Relations between Western Europe and the Byzantines hit rock bottom during the Fourth Crusade, which was launched by Pope Innocent III in 1201. The trouble began when the leaders of the Fourth Crusade took out a loan from the Venetians that they couldn’t repay and so decided to ransack Constantinople. The Crusaders smashed the altar at the Hagia Sophia cathedral and divided the gems and precious metals among the troops. After looting Constantinople in 1204, the Crusaders didn’t go on to Jerusalem. They replaced the Byzantine emperor with a Westerner and imposed a new government called the
...more
