Fourth Crusade

"Il saggio traccia una sintesi della civiltà bizantina, dalla fondazione di Costantinopoli alla Quarta Crociata. A tutti gli effetti continuazione dell'impero romano, Bisanzio riuscì ad assimilare positivamente le Völkerwanderungen che determinano il crollo della prima Roma, facendo della multietnicità e del dinamismo verticale delle élites un punto di forza e una costante. Se nell'effimero progetto giustinianeo di riunificazione dell'impero universale prevalevano ancora una gravitazione occidentale e un’ottica vetero-romana, il superamento, a partire da Eraclio, della prospettiva italocentrica segnò il vero inizio dell'età bizantina. A Eraclio vanno ascritti due traguardi fondamentali: la creazione del sistema dei temi e il definitivo soggiogamento dell’impero persiano, nella gran parte dei cui ex-territori subentrerà ben presto, tuttavia, il nuovo interlocutore arabo. Tra il VII e l’VIII secolo, con l'accentuazione dei tratti aneuropei in campo economico, sociale, artistico, culturale, si assiste alla vera e propria nascita della concezione bizantina del potere. L’età dell'iconomachia, a lungo giudicata “buia”, coincide in realtà con una fase di prosperità economica: il compiersi del processo di deurbanizzazione e la trasformazione territoriale favoriscono l’accentuarsi della vocazione statalista e predispongono il grande “risorgimento culturale” del IX-X secolo. La sconfitta dell'iconoclasmo vede anche la sconfitta del platonismo e l'affermarsi dell'aristotelismo come filosofia ufficiale del cristianesimo medievale. Il regno di Basilio I e della dinastia macedone segna la cosiddetta "età d'oro" dell'impero bizantino. Il X e XI secolo conoscono più tormentati rapporti tra stato e chiesa, che culminano nello scisma del 1054 tra chiesa d’oriente e chiesa d’occidente (in definitiva sfida del patriarca Cerulario al basileus) e un incremento politico ed economico della nobiltà militare provinciale, che si affermerà definitivamente con la dinastia dei Comneni. Proprio con il regno comneno, in particolare con la concessione dei privilegi commerciali a Venezia da parte di Alessio I, deve farsi coincidere l’inizio della fase calante dell'economia bizantina, ininterrotta fino al XV secolo, simmetrica e inversa all'ascesa del protocapitalismo occidentale dei traffici, cui l’antica egemonia di Bisanzio sarà progressivamente sottomessa e la sopravvivenza stessa della basileia infine sacrificata. Al riaccendersi della prospettiva di restaurazione dell'impero universale corrisponderà – nelle forme del ripiegamento sociale e dell'indebolimento statale – maggiore vulnerabilità nella politica pratica. Con queste premesse Bisanzio subirà, nel 1204, la forza distruttiva della “deviazione” della Quarta Crociata: una catastrofe inaspettata e forse per questo ancora più traumatica della definitiva caduta del 1453 sotto i turchi osmani.

