The Fourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade

Calling of the Crusade

·       Innocent III became pope in 1198 at only 37 years old, embodied all the ambitions of the Papal Reform Movement and was, above all, determined to restore Christian control over the Holy Land, and excommunicated more than his predecessors

·       The Third Crusade had failed to retake Jerusalem but had created conditions in which future crusades could succeed with Cyprus under the control of the Knights Templers and Richard had fortified the coastal ***** from Tyre to Jaffa (excluding Ascalon)

·       He immediately called for a crusade to liberate Jerusalem but it received virtually no response

·       Richard I was trying to recover the lands Phillip II had taken whilst he was on crusade and so, even though he wanted to return to the Levant, he could not leave France and Germany was in the middle of a dispute over the imperial throne and altogether, these power struggles occupied the majority of Europe’s fighting men

·       Innocent sent out papal legates to negotiate peace including Peter Capuano to Richard who fled in fear of castration after Richard pointed out angrily that, if not for Phillip, he would have remained in Outremer and have liberated Jerusalem by now and, not to mention, the church had not done anything to protect his lands while on crusade and he would not sign a peace treaty whilst Phillip still held some of his lands

·       Eventually a five-year peace treaty was signed between them but Richard was then killed by a cross-bow

·       Fulk of Neuilly filled the French countryside with religious zeal, inspiring them to risk all for Christ causing thousands to take the cross although the majority were poor and of no military use, but also inspired nobility like Count Thibaut of Champagne, brother of the previous king of Jerusalem, Henry, and was a good warrior, who inspired many participants during a knightly tournament, and attracted Count Louis of Blois. It was these two who made a foundation on which the crusade could build

·       In 1200, a council met and decided to avoid travelling through the Byzantine Empire, and instead sail to the Holy Land like Richard, however they did not possess the same sizeable fleet

·       Thibaut, Louis and Baldwin of Flanders all sent two representatives each to find a port to make a contract with, and they chose Venice

The Treaty of Venice

·       The doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, received the French envoys with joy and agreed to keep secret their plan to attack Egypt first as Richard had originally wanted and would help them gain assent for their proposal

·       It was agreed that transportation for 33,500 men plus enough supplies (an unprecedented size in 1202, even 11,000 was already enormous) would be provided in return for 85,000 marks and for the next year the republic suspended all merchant activity, pressing all her trading…