Golden Horn near the Blachernae Palace.
At dawn the fleet crusaders lined up along the harbor in a front half a league long; large cargo ships were wedged into different places between galleys and horse transport ships. These ships were brought as close as possible to the walls and bridges were thrown from them onto the towers, while some of the troops landed and tried to climb the walls using ladders from the ground.
The benefit of the Byzantine position was high walls and ditches. For a long time crusaders They tried to fill up the ditches and approach the walls with stairs, but the defenders of the city showered them with a hail of arrows and stones from above.
By the evening of April 9, the tower was taken, and crusaders They burst into the city, but did not dare to take advantage of the occupied position and left the position for the night. The third fire since the siege occurred in the city, destroying two-thirds of the city.
On April 12, 1204, the final assault on Constantinople began. Adjustable at the back strong wind, the fleet crossed the bay and approached the same part of the wall. WITH large ships managed to throw bridges onto the tops of several towers. The attacking squads broke through and drove back the defenders. Venetians living in the city supported crusaders.
Rest warriors of the cross They disembarked and, climbing the ladders to the camps, opened the gates from the inside. The horses were taken out of the transport ships, knights sat on them and rushed through the gate. The Greeks retreated further into the city, and the attackers fortified themselves in a strip along the wall they had captured.
At night, the Germans, fearing an attack, set fire to the houses in front of them, and a new large fire engulfed the city, increasing the horror of what was happening.
Emperor Alexei Ducas, despairing of a favorable outcome, fled; Panic began in the city, people fled to distant neighborhoods and organized a desperate defense in the cramped streets, setting up barriers to the Latins.
On the morning of April 13, Boniface of Montferrat entered the city, the Greeks asked him for mercy, but he promised the army a three-day robbery and did not go back on his word...
This was followed by three days of robberies and murders. Units crusaders rushed in all directions to collect prey. Shops, private homes, churches and imperial palaces were thoroughly searched and looted, and unarmed residents were beaten.
Those who, in the general chaos, managed to make their way to the walls and flee the city considered themselves lucky; This is how Patriarch Kamatir and Senator Acominatus were saved, who later vividly described the terrible days of the robbery.