This essay outlines the history of Byzantine civilisation from the founding of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade.  In every way a continuation of the Roman empire, Byzantium succeeded in assimilating to positive effect the Völkerwanderungen that determined the fall of the first Rome, creating a point of strength and allegiance out of the multi-ethnic, ascendant vertical dynamism of the élites.  If gravitation toward the West and an antiquated Roman perspective still prevailed in Justinian’s ephemeral project to reunify the universal empire, the shift beyond the Italo-centric perspective from Heraclius on marked the true beginning of the Byzantine era.  Two fundamental achievements are ascribed to Heraclius: the creation of the system of themes and the definitive subjugation of the Persian empire, to whose ex-territories, however, the new Arab interlocutor would soon succeed.  Between the 7th and 8th centuries, with the accentuation of non-European traits in economic, social, artistic, and cultural fields, we begin to see the emergence of the authentic Byzantine concept of power.  Long considered “dark,” the age of iconomachy coincided, in reality, with a phase of economic prosperity.  The culmination of the process of de-urbanisation and transformation of the territory favoured the accentuation of a state-centred vocation and set the stage for the great “cultural revival” of the 9th and 10th centuries.  The defeat of iconoclasm also saw the defeat of Platonism and the affirmation of Aristotelianism as the official philosophy of Medieval Christianity.  The reign of Basil I and the Macedonian dynasty marked the so-called “golden age” of the Byzantine empire.  The 10th and 11th centuries saw more tormented relations between church and state, culminating in the Schism of 1054 between the Eastern and Western churches (ultimately the patriarch Cerularius’ challenge to the basileus) and a political and economic increase in the provincial military nobility that would assert itself definitively with the Comnenian dynasty.  The beginning of the decline of the Byzantine economy - uninterrupted until the 15th century, symmetrical in nature and the inverse of the ascent of Western trade proto-capitalism to which the ancient hegemony of Byzantium would be gradually subjugated and the very survival of the basileia ultimately sacrificed - began precisely with the Comnenian dynasty, in particular, with the concession of commercial privileges to Venice by Alexius I.  To the reawakening of the prospect of a restoration of the universal empire would correspond – in the form of social withdrawal and weakening of the state – greater vulnerability in political practice. Under these conditions Byzantium would, in 1204, be subjected to the destructive force of the “detour” of the Fourth Crusade: an unforeseen catastrophe and perhaps for this reason even more traumatic than the definitive fall in 1453 at the hands of the Osmanli Turks. 
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In 1198, Lothar of Sengi was elected Pope and took the name of Innocent III. His main objective was to organize a new crusade. The army of Crusaders was mobilized in 1199 by count Thibaut of Champagne. After his death, in 1201, he was replaced by an Italian count, Boniface of Montferrat. The Crusaders chose Venetian fleet to transport them to the Holy Land and therefore signed a binding contract. However, it soon appeared that an insufficient quantity of knights influenced their capital. To postpone repayment of the debt, on their way to the Holy Land, the Crusaders were going to assist Venetian conquest of city Zadar. But instead, at the instigation of Alexios Angelus, they decided to return the throne to his father, Isaac II. Thus, the expedition arrived in Constantinople. Having managed to restore the throne, Alexius was crowned the Emperor. Despite the Crusaders’ help, the Emperor refused to pay dues promised to them. When conflict between the Crusaders and the inhabitants of Constantinople arose, the situation in the city deteriorated significantly. Riots erupted and that led Alexios Doukas to assassination of both Isaac and Alexius. The Crusaders responded by conquering the city on 12th April, 1204. Constantinople was plundered and on May 16th, 1204, the coronation of Baldwin I of Flanders took place. However, it was known that due to its significant lack of military force, the Latin Empire was not well protected at that time. The main antagonists of Baldwin I were Bulgarians and Greeks. The offensive of the Bulgarian Emperor took place. During the battle of Adrianople, April 14th, 1205, the Emperor Baldwin was captured. Since he was never released from captivity, his brother, Henry was chosen to be the new Emperor on August 20th, 1206. The Crusaders also fought with Theodore Laskaris, the creator of the Empire of Nicaea. Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade, died in 1207. During the period between 1209-1211, Latin Emperor Henry defeated all enemies and parleyed both with the Bulgarians and Theodore Laskaris, allowing to consolidate a new state. During Henry’s reign, Latin Empire reached its peak, both territorially and militarily. A gradual collapse of the Empire began with his death in 1216 to finally occur in 1261. Two western chroniclers who participated in the IV Crusade, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, Marshal of Champagne and of Romania and knight from Picardy Robert de Clari, documented the expedition. The story told by the Marshal of Champagne is a chronicle of altruistic deeds of great men who directed the expedition, while the second one is a history of the campaign, which includes all of its shortcomings and difficulties.

Empire of Magic offers a genesis and genealogy for medieval romance and the King Arthur legend through the history of Europe's encounters with the East in crusades, travel, missionizing, and empire formation. The book argues that romance arose in the 12th century as a cultural response to the trauma and horror of taboo acts—in particular the cannibalism committed by crusaders on the bodies of Muslim enemies in Syria during the First Crusade. From such encounters with the East sprang the fantastical episodes featuring King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle, The History of the Kings of England, a work where history and fantasy collide and merge, each into the other, inventing crucial new examples and models for romances to come. After locating the rise of romance and Arthurian legend in the contact zones of East and West, Empire of Magic demonstrates the adaptability of romance and its key role in the genesis of an English national identity. Discussing Jews, women, ch...

The consensus on Pope Honorius III (1216–27) is that he was a conciliatory politician who lacked the harder edge possessed by his immediate predecessor and successor. Yet, using overlooked evidence regarding the role of Honorius in Frederick II’s seizure of the kingdom of Jerusalem from John of Brienne in 1225, this article reveals that he was in fact capable of acting in a ruthlessly pragmatic manner. It provides a rare case study of the duplicitous uses that could be made of the papal chancery by an early thirteenth–century pope while navigating a difficult diplomatic path between two kings.

