#Fourth Crusade

[not-ester]

Attempt Two

(The Latin empire was a successor Latin state to the Byzantine empire after the fourth crusade [1204].)

Headcanon:

Constantinople is the beloved, the cherished, the...she's the fucking favourite child.

She is indeed worthy of such title, as she is exceptionally of good character, but she's bitter to the fact Byzantium's keeping her at the side, as some kind of fleshy ornament. She is the capital; thus, she should have some form of power over her own people.

Countless plots to overthrow Byzantium, but oblivious enough to disgard the fact it might be his daughter behind them, he instead imprisons and executes the people she had hired.

[pagingcs]

Triumphal quadriga, taken from the Hippodrome during the sack of Constantinople, 1204. Now located inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice

[dreamconsumer]

Portrait of Baldwin IX, Emperor of Constantinople from 1204 to 1205.

He was defeated at the Battle of Adrianople by Kaloyan, the emperor of Bulgaria, and spent his last days as a prisoner.

Twenty years later, in 1225, a man appeared in Flanders claiming to be the presumed dead Baldwin. His claim soon became entangled in a series of rebellions and revolts in Flanders against the rule of Baldwin's daughter Jeanne. A number of people who had known Baldwin before the crusade rejected his claim, but he nonetheless attracted many followers from the ranks of the peasantry. Eventually unmasked as a Burgundian serf named Bertrand of Ray, the false Baldwin was executed in 1226.

[illustratus]

Capriccio View of the Piazzetta with the Horses of San Marco by Canaletto

[beyond-crusading]

Attack of the Crusaders on Constantinople, from manuscript of La Conquête de Constantinople by Geoffreoy de Villehardouin kept in the Bodleian Library

Source

[empre55-alexandra]

Constantinople was the centre of the world. Even as late as the 11th Century, which is the time frame this image depicts, it was still the most important city on Earth despite its diminished prestige and domains.

The Komenian Restoration would provide a brief ray of light after the Seljuk conquest of Anatolia before the lights were ultimately snuffed out, first by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and then by the Ottomansfor good in 1453.

[mrpagesfrontispiece]

Is

Is this

is this a reference to the Fourth Crusade, the other time white Christians famously “accidentally” attacked Greeks (who were also Christian) while intending to stop a spate of persecution in the Levant

i,,,,,,,,,,, ?????? like?????? where to even begin?????

1. the greek flag literally has a fucking cross on it.

2. the fact their first reaction to seeing blue and white flags was to start recording themself ripping them down and screaming at the workers.

3. “this is nothing against people who are jewish” weird how no one mentioned jews except u, the person that just ripped down a bunch of greek flags while screaming about israel.

4. why the absolute fuck would you post a video like this of yourself that was such a public embarrassment????

genuinely this is what makes me so furious and terrified about so many american “activists” bc this is not the only public display of ignorant indignation i’ve had the displeasure of witnessing or experiencing this year, both online and in person. they’re not in it to advocate for palestinians. they’re in it for the cathartic fury, feeling like a hero, getting to tell people off and feel morally superior. getting to be more open about their jew hatred is a bonus.

[portablefrailty]

The Swan Song - by Portable Frailty

Inspired by events said to have transpired after the armies of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople in 1204, In one of the most shameful episodes of European history, soldiers of the conquering Latin armies are said to have ensconced a drunken prostitute on the Patriarch's throne in the Hagia Sophia. There, according to legend she either held a mock mass or gave a drunken song and dance routine. The Venetians who took part in the sack, themselves historic and cultural heirs of the Byzantines, are said to have behaved better but did not refrain from looting Constantinople's cultural, religious and artistic heritage (much of which remains in the treasury of St. Mark's Basilica to this day).

I came across the story of the 4th Crusade when I lived in Istanbul for three years. Like anyone, I was always awed by the magnificence of surviving Byzantine treasures like Hagia Sophia despite the ravages of the 1204 sack. Nevertheless, I took personally the desecration visited on my adopted city--I still do. The treachery of fellow-Christians in the 1200s broke Byzantine power and made inevitable the Turkish sack in 1453 (which was far more restrained by comparison).

Thus, in this image I have sought to popularize and capture the spirit of this unjust defilement--a warning that no treasure of human making, no matter how beautiful or revered, is safe when people abandon wisdom and restraint for greed, malice and ignorance.

