The Fourth Crusade...?

Question

Was the Fourth Crusade really simply an accident as proposed by Thomas Madden or was it the result of longstanding resentment as proposed by Sir Steven Runciman? How much responsibility do you think lies with the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo for what happened in 1204?

Answer 1

[Don Corleone]I didn't know until today, our true enemy was Enrico Dandolo all along.[/Don Corleone]

I think he'd been planning that at least since he was blinded, probably long before. It was absolutely no accident: the Crusaders and Pope were partly played like fools and partly self exonerating greedy accomplices.

My favorite moment, though, is the notion of Alexius having his audience with Dandolo, both of them old and blind. Would make a great scene in a book.

Answer 2

No accident.
Byzantium was a competitor to Venice in trade.
Byzantium was at the end of the overland "Silk Road" trade route to China. Venice controlled the sea trade and resented the taxes collected by Byzantium for the passage through the Dardanelles/Bosphorus.
Venice also had a competitive route- by sea to Egypt and then a sea route (controlled by muslims) to India and China. Yes, strange as it may seem, Venice was an ally (in part) to the "saracens"

The Byzantines also sabotaged the Crusades. Simply put, the "holy land" was regarded as entirely Byzantine territory- temporarily lost to musulmans. Therefore having "heretic" Catholics go rampage there and treat it as their God given right caused resentment- so again, strange as it may seem, Byzantium was a partial ally to the muslims

To make things even funnier, the Kings of Jerusalem often fought on the side of their muslim neighbours, helping them to defend themselves against attacks

To sum up- the fourth crusade was an isolated incident albeit a deliberately planned one. Dandolo intended it to eliminate a trade competitor. Typical short sighted political play. Not quite as low as the sabotage of Iran (Shah Pahlavi) by Carter (which is the front runner in the "dumbest political act in human history" competition) but still pretty stupid.

Answer 3

i don't know who those people are... but i know something about the 4th crusade.....

it's not an accident..... the venetian agreed to help the crusaders in one condition... and that is to help them destroy Rome... so Venice can be the center of trade at that time.....so instead of reaching the Holy Land, they rerouted to Rome.... and thus, the bloodiest war between Christians happened.....

if that's the answer..

Answer 4

no its not