Σχεδόν όλες οι πόλεις της Ελλάδας κρύβουν ένα βυζαντινό παρελθόν, το οποίο έπαιξε καθοριστικό ρόλο στη διαμόρφωση της οργάνωσης και της εικόνας τους, μέχρι και τις μέρες μας. Εντούτοις, στις περισσότερες το παρελθόν αυτό έχει αφήσει πολύ λίγα υλικά ίχνη –συνήθως ένα κάστρο– και έχει καταστεί εξαιρετικά δυσανάγνωστο. Χαρακτηριστική περίπτωση αποτελεί η Λαμία, το μεσαιωνικό Ζητούνι, μία μικρή βυζαντινή πόλη που για πάνω από μία χιλιετία υπήρξε στρατηγικός κόμβος στο δρόμο από και προς τη νότια Ελλάδα. Συνδυάζοντας τις πενιχρές αναφορές των γραπτών πηγών και τις αποσπασματικές αρχαιολογικές μαρτυρίες, στο παρόν βιβλίο επιχειρείται η ανασύνθεση της μορφής και της εξέλιξης της Λαμίας από τον 4ο ως τον 15ο αιώνα, και η αποτίμηση της σημασίας της ως τοπικού διοικητικού, στρατιωτικού και εκκλησιαστικού κέντρου. Παράλληλα, αναδεικνύονται οι δυνατότητες που προσφέρουν τα αποσπασματικά ιστορικά και αρχαιολογικά δεδομένα για την αποκατάσταση του βυζαντινού κρίκου της εξέλιξης των ελληνικών πόλεων.

Cura (con emendamenti e aggiornamenti bibliografici) della versione italiana di J.-C. CHEYNET (sous la direction de), Le monde byzantin, II. L’Empire byzantin (641-1204), Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2006.

Co-editorial oversight, incl. bibliographical revisions and updates, of the Italian version of J.-C. CHEYNET (sous la direction de), Le monde byzantin, II. L’Empire byzantin (641-1204), Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2006.

В статье предлагается рассмотрение некоторых вопросов, касающихся советской историографии крестовых походов в 1930-х– конце 1940-х гг. Прослеживается влияние марксистского подхода в трудах советских исследователей, посвященных изучению крестовых походов на Восток, а в частности Четвертого крестового похода 1198–1204 гг., — Г.Н.Лозовика, С.И.Архангельского, О.Л.Вайнштейна, И.Ивашина, М.В.Левченко, А.Д. Эпштейна,
В. В. Стоклицкой-Терешкович, М.А.Заборова и др.

The Fourth crusade 1198–1204 in soviet historians’ studies
1930-end of 1940
The article deals with some questions of crusades concerning the Soviet historiography in 1930– end of 1940s . The Influence of the marxist approach in works of Soviet scientists of the 1930 – 1940s studying crusades to the East, and in particular the
Fourth crusade of 1198–1204 — G.N.Lozovik, S. I.Arhangelsky, O. L.Weinstein, I. Ivashin, M. V. Levchenko, A.D. Epstein, V. V. Stoklitskaja-Tereshkovich, M.A.Zaborov is traced.

Questa nuova storia del movimento crociato intende fornire ai suoi lettori tutti gli elementi di una storia 'plurale' delle vicende che portarono all’insediamento in Medioriente tra i secoli XII-XIII di una serie di entità politiche in seguito definite sotto il termine complessivo di Outremer gravitanti intorno a Gerusalemme, la Città Santa conquistata con la forza nel 1099 al termine di una spedizione bandita da papa Urbano II e che avrebbe incontrato un successo imprevisto e imprevedibile.
Slegando la storia del movimento crociato alla classica elencazione d’impianto manualistico – priva di qualsiasi consistenza come riconosciuto dalla storiografia più aggiornata - che individua sulla base di una vecchia tradizione storiografica una serie di spedizioni come “ufficiali” mentre relega al contempo altre (pur importanti) in secondo piano, abbiamo inteso trasmettere ai lettori di questo libro una visione più ampia e complessa di una storia che interessò i più importanti personaggi dei secoli centrali dell'età medievale: Federico Barbarossa, Filippo II Augusto, Riccardo Cuor di Leone, Federico II di Svevia, Luigi IX, solo per citare i più noti (e tacendo i tanti pellegrini accorsi per la difesa del Santo Sepolcro).
Ma questa è anche la storia del mondo musulmano circostante, nonché di quella serie di popoli provenienti dalle remote steppe asiatiche (Turchi e Mongoli su tutti) il cui impatto avrebbe segnato in maniera decisiva le sorti della Terrasanta latina; ecco dunque riscostruire le vicende di Zangī, Nūr ad-Dīn, Saladino, Hülegü, Baybars, Qalawun, personaggi le cui esistenze avrebbero segnato le vicende del Medioriente nei secoli che verremo narrando nel corso del libro.