[athis3]

The church of San Marco in Venice, Italy holds a treasure trove of artworks and other objects made of precious materials and lavishly decorated with gems, pearls, and enamels. But while many of these objects have sat in San Marco for centuries, not all of them originally come from Venice or even Italy, as their Greek inscriptions suggest. Instead, several objects in the treasury of San Marco were produced in the Eastern Roman “Byzantine” Empire, whose capital was Constantinople (modern Istanbul). How did they get to Venice?

In 1204, Venetians were among the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade who sacked Constantinople and looted its great palaces and churches. The crusaders melted down many objects of precious metals that could be easily converted into money. But they also brought home objects and donated them to churches like San Marco. Such objects were likely preserved because of their precious materials, artistic beauty, and sacred functions, as well as the fact that many were made of materials like stone or glass that could not be melted down and converted into money. In their new settings, some objects continued to be used for their original functions, while other objects were repurposed for new uses. Such works illustrate how portable objects could move between cultures and be reused in the medieval world.

Perhaps surprisingly, some of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) objects in the treasury of San Marco were themselves products of reuse of even older objects from the ancient world. Consider the example of two tenth-century chalices—one with handles and one without—which bear inscriptions that refer to an Eastern Roman emperor named Romanos (either Romanos I Lekapenos, or Romanos II). The Romanos chalice with handles combines a sardonyx stone bowl with delicately carved handles and a silver gilt setting. It is decorated with precious stones and colorfulicons of Christ, angels, and saints. An enamel inscription beneath the bowl of the chalice reads: “Lord help Romanos, the Orthodox ruler.”

The Romanos chalice without handles similarly combines a sardonyx stone bowl with a silver gilt setting and is decorated with enamels and pearls. The same inscription referring to Romanos appears around the base of the chalice, telling us that this vessel must have been produced for the same emperor Romanos.

In Constantinople, these opulent objects were once used in the celebration of the Eucharist, in which bread and wine were offered to God, then consumed by worshippers as the body and blood of Christ. It is easy to imagine the worshippers' awe as they approached these shining vessels, which mediated their encounter with Christ. Catching a glimpse of the inscriptions on these vessels, worshippers might have spoken the inscribed prayer on behalf of the emperor.

The stone bowls of both chalices were ornately carved by highly skilled artisans. Although they are difficult to date with precision, art historians believe that they were not fashioned in the tenth century when the chalices were made. More likely, they were produced in antiquity, centuries earlier. Although the stone bowls were not originally intended for Christian chalices, the emperor Romanos (I or II) likely commissioned artisans to transform these stone bowls into chalices because of their exquisite craftsmanship and because their red hues and swirling textures evoked the wine of the Eucharist, believed to be the blood of Christ.

Chalice of Emperor Romanos, Byzantine, 10th century

[not-ester]

Attempt One

(The kingdom of Thessalonica was a successor Latin state to the Byzantine empire after the fourth crusade [1204].)

Headcanon:

Thessaloniki (Thessi or Nica) was "born" around 400 AD as a son to Byzantium. He was the youngest after his sister Constantinople (Polē) whom he shared the title of co-emperor with. Unlike his sister, he idolised his father and strove to prove himself to him, frequently seeking command of an army. It was clear that he was gifted, prompting Byzantium to assign him to more arduous campaigns, but was yet extremely discordous and would often be called back.

Thessi aimed to "surpass his sister in significance" by increasing his prominence in military and court matters.

According to Byzantine sources, Byzantium would choose two equal co-emperors; consequently, the favouritism at his expense, which Thessi believed in, never existed.

Pole was never on her father's side, and had tried numerous times to persuade her brother to abandon his idolatry towards their father and join her.

[dreamconsumer]

Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1150–1213) was a French knight and historian who participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade. He is considered one of the most important historians of the time period.

[avspol]

even more polnareff + text posts

[suzannahnatters]

I'M SCREAMING

The historical context here is that Pope Innocent III really felt that previous crusades had messed up and gone astray because they didn't have a STRONG POPE telling them what to do! So he decided to call for a Crusade that would be uniquely accountable to, and controlled by, Himself, The Man of the Hour.

Except that the 4th Crusade went astray harder and faster than any crusade before it, took a detour to the still-officially-an-ally Byzantine Empire at Constantinople, sacked and conquered the place, and set up a short-lived and unstable Latin regime which severely weakened one of the primary political entities protecting the Christians of the Levant. The fourth crusade never even made it to the Holy land.

You really showed 'em, Innocent.

[nightmarist]

omg Cacophony???

[elucubrare]

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]