Origins & preaching of the Fourth Crusade Flashcards
Origins of the Fourth Crusade
INNOCENT III ROLE:
- He discouraged half-hearted recruits by insisting that crusaders must serve for 2 years in the east
- introduced church income tax to help poor crusaders pay and also offered extra donations to people who brought another person on crusade
Fulk of Neuilly preached the the 4th crusade
Tournament at Ecry-sur-Aisne where everyone gathered in Nov 1199 and took the cross for what became the Fourth Crusade
Papacy of Innocent III
(why was it called?)
Called by Innocent III –> papal bull was called Post Miserabile
Access to Muslim controlled Jerusalem wasn’t enough and he wanted to reclaim Jerusalem
Peter Capuano (papal legate) tried to convince Richard I of England & Philip II of France to enlist but both refused
No monarchs agreed to go apart from Count Thibaut who died before the crusade began however Count Louis of Blois and Baldwin of Flanders
Preaching of the 4th Crusade
(low numbers and count thibaut & louis of blois)
LOW NUMBERS WILLING TO JOIN CRUSADE:
1) Clergy were reluctant to pay the new church income tax
2) Absence of major kings (Richard & Philip)
3) Fulk of Neuilly’s enlistment was slow
COUNT THIBAUT & LOUIS OF BLOIS:
1) Both were willing to take the cross due to the absence of major kings
3) Chastisement from Peter Capuano –> Peter rebuked Thibaut and Louis for not fighting for the lord
Weakness of Byzantine Empire
There was a growing anti-Latin feeling in Constantinople
Geographical position of BE was weak –> Turks were a constant threat to Constantinople, Burglars raided land in the north
DEATH OF MANUEL IN 1180
1) Maria (Manuel’s wife) was overthrown and assassinated by Andronikos
2) However Isaac now overthrew Andronikos because of his harsh rule
3) Then Isaac was overthrown by his brother Alexios III
4) Alexios III was the BE at the start of the Fourth Crusade
Role of Venice
Venice was mostly likely to help with 4th Crusade because Genoa and Pisa were in a war against each other
Geoffrey of Villehardouin was leader of the Venetian contingent and Enrico Dandolo was the doge of Venice who both negotiated with each other
Deal between Geoffrey and Dandolo –> Dandolo should receive 85,000 marks and half of everything captured through him providing Geoffrey 4500 horses and knights, 9000 squires, 20,000 troops and 50 galleys
However Count Thibaut died in 1201 THEREFORE Boniface of Montferrat was elected as the new leader of the crusade