After the fall of Constantinople to the Latin Crusaders in 1204 hundreds of relics were carried into the West as diplomatic gifts, memorabilia and tokens of victory. Yet many relics were also
sent privately between male crusaders and their spouses and female kin. As recipients of relics women were often called upon to initiate new relic cults and practices of commemoration in
honour of the men who sent these objects and who often never returned from the East. By considering the material quality of Fourth Crusade relics, this article argues that they were
objects that exercised a profound effect on the lives of those receiving them, influencing their perceptions and actions, focusing practices of commemoration and ultimately shaping
the memory of the crusade. Relics formed the scaffolding that recursively evoked a venerated martyr, a kinsman dead in the East, a family’s crusading lineage, and broader ideas of religious sacrifice.

Empire of Magic offers a genesis and genealogy for medieval romance and the King Arthur legend through the history of Europe's encounters with the East in crusades, travel, missionizing, and empire formation.

The book argues that romance arose in the 12th century as a cultural response to the trauma and horror of taboo acts—in particular the cannibalism committed by crusaders on the bodies of Muslim enemies in Syria during the First Crusade. From such encounters with the East sprang the fantastical episodes featuring King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle, The History of the Kings of England, a work where history and fantasy collide and merge, each into the other, inventing crucial new examples and models for romances to come.

After locating the rise of romance and Arthurian legend in the contact zones of East and West, Empire of Magic demonstrates the adaptability of romance and its key role in the genesis of an English national identity. Discussing Jews, women, children, and sexuality in works like the romance of Richard Lionheart, stories of the saintly Constance, Arthurian chivralic literature, the legend of Prester John, and travel narratives, the book shows how fantasy enabled audiences to work through issues of communal identity, race, color, class and alternative sexualities in socially sanctioned and safe modes of cultural discussion in which pleasure, not anxiety, was paramount.

Romance also engaged with the threat of modernity in the late medieval period, as economic, social, and technological transformations occurred and awareness grew of a vastly enlarged world beyond Europe, one encompassing India, China, and Africa. Finally, the author suggests that romance locates England and Europe within an empire of magic and knowledge that surveys the world and makes it intelligible—usable—for the future.

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This article examines attempts over the past two hundred years to account for the diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople and its sack of the city in 1204. While nineteenth-century scholars dreamed up far-fetched conspiracy theories, their successors often put the whole thing down to a series of unforeseen accidents. The debate now seems to have reached a stage where historians set the episode in a much wider context and consider a multitude of factors, though the element of chance will probably always have to feature.

