5. THE FOURTH CRUSADE (1202-1204).
CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE LATINS.—None of the Crusades after the Third effected much in the Holy Land; either their force was spent before reaching it, or they were diverted from their purpose by different objects and ambitions.
The crusaders of the Fourth expedition captured Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The circumstances were these: A usurper had seized upon the Byzantine throne. The rightful claimant, Alexius, besought the aid of the Frankish warriors to regain the sceptre. The Christian knights listened favorably to his appeals. The Venetians, in consideration of a share of the conquests that might be made, also joined their forces to those of the crusaders. Constantinople was taken by storm, and Alexius was invested with the Imperial authority.
Scarcely was Alexius seated upon the throne, before the turbulent Greeks engaged in a revolt which resulted in his death. The crusaders now resolved to take possession of the capital, and set a Latin prince on the throne of Constantine. The determination was carried out. Constantinople was taken a second time by storm, and sacked, and Baldwin, Count of Flanders, was crowned Emperor of the East.
The Latin empire thus established lasted only a little over half a century (1204-1261). The Greeks, at the end of this period, succeeded in regaining the throne, which they then held until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453.