Particularly noteworthy is the barbaric attitude warriors of the cross to monuments of art, to libraries and Byzantine shrines. Breaking into temples crusaders They threw themselves at church utensils and decorations, broke open shrines containing the relics of saints, stole church vessels, broke and beat precious monuments, and burned manuscripts.
Many private individuals accumulated wealth for themselves at this time, and their descendants were proud of the antiquities stolen in Constantinople for centuries. Bishops and abbots of the monasteries subsequently described in detail, for the edification of posterity, what shrines they acquired in Constantinople and how. Although they described the history of theft, they called it holy theft...
A certain Martin, abbot of a monastery in Paris, entered these days into a Greek temple, where the Greeks carried away their treasures and shrines from the surrounding houses in the hope that the bearers of the cross would spare the churches of God. The abbot, leaving the soldiers to deal with the crowd seeking protection in the church, himself began to search the choir and sacristy to see if he could find anything more valuable. Then he came across an old priest and demanded from him, under threat of death, to show where the relics of saints and treasures were hidden.
The priest, seeing that he was dealing with a clergyman, pointed him to an iron-bound chest, into which the abbot put his hands and chose what seemed more important to him. So the abbot managed to steal the reliquary with the blood of the Savior, a piece of the tree of the cross, the bone of John the Baptist, part of the hand of St. Jacob. Western churches and monasteries were decorated with such shrines. 4
“The next morning the rising sun came into St. Sophia and stripped the doors and cut open the embolus bound in silver and the 12 silver pillars, and 4 iconostases and the table, and 12 thrones, and the altar barriers, otherwise everything was made of silver, and from St. I tasted expensive stones and pearls during the meal. They seized 40 cups and chandeliers and silver lamps, there is no number of them. Gospels, crosses and icons were stolen along with priceless vessels; the latter were removed from their places and their vestments were torn off. And under the table they found 40 cadets of pure gold, and in the choir and sacristy you can’t even count how many jewels they took. So they robbed St. Sophia, St. Theotokos of Blachernae, where St. The spirit descended throughout Friday, and then I woke up, but it’s impossible to say about other churches, as if there were no number. I peeled the monks and the monks and the priests, and beat some of them.” 4
Boniface and the detachment of German soldiers accompanying him were distinguished most of all by their ferocity and inexorability. crusaders; one of the German counts by the name of Katzenellenbogen stained himself with arson.
Priceless works of art were destroyed or stolen forever. The bronze four horses - the famous quadriga of the 6th century - was sent to Venice, where to this day it crowns the main portal of the Cathedral of St. Brand. More than half of the loot went to Venice! 2
When the greed of the winners was satisfied, they began to fulfill the clause of the agreement on the division of the spoils.
Here is what Uspensky F. writes: “You cannot, of course, think that everything crusaders They honestly fulfilled their obligation and showed all the loot. However, judging by the part that was shown, the French booty amounted to 400 thousand marks. Upon satisfaction of the obligations of Tsarevich Alexei and the payment of transportation fees to Venice, the remainder was divided between crusaders: each infantryman received 5 marks, the cavalryman received 10 marks, knight 20 each (only 15 thousand people participated in the division).
If we also take into account the share of Venice, and the share of the main leaders, then the total amount of production will extend to 20 million rubles (in rubles before 1917 - approx. author of the site ).
The best evidence of the enormous wealth found in Constantinople can be seen in the offer of the Venetian bankers to farm out all the loot and pay 100 marks to each infantryman, 200 to the cavalryman and 400 knight. But this proposal was not accepted, because it was considered unprofitable.
As for the monuments of art in which crusaders did not understand the point, then in this regard no numbers can depict the amount of harm and damage. The Latins attached some importance only to metal, which was poured into ingots, and marble, wood, and bone were of no use...” 4
Pope Innocent III, as soon as he learned of the fall of Constantinople, congratulated crusaders and was glad that the Byzantine capital had finally returned to the fold of its native church. But as soon as the pope learned about all the outrages that were happening during the fall of Constantinople, he was very angry: it was precisely this behavior crusaders in the holy city, in the capital of cities, most clearly showed the essence of this crusade and his goals...
The Pope sends letters to Boniface of Montferrat and legate Pietro Capuano (who by that time had arrived from Syria to Constantinople), directly condemning what happened and thus expressing his attitude, as the head of the Church, to the excesses of 1204.
In a letter to Pietro Capuano he writes:
“Having recently heard and understood from your letters that everyone crusaders, who stayed to defend Constantinople from last March until now, you freed them from the pilgrimage vow and from bearing the cross, we could not help but oppose you, since you should not have and could not encroach on this in any way, no matter who advised you another and in whatever way seduces your mind. For<...>they primarily and primarily for this purpose accepted the sign of the Cross<...>. to go to help Holy Land And<...>, having then lost their way, until this day they are chasing completely transitory benefits<.. .>.
How then does the Church of the Greeks, no matter how damaged it may be,<...>, will turn to church unity and reverence for the Apostolic See, if in the Latins [she] sees only an example of atrocities and dark deeds, and can rightly have more disgust for them than for dogs?
After all, those who were not her own, but whom she considered to be seeking Jesus Christ, the swords that were supposed to be used against the pagans, were stained with the blood of Christians and did not spare either faith, age, or gender; They committed incest, adultery and debauchery in front of people, and not only married ladies, but even virgins dedicated to God were exposed to dirty lust.
And it is not enough for them that they took the imperial wealth and took trophies large and small, but even, what is more serious, they stretched out their hands to the treasuries of churches and their contents, stealing even silver boards from the altars and breaking them into pieces, desecrated the temples, carried away crosses and relics."
After this, the invaders began to divide the entire Byzantine Empire among themselves. The Emperor fled. In the election of the new emperor of Byzantium, the candidacy of Count Baudouin of Flanders was proposed, who, as a more distant ruling prince, seemed less dangerous to Venice.
During the voting, Baudouin received 9 votes (6 from Venice and 3 from the Rhine clergy), Boniface only 3. Baudouin’s proclamation followed on May 9.
The newly elected Latin Emperor Baldwin of Flanders received a quarter of the empire. The remaining three quarters were divided between Venice and the states crusaders. In Greece, the Frankish principalities arose in this way and became part of the newly formed Latin Empire.
In the fall of 1204, the Latin government undertook the task of subjugating the empire, that is, campaigning in the provinces with the aim of conquering them. It was necessary to satisfy the expectations of the entire mass crusaders in relation to fief possessions. There were many people who wanted to receive lena, but there was nowhere to distribute it yet. Meanwhile The soldiers of Christ had long been languishing with the hope of settling in the regions of the empire as if at home, taking possession of the populated lands and resting from the labors they had endured.
The government generously distributed titles and titles, knights carefully studied the map of the empire and chose places to their liking. Dukes of Nicaea, Philippopolis, and Lacedaemon appeared, counts of less significant cities, duchies and counties were lost and won at dice. 4
Venice, as a maritime republic, established itself primarily in the Dalmatian and Ionian islands, thereby consolidating its dominant position in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Byzantine nobility founded the Nicene and Trebizond empires on the other side of the Bosporus.
Christ (or what was considered this crown) was given as a pledge to the Venetians, and they, in turn, handed it over to the French king Louis IX the Saint. For this crown, Louis ordered the construction of the magnificent Gothic church of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
Fourth crusade did not achieve the goal due to the aspirations of the Venetians, who by that time controlled Mediterranean trade and thirsted for even greater power.
The Romance peoples won the most in this campaign. The historical role of France in the East begins precisely in 1204. It is not surprising that in Western European literature the events of the Fourth crusade a lot of space is allocated and that in terms of special treatment in general and in particular it occupies an exceptional position. 4
On Byzantine lands the so-called Latin Empire. And although the Franks were eventually expelled from most of Byzantium's territory, the empire was never able to regain its former power.
It’s a paradox, but for the first time this stronghold of Christianity in the East was conquered not by anyone, but by fellow believers - Christians 1.
The fall of Constantinople (Constantinople) in 1204 and the founding of Latin principalities in the regions of the Byzantine Empire was directly related to Rus', as it served as the implementation of the cherished plans of the Pope in relation to the Orthodox East. A letter from Pope Innocent III to the Russian clergy, written after the conquest of Constantinople, has been preserved, in which it was stated that the subordination of the Byzantine Empire to Rome should be accompanied by the conversion of all of Rus' to Catholicism... 4
Pope John Paul II, in an address to the Archbishop of Athens, during a visit to Greece on May 4, 2001, expressed his opinion on the events of 1204: “Of course, we are aggravated by past and present contradictions and ongoing misunderstandings. But in spirit mutual love we can and must overcome them, because the Lord requires this of us.<...>
For past and present cases where sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or inaction against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the petition we ask of Him. Some memories are especially painful, and some events from the distant past have left deep wounds in the minds and hearts of people to this day.
I think of the terrible attack on the imperial city of Constantinople, for so long the stronghold of Christianity in the East. It is tragic that the soldiers sent to ensure free access for Christians to Holy Land, turned against their brothers in faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills the hearts of Catholics with deep sorrow.
How can we fail to see here the mystery of iniquity at work in the human heart?
Judgment belongs to God alone, and therefore we entrust the heavy burden of the past to His infinite mercy, asking Him to heal the wounds from which the spirit of the Greek people still suffers."