ÖZET
1187'de Kudüs'ün Müslümanlar tarafından ele geçirilmesi üzerine Kudüs'ü yeniden Haçlı hâkimiyetine almak amacıyla düzenlenen Üçüncü Haçlı Seferi ve 1197-98 Alman Haçlı Seferi başarısızlıkla sonuçlanmıştır. Kralların değil soyluların komutası altında düzenlenecek olan bir Haçlı seferinin başarılı olacağına ve Papalık'ın emellerine daha faydalı hizmet edeceğine inanan Papa III.Innocent, Avrupa'daki monarkların iç ve dış sorunlarla mücadele ettikleri esnada, 1198 yılında Dördüncü Haçlı Seferi çağrısı yapmıştır. Papa, vaizler aracılığıyla Haçlı seferine katılımı arttırmaya çalışırken diğer yandan ruhbanlara gelirlerinden pay ayırmalarını emrederek Haçlı seferini finanse etmeye çalışmıştır. 1199 yılında bir grup Fransız soylu Dördüncü Haçlı Seferi'ne katıldıklarını ilan ettilerse de bu soylular politik çıkarları gereği Haçlı olmuşlardır. Soylular ordularıyla birlikte Akdeniz'i geçmek için Venediklilerle anlaşmışlar ve seferin hedefini çıkarları gereği Mısır olarak belirlemişlerdir. Ancak Montferrat Markisi Boniface'ın ordunun lideri olması ve Fransız Haçlıların Venediklilere verilmesi gereken taşıma ücretlerini ödeyememesi Dördüncü Haçlı Seferi'nin başka politik çıkar ilişkilerine bulanmasına neden olmuştur. Haçlı ordusu ilk olarak Venedik'in kuzey Adriyatik'teki çıkarlarına hizmet etmiş, ardından Bizans Prensi Aleksios Angelos'u tahta geçirmek üzere İstanbul'a gelmiştir. Ancak Haçlılar İstanbul'da tahta çıkardıkları prens Aleksios'un kendilerine verdiği sözleri tutmaması üzerine şehri ele geçirmeye karar vermişlerdir. 1204 yılında İstanbul'a giren Haçlılar kentte büyük bir yağma ve katliam faaliyetinde bulunmuşlardır. Ardından bir Haçlı devleti kurarak Bizans İmparatorluğu'nu paylaşmışlardır. Tezde tüm bu aşamalara dair çağdaş on beş Latin kaynağında yer alan anlatılar karşılaştırılarak farklılıklarının, ortak noktalarının ve çeliştikleri kısımların nedenleri belirtilmiştir. Latin yazarları tarafından Haçlıların faaliyetlerini meşrulaştırmak için kullanılan temalar incelenmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Dördüncü Haçlı Seferi, Bizans İmparatorluğu, Venedik, Papalık, İstanbul, Haçlı Kaynakları, Meşrulaştırma.

(After the capture of Jerusalem by Muslims in 1187, the Third Crusade and the German Crusade of 1197-98 failed to take Jerusalem back to the Crusader rule. In 1198 Pope Innocent III, who believed that a Crusade campaign, which will be held under the command of nobility, not kings, will be successful and will serve the goals of the Papacy more beneficially, called the Fourth Crusade in 1198, when monarchs in Europe were struggling with internal and external issues. While the Pope was trying to increase participation in the Crusade through preachers, on the other hand, he tried to finance the Crusade by ordering the clergy to allocate a share of their income. Although a group of French nobles declared their participation in the Fourth Crusade in 1199, they took the cross due to their political interests. The nobles agreed with the Venetians to cross the Mediterranean with their armies and set the target of the Crusade as Egypt in their interests. However, Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat, was the commander of the army and the French Crusaders' failure to pay the transportation fees to be given to the Venetians caused the Fourth Crusade to become turbid other political interests. The Crusader army first served the interest of Venice in the northern Adriatic, then came to Istanbul to enthrone the Byzantine Prince Alexios (IV) Angelos. But, later on, the Crusaders decided to take Istanbul since Emperor Alexios IV did not keep the promises which he had promised to the Crusaders before. In 1204, the Crusaders who entered Istanbul carried out great plunder and massacre in the city. Then they established a Crusader state and shared the Byzantine Empire. In the thesis, the narratives in the fifteen Latin sources about all the stage are compared and are stated the reasons for differences and common grounds and contradictions. The themes used by the Latin writers to legitimize the Crusaders' activities were examined. Keywords: Fourth Crusade, Byzantine Empire, Venice, Papacy, Istanbul, Sources for the Crusades, Justification)

A slightly updated version of the 2016 paper, "The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade -- A New Annotated Translation."  Other earlier translations were dependent on the text found in the Novgorod 1st Chronicle; the present translation uses the Tver Chronicle as its base document. The updates to the earlier version are relatively minor and center mainly on the reason for giving precedence to the Tver Chronicle text; the translation provided in the earlier paper is essentially unchangedː

