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The Sack of Constantinople or Siege of Constantinople (also called the Fourth Crusade) occurred in 1204; it looted and destroyed parts of the capital of the Byzantine Empire as the city was captured by Western European and Venetian Crusaders. After the capture, the Byzantine Empire fragmented into a number of small successor states, the Crusader-led Latin Empire was founded in its place and Baldwin of Flanders was crowned Emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople in the Hagia Sophia. Although one of the Empire's spin-off states would eventually manage to recapture the city in 1261 and proclaim the reinstatement of the Roman Empire, the weakened Byzantine state would never manage to restore its former territories, wealth, or imperial status. For this reason, the events of 1204 are sometimes considered to herald the irreversible decline of the Byzantine Empire, ultimately leading to its final demise in the Ottoman siege of 1453 and the arrival of a new Islamic empire on European soil. ==Before the siege== The Massacre of the Latins ((イタリア語:Massacro dei Latini); (ギリシア語:Σφαγή τῶν Λατίνων)), a large-scale massacre of the Roman Catholic or "Latin" inhabitants of Constantinople by the Eastern Orthodox population of the city in May 1182, had a dramatic effect on the schism between the Western and Eastern Christian churches. The massacre also further worsened the image of the Byzantines in the eyes of the Western powers, and, although regular trade agreements were soon resumed between Byzantium and Latin states, the underlying hostility would remain, leaving many westerners seeking some form of revenge. Following the siege of Constantinople in 1203, on 1 August 1203, the pro-Crusader Alexios Angelos was crowned Emperor Alexios IV of the Byzantine Empire, who then tried to pacify the city. But riots between anti-Crusader Greeks and pro-Crusader Latins broke out later that month and lasted until November, during which most of the populace began to turn against Emperor Alexios IV. On 25 January 1204, the death of co-Emperor Isaac II set off rioting in Constantinople in which the people deposed Alexios IV, who turned to the Crusaders for help but was imprisoned by the imperial chamberlain, Alexios Doukas, who declared himself Emperor on 5 February. Emperor Alexios V then attempted to negotiate with the Crusaders for a withdrawal from Byzantine territory, but they refused to abandon their old treaty with Alexios IV. When Alexios V ordered Alexios IV's execution on 8 February, the Crusaders declared war on Alexios V. In March 1204, the Crusader and Venetian leadership decided on the outright conquest of Constantinople, and drew up a formal agreement to divide the Byzantine Empire between them. ==Siege== By the end of March, the combined Crusader armies were besieging Constantinople as Emperor Alexios V began to strengthen the city's defences while conducting more active operations outside the city. By the first week of April, the Crusaders had begun their siege from their encampment in the town of Galata across the Golden Horn from Constantinople.〔David Nicolle, ''The Fourth Crusade 1202-04''; The betrayal of Byzantium. (2011) Osprey Campaign Series #237. Osprey Publishing.〕 On 9 April 1204, the Crusader and Venetian forces began an assault on the Golden Horn fortifications by crossing the waterway to the northwest wall of the city, but, because of bad weather, the assault forces were driven back when the troops that landed came under heavy archery fire in open ground between Constantinople's fortifications and the shore.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siege of Constantinople (1204)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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