Information sources:
1. " "(magazine "Tree of Knowledge" No. 21/2002)
2. Wazold M. " Crusaders»
3. Wikipedia website
4. Uspensky F. “History crusades»
5. Parfentyev P., Bezrukov P. “Fourth crusade: myth and reality"

Plan
Introduction
1 Brief description
2 Preparing for the hike
3 Siege of Zadar (Zary)
4 Capture of Constantinople
5 Latin Empire
6 Results of the Fourth Crusade

7.1 In Russian
7.2 In English

Introduction

The Fourth Crusade - a crusade in 1202-1204. After the death of Thibault of Champagne, the campaign was led by Margrave Boniface of Montferrat.

The Crusaders gathered on the Lido Island near Venice. The Venetians (see article by Doge Enrico Dandolo) landed the crusaders near Constantinople instead of Egypt. Constantinople fell.

The Latin Empire was created. Baldwin of Flanders was elected its first emperor.

Boniface Montferrat became king of Thessalonica. The Venetians received a third of Constantinople. The Byzantines created the Nicaean Empire.

The Fourth Crusade announced by Pope Innocent III was mainly carried out by the French and Venetians. The vicissitudes of this campaign are described in the book of the French military leader and historian Geoffroy Villehardouin, “The Conquest of Constantinople” - the first lengthy chronicle in French literature.

1. Brief description

According to the initial agreement, the Venetians undertook to deliver the French crusaders by sea to the shores of the Holy Land and provide them with weapons and provisions. Of the expected 30 thousand French soldiers, only 12 thousand arrived in Venice, who, due to their small numbers, could not pay for the chartered ships and equipment. Then the Venetians proposed to the French that, as payment, they would assist them in an attack on the subject of the Hungarian king seaport Zadar in Dalmatia, which was Venice's main rival on the Adriatic. The original plan - to use Egypt as a springboard for an attack on Palestine - was put on hold for the time being. Having learned about the plans of the Venetians, the pope forbade the expedition, but the expedition took place and cost its participants excommunication. In November 1202, a combined army of Venetians and French attacked Zadar and thoroughly plundered it.

After this, the Venetians suggested that the French once again deviate from the route and turn against Constantinople in order to restore the deposed Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus to the throne. Deposed from the throne as a result of conspiracies and intrigues, in which Byzantium was already thoroughly mired by that time, he had long been knocking on the thresholds of European rulers, trying to persuade them to march on Constantinople, and gave out promises of generous rewards. The crusaders also believed the promises, thinking that they could count on the emperor to give them money, people and equipment for the expedition to Egypt in gratitude. Ignoring the pope's ban, the crusaders arrived at the walls of Constantinople, took the city and returned the throne to Isaac. However, the question of paying the promised reward hung in the air - the restored emperor “changed his mind”, and after an uprising occurred in Constantinople and the emperor and his son were removed, hopes for compensation completely melted away. Then the crusaders were offended. According to the testimony of the participants in the campaign, Margrave Boniface, standing under the walls of the city, conveyed to the emperor a message with the following content: “We got you out of the shit, and we’ll drown you in the shit.” The Crusaders captured Constantinople for the second time, and now they plundered it for three days starting on April 13, 1204. The greatest cultural values ​​were destroyed, and many Christian relics were plundered. In place of the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire was created, on the throne of which Count Baldwin IX of Flanders was placed.