In April 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople. For the leading princes, it was self-evident that they would install an imperator of their own in the Queen of Cities. Their choice fell on Baldwin IX/VI, count of Flanders/Hainault. In this contribution, we aim to analyse how Baldwin and his successors saw their emperorship, and how they and their empire were seen by others in Byzantium and the West. The current historiographical term, 'Latin Empire of Constantinople', reflects the prevailing view that an entirely new political construct had been set up replacing the former Byzantine Empire. However, contemporaries, both the emperors themselves as well as outsiders, consistently referred to the empire using both Latin and Greek terms that, prior to 1204, had been commonly employed to refer to the Byzantine Empire. Yet eastern and western conceptions of the nature of the empire before 1204 differed greatly: it was 'Greek' in Latin eyes, 'Roman' in Byzantine eyes. The Constantinopolitan imperial crown having been placed on his head, Baldwin became heir to these conflicting traditions. Moreover, rival imperial claims soon arose within the Byzantine space in neighbouring Byzantine successor states. In the face of these challenges, the Latin emperors strove to formulate a political ideology legitimising their claim to imperial rule. We will argue that in essence the successive Latin emperors adopted, up to a point, the key tenets of Byzantine imperial theory (Roman character, universalism, emperors as vicars of Christ and autocracy). Their western background and their different relationship with the West led to certain changes, but whether these should be seen as fundamentally un-Byzantine is not self-evident. Conversely, the presence of the now Latin rulers on the Constantinopolitan throne also led to changes in the western perception of the eastern empire.

Οι μεσαιωνικοί πύργοι αποτελούν κυρίαρχο διαχρονικό στοιχείο του τοπίου της Εύβοιας. Η πυκνότητα κατανομής τους είναι αξιοσημείωτη σε περιοχές με γόνιμη καλλιεργήσιμη γη. Η σημασία τους δεν έγκειται μόνο στον αριθμό τους αλλά και στο γεγονός ότι η κατασκευή τους θυμίζει την πρακτική του encastellation ή incastellmento της Δυτικής Ευρώπης. Οι πύργοι αποτέλεσαν το ορόσημο του δυτικού φεουδαρχικού συστήματος, το οποίο οι Λατίνοι εισήγαγαν στην Εύβοια ή στο Βασίλειο του Νεγρεπόντε μετά την κατάκτηση του νησιού το 1205 από τον Βονιφάτιο τον Μονφερατικό. Στο παρόν άρθρο υποστηρίζεται ότι οι πύργοι αποτελούσαν το διοικητικό κέντρο μίας φεουδαρχικής ιδιοκτησίας και συμβόλιζαν την συγκέντρωση των νομοθετικών, των δικαστικών και των εκτελεστικών αρμοδιοτήτων της περιοχής στο πρόσωπο του φεουδάρχη. Τελευταίο αλλά όχι λιγότερο σημαντικό είναι το ότι οι πύργοι χρησίμευαν ως μόνιμη ή εποχιακή οικία του φεουδάρχη με δύο έως τρεις διαφορετικούς ορόφους για τη στέγαση των καθημερινών οικιακών και κοινωνικών δραστηριοτήτων των ενοίκων.

This paper deals with the origins of the despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Trebizond comparing them with the fate of other Byzantine splinter-states of the XIIth and XIIIth century and tries to draw some outlines of a future  comparison with the realities of Medieval Western Europe.

The Fourth Crusade is one of the key hubs of the Venetian adventure. Its outcome represents the masterpiece, in particular, of its symbolic character: the warrior-doge Enrico Dandolo.
The deviation of the expedition to Constantinople serves the interests of the future Serenissima to the point of making the lagoon city rise to the rank of great power. Understanding what happened then is important to understand the subsequent developments. Which concern us because they are rooted in long-term geopolitical constants in action in our reality.
The strategic projection of Venice located on the Rimland, the maritime and coastal strip in this European case around the heart of the Planet or Heartland, ranges from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea; from the coasts of Asia Minor to the Arabian or Persian Gulf; from Northern Africa to the Red Sea: it thus intercepts the entire network of long-range connections on the Island-World. And it is the same as today's Italy.
A story, the Venetian one, full of teachings that cannot be ignored.

La Quarta Crociata è uno degli snodi chiave dell’avventura veneziana. Il suo esito rappresenta il capolavoro, in particolare, del suo personaggio-simbolo: il doge-guerriero Enrico Dandolo.
La deviazione della spedizione verso Costantinopoli serve gli interessi della futura Serenissima al punto da far salire la città lagunare al rango di grande potenza. Capire cosa accadde allora è importante per comprenderne gli sviluppi successivi. I quali ci riguardano perché affondano le radici nelle costanti geopolitiche di lungo periodo in azione nella nostra realtà.
La proiezione strategica di Venezia che si trova sul Rimland, la fascia marittima e costiera in questo caso europea attorno al cuore del Pianeta o Heartland, spazia dal Mediterraneo al Mar Nero; dalle coste dell’Asia Minore al Golfo Arabico o Persico; dall’Africa Settentrionale al Mar Rosso: intercetta così l’intera rete di connessioni a largo raggio dell’isola-Mondo. Ed è la stessa dell’Italia di oggi.
Una storia, quella veneziana, ricca d’insegnamenti che non si possono ignorare.

