    The Third Crusade failed in recapturing Jerusalem. Christians in Western Europe spent the next ten years after the Third Crusade making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. However, many church leaders felt very strongly that the Holy Land should be under Christian control rather than Muslim control.

     In 1198 Pope Innocent III called for a new crusade and offered remission of sins. This crusade proved to be catastrophic for the Byzantine Empire. The Fourth Crusade is called the "sack of Constantinople" because the crusaders attacked Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and never made it to the Holy Land.

     An army of 30,000 knights, most of them from France, Germany, and Italy, gathered in Venice intending to travel to the Holy Land by the Mediterranean Sea. The crusaders made a contract with the Venetian bankers for transportation to the Holy Land. The Venetian bankers would provide fifty warships and supplies in return for a share of the riches they would gain in the Holy Land. When the time came for the crusaders to depart, they only had half of the required fees. The crusaders had to find a way to pay the bankers.

     While in Venice the crusades were asked by the Venetians to help them fight the city of Zara in return for payment. Zara was a Christian city and the Pope did not approve the attack. The crusaders also heard that the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire had been imprisoned by his brother, who was reigning in his place. The crusaders agreed to stop at Constantinople on their way to the Holy Land and right this wrong. So, in July of 1203 the army took Constantinople and gave the throne back to Emperor Alexius VI.

     The Crusaders stormed Constantinople in April 1204. For three days the crusaders burned libraries, desecrated churches, looting the city, and destroying everything in their path. The crusaders also stole many valuable works of art, jewels, and gold. Constantinople was ruined and the city never recovered. The crusaders took the jewels, gold, and money they stole and returned home. Pope Innocent III was alarmed at the attack and excommunicated the crusaders. However, due to the grand victory at Constantinople, Pope Innocent III removed his excommunication allowing the crusaders back into the Church.

     Rather than reprimanding the Fourth Crusade, Western Europeans continued to support crusading and call for several other crusades.

World History - Medieval and Early Modern Times. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2006. (150 – 199)

Jones, Robert. “The Fourth Crusade” The Crusades: A Brief History (1095 -1291) 2004

Knox, Skip. “The Fourth Crusade” History of the Crusade <http://crusade.boisestate.edu/4th/13.shtm>

Dr. Carr, Karen. “The Late Middle Ages –The Fourth Crusade” Kidipede – History for Kids

<http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/latemiddle/fouthcrusade.htm>