The empire that existed until 1261 of all Byzantine lands included only Thrace and Greece, where the French knights received feudal appanages as a reward. The Venetians owned the harbor of Constantinople with the right to levy duties and achieved a trade monopoly within the Latin Empire and on the islands Aegean Sea. Thus, they benefited the most from the Crusade, but its participants never reached the Holy Land. The pope tried to extract his own benefits from the current situation - he lifted the excommunication from the crusaders and took the empire under his protection, hoping to strengthen the union of the Greek and Catholic churches, but this union turned out to be fragile, and the existence of the Latin Empire contributed to the deepening of the schism.

2. Preparing for the hike

In 1198, Innocent III became pope. The new Pope planned to inspire the knights to make a new trip to the Holy Land. By this time, the crusaders had already made several unsuccessful attempts to recapture Jerusalem. Innocent III wanted to become the head of the Crusade and thereby restore the authority of Rome, which had been undermined by Germany. Having sent legates to all Catholic countries with the demand to give a fortieth part of the property for a new campaign, the Pope began collecting funds (in the same 1198).

Innocent III, in his message on the crusade, promised all knights who would participate in the war for the Holy Land, exemption from tax duties, cancellation of all debts, safety and inviolability of property. This message attracted a huge number of poor people and debtors who planned to improve their situation through the campaign.

However, large knighthood and kings were in no hurry to participate in the campaign, since many were busy with local wars. To promote the Crusade, the church sent priests to knightly tournaments and meetings to convince the soldiers to help liberate the Holy Land. The most famous such preacher was Fulko Negli, who attracted 200,000 people to the campaign.

warriors and collected huge amounts of money.

Siege of Zadar (Zary)

The leaders of the Crusader army, gathered in France by the summer of 1200, turned to Venice, which had the best military and transport fleet, with a request to transport their army to Egypt. In 1201, the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, signed an agreement with the crusader ambassadors, according to which Venice joined in the crusade, and undertook to transport 4,500 knights, 9,000 squires and 20,000 infantry, subject to the payment of 85 thousand marks in silver. In June 1202, the ships were already ready, but only a third of the “pilgrims” arrived in Venice. Others went through Flanders, Marseilles, Apulia, or were delayed along the way. The leaders of the campaign, even after selling their jewelry and donating cash, were able to collect only part of the amount that needed to be paid in full. Blocked on the island of Lido, the soldiers of Christ needed everything they needed and began to grumble; the campaign was in danger of being disrupted. Then the Doge offered the leader of the campaign, the Marquis of Montferrat Boniface, a reprieve on the condition that the soldiers would help Venice capture the Dalmatian port of Zadar (during the IV Crusade, Zadar was a large port city and shopping center on east coast Adriatic, a rival of Venice), shortly before it was transferred to the rule of the Hungarian king, who, by the way, also took the cross. Despite the pope’s ban on raising arms against Christians and the protest of some noble and ordinary “pilgrims” who then left the camp and returned to their homeland, the princes yielded to the demands of Venice and, after a fierce two-week siege, on November 24, 1202, Zadar was stormed and plundered. By this time it was too late to undertake an overseas crossing, and the expedition wintered in Zadar. Three days later, a real war broke out between the Franks and Venetians, resulting in many casualties. The leaders of the campaign managed to end this conflict with great difficulty. Pope Innocent III excommunicated all participants in the sack of Christian Zadar from the Church, but soon, for political reasons, he changed his anger to mercy, formally upholding the excommunication of the Venetians - the initiators of the treacherous seizure, and allowing the crusaders to further use the Venetian fleet to send their troops to conquer Constantinople.

History of the Middle Ages. In 2 volumes. T.1.: Textbook, ed. S. P. Karpova, M., 2000

4. Capture of Constantinople

The organizers of the Fourth Crusade, united and inspired by Pope Innocent III, initially made great efforts to strengthen the religious fervor of the crusaders, reminding them of their historical mission to liberate the Holy Land. Innocent III sent a message to the Byzantine emperor, encouraging him to participate in the campaign and at the same time reminding him of the need to restore the church union, which practically meant the end of the independent existence of the Greek church. Obviously, this issue was the main one for Innocent III, who could hardly count on the participation of the Byzantine army in the crusade launched by the Roman Catholic Church. The emperor rejected the pope's proposals, and relations between them became extremely tense.