The Case Study examines two recently published documents from Pope Honorius III’s chancellery which were previously unknown to the Bulgarian scholars. These letters are a valuable source for the history of the conflict over the Byzantine legacy and in particular over the Church property between the Latin clergy and the secular feudal lords in the Latin Empire of Constantinople and the Kingdom of Thessalonica and its impact on the Bulgarian-Latin relations during the first quarter of the 13th century. The critical analysis of these documents sheds new light on the history of the Latin Duchy of Philippopolis in the region of North-Western Thrace and its lords. Moreover the interpretation of these newly discovered documents illuminates one of the most interesting and crucial periods of the political activity of Despot Alexius Slav (Alexios Sthlabos), a Bulgarian nobleman from the Asenid family, ruler of the Rhodopes Mountain region and a vassal and a son-in-low of Henry of Flanders/Hainaut, the second Latin emperor of Constantinople. It also sheds new light and reveals the particular and curious circumstances that led to Alexius Slav’s detachment from the orbit of the Latin Empire of Constantinople and to his move from Tsepena to Melnik in the context of his political reorientation as an ally and a kinsman of Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Epiros, while filling some essential gaps in his biography.

La carrière de Simon de Montfort, chef de la croisade albigeoise de 1209 à 1218, offre un éclairage rare sur la réponse laïque aux ordonnances et aux critiques cléricales concernant la seigneurie temporelle. Grâce à l'étude de traités scolastiques, de sources narratives et de documents constitutionnels, cet article met en évidence les relations entre Simon et les intellectuels contemporains qui prônent une réforme chrétienne, et leur impact sur ses actions durant la quatrième croisade (1199-1203) et la croisade contre les albigeois. L'attachement de Simon, à travers les cisterciens, aux écoles parisiennes a une grande influence non seulement sur son voeu de croisade, mais aussi sur sa mise en oeuvre du pouvoir. Cependant, Simon ignore et contredit également l'enseignement des écoles sur des sujets aussi importants que les mercenaires et l'usure. Cet article démontre ainsi comment les seigneurs croisés peuvent adopter les préceptes de la théologie pratique tels qu'énoncés par les intellectuels de leur temps, tout en dessinant les limites que même les laïcs qui y sont favorables entendent appliquer à leurs politiques « réformées ».

The career of Simon of Montfort, leader of the Albigensian Crusade from 1209-1218, offers a rare insight into the lay response to clerical prescriptions and criticisms about temporal lordship. Through an examination of scholastic treatises, narrative sources, and constitutional documents, this paper traces Simon's connexions with contemporary intellectuals advocating Christian reform and their impact on his actions on the Fourth (1199-1203) and Albigensian Crusades. Simon's attachment, through the Cistercians, to the Parisian schools had a profound impact not only on his adoption of the crusade vow but also on his implementation of power. However, Simon also ignored and contradicted reform teaching on important subjects such as mercenaries and usury. This paper therefore demonstrates the ways in which crusading barons might engage with the practical theology of contemporary intellectuals, while hinting at the limits of what even sympathetic laymen found practical to implement in their " reformed " regimes.

This article evaluates how far chivalric notions of honour and shame had become associated with crusading by the early thirteenth century. It stems from a wider investigation into how crusading helped to forge standards for knightly behaviour and influenced the development of chivalric ideals. The Fourth Crusade serves as a focused case study, and this article examines the significance of its controversial course and conclusion as well as how two lay authors, Geoffrey of Villehardouin and Robert of Clari, used ideas about honour and shame in their narratives. It takes a close look at terminology, exploring a variety of expressions for concepts of honour and shame, and highlights the contexts in which they were used: whether to describe military encounters, the pressure on social bonds, or leadership roles. It argues that by the turn of the thirteenth century, crusading played a significant rather than extraneous role in developing ideas about chivalric conduct and proper social behaviour.

This article is a contribution to the 'diversion debate' concerning the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). In this paper I argue that ultimately the endangered Venetian commercial interests were at the core of the final decision by the crusade leadership to conquer and take over the Byzantine empire. These interests prevented the  (non-Venetian) crusade leaders from choosing the alternative option: continuing the crusade to Syria.