The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople
A crusade aimed at Egypt destroys the greatest Christian city instead.
- When
- Known to
- ± 1 year
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
Diverted by debts to Venice and a disputed Byzantine succession, the crusader army storms Constantinople in 1204, loots it for three days, destroys or melts down centuries of art and manuscripts, and installs a Latin emperor. The Byzantine state never fully recovers. It is among the clearest instances of an enterprise justified in religious terms being driven by commercial and political interest.