The pope's hostility to Byzantium to a large extent predetermined the transformation of the Byzantine capital into the target of the crusading army. In many ways, this was also a consequence of the openly selfish intentions of the leaders of the crusaders, who, in pursuit of booty, headed in the fall of 1202 to a large trading city on the east coast that belonged to Hungary at that time. Adriatic Sea- I'll give it to you. Having captured and ravaged it, the crusaders, in particular, thus paid part of the debt to the Venetians, who were interested in establishing their dominance in this important area. The conquest and destruction of a large Christian city seemed to be preparation for a further change in the goals of the crusade. Since not only the Pope, but also the French and German feudal lords at that time secretly hatched a plan to send the crusaders against Byzantium. Zadar became a kind of rehearsal for the campaign against Constantinople. Gradually, an ideological justification for such a campaign emerged. Among the leaders of the crusaders, there was more and more persistent talk that their failures were explained by the actions of Byzantium. The Byzantines were accused of not only not helping the soldiers of the cross, but even pursuing a hostile policy towards the crusader states, concluding alliances against them with the rulers of the Seljuk Turks of Asia Minor. These sentiments were fueled by Venetian merchants, for Venice was a trading rival of Byzantium. Added to all this were memories of the massacre of the Latins in Constantinople. The crusaders’ desire for huge booty, which was promised by the capture of the Byzantine capital, also played a major role.

if you want detailed information on this topic, read the article The Fourth Crusade (a detailed overview).

Read also the material The Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders. The general picture of the crusading movement is given in the article Crusades - in brief

The Fourth Crusade differed from all others in that, contrary to the crusader idea, it was aimed not at Muslims, but at Christian (Orthodox) Byzantium.

Although his original goal was different. Dad InnocentIII, who ascended the papal throne in 1198, considered the liberation of St.

the city of Jerusalem as his duty. All sovereigns, he said, are vassals of Christ and must help Him regain His possessions. He sent his legates to all Catholic countries to preach a new, fourth crusade; he demanded that all clergy give a fortieth part of their property to equip the crusaders and that circles be placed in churches to collect donations.

The rulers were busy with their wars, and no one took the cross.

But one French preacher, Fulco of Neuilly, aroused such enthusiasm that, according to legend, up to 200 thousand people took the cross from his hands. He appeared at a tournament organized by the Counts of Champagne and Blois and convinced them to accept the cross (1199).

Thus, an army of lords and knights was formed in the northeast of France for the fourth crusade.

To move the crusaders to the Holy Land, they needed a fleet.

Six of them went to ask the Venetian Senate for ships; among these six was Ser Geoffroy Villehardouin, a champagne lord who later wrote the history of this campaign. The Venetian Senate agreed to transport and feed for a year an army of 4 thousand 500 knights, 9 thousand squires and 20 thousand servants (infantry) and to add 50 galleys to the expedition. The crusaders pledged to pay 85 thousand marks of silver (4 million 200 thousand francs); everything that would have been conquered during the fourth crusade was to be divided between the crusaders and the Venetians.

The crusaders chose as their leader one Piedmontese prince, the Marquis of Montferrat Boniface, whom the knights loved for his courage, the poets for his generosity.

The Venetians were commanded by their Doge Dandolo, a 90-year-old man.

Fourth Crusade. Map

The Fourth Crusade wanted to attack Muslims in Egypt, but it was in Venice's interests to send an expedition against Constantinople.

The crusaders gathered in Venice. Since they could not pay the entire amount, the Senate offered them, in exchange for the rest of the money (34 thousand marks), to serve Venice with their weapons. The leaders of the Fourth Crusade agreed, and the Venetians led them to besiege the city of Zara on the Dalmatian coast, which greatly harmed their trade on the Adriatic Sea (1202). The pope forbade them, on pain of excommunication, to attack a Christian city, but when they took Zara (1203), he excommunicated only the Venetians, and forgave the crusaders, without even forbidding them to continue relations with those excommunicated.

Capture of Zara by participants of the Fourth Crusade.

Painting by Tintoretto, 1584

Meanwhile, a palace revolution took place in the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. Emperor Isaac II Angelus was overthrown by his brother, Alexius III, who had his eyes gouged out and kept him prisoner along with his son Alexius. In 1201, the latter fled and asked for help first to the pope, then to the German king Philip, married to his sister; Philip recommended him to the leaders of the Fourth Crusade.

Alexei arrived at their camp near Zara and promised, if they helped him expel the usurper, to pay them 200 thousand marks, deliver them 10 thousand soldiers and recognize the supremacy of the pope.

Ally of the Crusaders of the Fourth Campaign, Tsarevich Alexei (later Emperor Alexei IV Angel)

Dandolo took advantage of this opportunity to lure the crusaders to Constantinople.

This would be, he said, only the beginning of a crusade. The pope limited himself to pointing out that although the Greeks had done wrong before God and the church, it was not the business of the pilgrims to punish them.

The Crusaders came ashore in front of Constantinople. The army of Alexei III consisted exclusively of undisciplined mercenaries.

Constantinople was defended only by the Varangians, who were used to fighting well, and the Pisan merchants, enemies of the Venetians. After a 13-day siege, Alexei III fled.

Participants of the Fourth Crusade near Constantinople.

Miniature for the Venetian manuscript of Villehardouin's History, c. 1330

Isaac II, released from prison, was proclaimed emperor along with his son Alexios IV. But he was unable to fulfill any of the promises he made to the crusaders: neither to pay 200 thousand marks, nor to force his clergy to submit to the pope. The Greeks were outraged and proclaimed a new emperor under the name of Alexius V.

He demanded that the participants in the fourth crusade leave within 8 days.

Siege of Constantinople by the Crusaders. Painting by P. Lejeune, turn of the 16th-17th centuries

The Crusaders besieged the city again (November 1203). Winter came, and they suffered a shortage of food supplies; but they could not leave, because the Greeks would kill them during the retreat. This second siege was characterized by great cruelty.

Finally, the crusaders, during one battle under the walls, captured the imperial banner and miraculous icon Mother of God. A few days later, Constantinople was taken by storm (1204). Contrary to the orders of the leaders, the soldiers of the Fourth Crusade plundered and burned the city.

In the European regions of Orthodox Byzantium, a Catholic church was founded that later existed for half a century. Latin Empire.

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Plan
Introduction
1 Brief description
2 Preparing for the hike
3 Siege of Zadar (Zary)
4 Capture of Constantinople
5 Latin Empire
6 Results of the Fourth Crusade

7.1 In Russian
7.2 In English

Introduction

The Fourth Crusade - a crusade in 1202-1204. After the death of Thibault of Champagne, the campaign was led by Margrave Boniface of Montferrat.

The Crusaders gathered on the Lido Island near Venice.

The Venetians (see article by Doge Enrico Dandolo) landed the crusaders near Constantinople instead of Egypt. Constantinople fell.

The Latin Empire was created.

Baldwin of Flanders was elected its first emperor.

Boniface Montferrat became king of Thessalonica. The Venetians received a third of Constantinople. The Byzantines created the Nicaean Empire.

The Fourth Crusade announced by Pope Innocent III was mainly carried out by the French and Venetians.

The vicissitudes of this campaign are described in the book of the French military leader and historian Geoffroy Villehardouin, “The Conquest of Constantinople” - the first lengthy chronicle in French literature.

1. Brief description

According to the initial agreement, the Venetians undertook to deliver the French crusaders by sea to the shores of the Holy Land and provide them with weapons and provisions. Of the expected 30 thousand French soldiers, only 12 thousand arrived in Venice, who, due to their small numbers, could not pay for the chartered ships and equipment.

Then the Venetians proposed to the French that, as payment, they would assist them in an attack on the port city of Zadar in Dalmatia, which was the main rival of Venice in the Adriatic, subject to the Hungarian king. The original plan - to use Egypt as a springboard for an attack on Palestine - was put on hold for the time being. Having learned about the plans of the Venetians, the pope forbade the expedition, but the expedition took place and cost its participants excommunication. In November 1202, a combined army of Venetians and French attacked Zadar and thoroughly plundered it.

After this, the Venetians suggested that the French once again deviate from the route and turn against Constantinople in order to restore the deposed Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus to the throne.

Deposed from the throne as a result of conspiracies and intrigues, in which Byzantium was already thoroughly mired by that time, he had long been knocking on the thresholds of European rulers, trying to persuade them to march on Constantinople, and gave out promises of generous rewards.

The crusaders also believed the promises, thinking that they could count on the emperor to give them money, people and equipment for the expedition to Egypt in gratitude. Ignoring the pope's ban, the crusaders arrived at the walls of Constantinople, took the city and returned the throne to Isaac. However, the question of paying the promised reward hung in the air - the restored emperor “changed his mind”, and after an uprising occurred in Constantinople and the emperor and his son were removed, hopes for compensation completely melted away.

Then the crusaders were offended. According to the testimony of the participants in the campaign, Margrave Boniface, standing under the walls of the city, conveyed to the emperor a message with the following content: “We got you out of the shit, and we’ll drown you in the shit.”

The Crusaders captured Constantinople for the second time, and now they plundered it for three days starting on April 13, 1204. The greatest cultural values ​​were destroyed, and many Christian relics were plundered.

In place of the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire was created, on the throne of which Count Baldwin IX of Flanders was placed.

The empire that existed until 1261 of all Byzantine lands included only Thrace and Greece, where the French knights received feudal appanages as a reward.

The Venetians owned the harbor of Constantinople with the right to levy duties and achieved a trade monopoly within the Latin Empire and on the islands of the Aegean Sea. Thus, they benefited the most from the Crusade, but its participants never reached the Holy Land. The pope tried to extract his own benefits from the current situation - he lifted the excommunication from the crusaders and took the empire under his protection, hoping to strengthen the union of the Greek and Catholic churches, but this union turned out to be fragile, and the existence of the Latin Empire contributed to the deepening of the schism.

Preparing for the hike

In 1198, Innocent III became pope. The new Pope planned to inspire the knights to make a new trip to the Holy Land.

By this time, the crusaders had already made several unsuccessful attempts to recapture Jerusalem. Innocent III wanted to become the head of the Crusade and thereby restore the authority of Rome, which had been undermined by Germany.

Having sent legates to all Catholic countries with the demand to give a fortieth part of the property for a new campaign, the Pope began collecting funds (in the same 1198).

Innocent III, in his message on the crusade, promised all knights who would participate in the war for the Holy Land, exemption from tax duties, cancellation of all debts, safety and inviolability of property.

This message attracted a huge number of poor people and debtors who planned to improve their situation through the campaign.

However, large knighthood and kings were in no hurry to participate in the campaign, since many were busy with local wars. To promote the Crusade, the church sent priests to knightly tournaments and meetings to convince the soldiers to help liberate the Holy Land.

The most famous such preacher was Fulko Negli, who attracted 200,000 people to the campaign.

warriors and collected huge amounts of money.

Siege of Zadar (Zary)

The leaders of the Crusader army, gathered in France by the summer of 1200, turned to Venice, which had the best military and transport fleet, with a request to transport their army to Egypt. In 1201, the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, signed an agreement with the crusader ambassadors, according to which Venice joined in the crusade, and undertook to transport 4,500 knights, 9,000 squires and 20,000 infantry, subject to the payment of 85 thousand.

silver marks. In June 1202, the ships were already ready, but only a third of the “pilgrims” arrived in Venice. Others went through Flanders, Marseilles, Apulia, or were delayed along the way. The leaders of the campaign, even after selling their jewelry and donating cash, were able to collect only part of the amount that needed to be paid in full.

Blocked on the island of Lido, the soldiers of Christ needed everything they needed and began to grumble; the campaign was in danger of being disrupted.

Then the Doge offered the leader of the campaign, the Marquis of Montferrat Boniface, a reprieve on the condition that the soldiers would help Venice capture the Dalmatian port of Zadar (during the IV Crusade, Zadar was a large port city and trading center on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, a rival of Venice), shortly before those who were transferred under the authority of the Hungarian king, who, by the way, also took the cross. Despite the pope’s ban on raising arms against Christians and the protest of some noble and ordinary “pilgrims” who then left the camp and returned to their homeland, the princes yielded to the demands of Venice and after a fierce two-week siege, on November 24, 1202.

Zadar was stormed and plundered. By this time it was too late to undertake an overseas crossing, and the expedition wintered in Zadar. Three days later, a real war broke out between the Franks and Venetians, resulting in many casualties. The leaders of the campaign managed to end this conflict with great difficulty. Pope Innocent III excommunicated all participants in the sack of Christian Zadar from the Church, but soon, for political reasons, changed his anger to mercy, formally upholding the excommunication of the Venetians - the initiators of the treacherous seizure, and allowing the crusaders to further use the Venetian fleet to send their troops to conquest of Constantinople.

History of the Middle Ages.

In 2 volumes. T.1.: Textbook, ed. S. P. Karpova, M., 2000

4. Capture of Constantinople

The organizers of the Fourth Crusade, united and inspired by Pope Innocent III, initially made great efforts to strengthen the religious fervor of the crusaders, reminding them of their historical mission to liberate the Holy Land. Innocent III sent a message to the Byzantine emperor, encouraging him to participate in the campaign and at the same time reminding him of the need to restore the church union, which practically meant the end of the independent existence of the Greek church.

Obviously, this issue was the main one for Innocent III, who could hardly count on the participation of the Byzantine army in the crusade launched by the Roman Catholic Church. The emperor rejected the pope's proposals, and relations between them became extremely tense.

The pope's hostility to Byzantium to a large extent predetermined the transformation of the Byzantine capital into the target of the crusading army.

In many ways, this was also a consequence of the openly selfish intentions of the leaders of the crusaders, who, in pursuit of booty, went to the city in the fall of 1202.

to Zadar, a large trading city on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea that belonged to Hungary at that time. Having captured and ravaged it, the crusaders, in particular, thus paid part of the debt to the Venetians, who were interested in establishing their dominance in this important area.

The conquest and destruction of a large Christian city seemed to be preparation for a further change in the goals of the crusade. Since not only the Pope, but also the French and German feudal lords at that time secretly hatched a plan to send the crusaders against Byzantium. Zadar became a kind of rehearsal for the campaign against Constantinople. Gradually, an ideological justification for such a campaign emerged.

Among the leaders of the crusaders, there was more and more persistent talk that their failures were explained by the actions of Byzantium. The Byzantines were accused of not only not helping the soldiers of the cross, but even pursuing a hostile policy towards the crusader states, concluding alliances against them with the rulers of the Seljuk Turks of Asia Minor.

These sentiments were fueled by Venetian merchants, for Venice was a trading rival of Byzantium. Added to all this were memories of the massacre of the Latins in Constantinople.

The crusaders’ desire for huge booty, which was promised by the capture of the Byzantine capital, also played a major role.

Results of the Fourth Crusade

Instead of liberating the Holy Land, the crusade led to the sack of Constantinople, the virtual destruction of the Byzantine Empire.

It ceases to be an independent state for more than 50 years, breaking up into:

1. Latin Empire

2. Nicene Empire

Despotate of Epirus

4. Empire of Trebizond

Part of the former imperial lands in Asia Minor was captured by the Seljuks, in the Balkans by Serbia, Bulgaria and Venice.

This campaign marked a deep crisis in the entire crusader movement.

Fifth Crusade

Proclaimed by Pope Innocent III V 1215 year at the fourth Lateran Council, a new crusade began only in 1217 year, already under the new head of the Catholic Church - Honorius III.

Significant detachments of crusaders went to the Holy Land, led by King Andras of Hungary II, Duke Leopold of Austria VI and Duke of Meran Otto I.

Military operations were sluggish, and 1218 King Andras returned home.

Soon reinforcements arrived in the Holy Land under the leadership of George of Wied and Count William of Holland I. The Crusaders decided to attack Egypt, which at that time was the main center of Muslim power in Western Asia. Sultan Al-Kamil offered extremely profitable peace: he agreed to return

Jerusalem for Christians.

Initially, this proposal was rejected, but unsuccessful fighting, associated with the protracted siege of the city of Damietta and heavy losses, forced peace to be concluded in 1221 year, according to which the crusaders received a free retreat, but pledged to cleanse Damietta and Egypt in general.

Sixth Crusade

Starting his campaign in 1228, Frederick II Hohenstaufen restored the fortifications of Jaffa and February 1229 year entered into an agreement with the Egyptian Sultan Al-Kamil.

He managed to conclude an agreement with the Muslims, according to which they gave him Jerusalem, because they did not want to fight the crusaders. Already in March he entered the treasured city.

But after Frederick’s departure, the French knights rebelled against his governors.

Over the next 15 years, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was rocked by wars and robberies, until 1244 year, an army of Turkmen horsemen, summoned by Sultan Eyub from Khorezm, captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Christian army near Gaza.

Seventh Crusade

IN 1244 year Khorezmians, fleeing from Mongol invasion, sought to join the Egyptian Mamluks, who invited them to jointly repel the threat.

Along the way they captured, plundered and destroyed Jerusalem

Only the French king Louis responded to the pope's call. IX, who especially for this purpose signed a peace agreement with the English king (the other kings, as always, were busy with civil strife). IN 1245 year, Louis publicly announced his intention to lead another crusade.

TO 1248 year the French king collected 15 thousandth army, which included 3000 knights and 5000 crossbowmen on 36 courts

IN 1249 French troops under the command of King Louis IX The Seventh Crusade began.

On the way to Egypt, they landed in Cyprus, where they waited out the winter.

June 6 The French captured Damietta. Rich Egypt seemed to Louis a good springboard for an attack on Jerusalem. But the unexpectedly flooded Nile deprived the army of movement on 6 months. During this time, the French soldiers largely lost their fighting spirit, indulging in robbery and pleasure.

The king's brother, Robert d'Artois, died in the battle. Main forces

The French, led by the king, were soon attacked by the Mamluk commander Baybars. The French failed in this battle, but instead of retreating to Damietta, Louis IX decided to besiege El-Mansur.

Accompanied by hunger and disease, the siege lasted until March 1250 years when Louis tried to retreat to Damietta. However, he was overtaken by the Mamluks at Fariskur: the army was defeated, and he himself was captured.

In May of the same year, the French prisoners and the king were released for ransom in 800 000 bezant (Byzantine gold coin).

Under the terms of the treaty, Damietta was returned to the Egyptians.

Eighth Crusade

The Eighth Crusade was the last serious attempt by Europeans to invade Arab lands. The European nobility no longer had the desire to sell their property in order to go to unknown eastern lands. For the first time, the leader of the crusade had to fully bear the costs and pay the knights' salaries.

IN 1260 year, Sultan Kutuz defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut and captured the cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

After the death of Kutuz, Baybars became the sultan, turning against Bohemond of Antioch: in 1265 year he took Caesarea, Arzuf, Safed, and defeated the Armenians. IN 1268 year Antioch fell into his hands, and now 170 For years it was a stronghold of Christianity.

Meanwhile Louis IX took up the cross again.

His example was followed by his sons (Philippe, Jean Tristan and Pierre), brother Count Alphonse de Poitiers, nephew Count Robert d'Artois (son of Robert Artois who died in Mansur), King Tybaldo of Navarre. In addition, Charles of Anjou and the sons of the English king Henry made a promise to join the crusade III- Edward and Edmund.

In July 1270 Louis sailed from Aigues-Mortes.

In Cagliari, it was decided to begin the campaign with the conquest of Tunisia, which was under the rule of the Hafsid dynasty, which would be beneficial for Charles of Anjou but not for the Christian cause in the Holy Land. Being already near Tunisia, pestilence began to spread among Christians: first the papal legate, and then King Louis himself IX died in agony.

Soon a peace was concluded with the Muslims, beneficial primarily for Charles of Anjou: Tunisia pledged to pay tribute to the King of Sicily, Christian priests were allowed to settle there and preach in local churches.

On the way back, the crusaders encountered a sea storm. Four thousand soldiers died, including the king's brother. Philip III The brave one went to France. On the way home she died and young queen. The saddened monarch was taking home the remains of his father, brother and wife.

Prince Edward, the son of the English king Henry III, tried to continue the campaign. He moved forward successfully, but soon wished



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