6: The Republic of Venice and the Fourth Crusade

In this episode, we discuss the first dominion of the Byzantine Empire: The Republic of Venice, from its inception, the decline of Byzantium following the deposition of Andronikos I, the sack of Constantinople during the fourth Crusade, and the Empire's dismemberment by the Venetians and the Crusaders.

With:

[Salmon_Rush_Die]

This channel is golden. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. God bless you fellows.

[Epicrandomness]

Will mention that the 'Kingdom of the Greeks' was how the Holy Roman Emperors, as well as others in the West, referred to the Byzantine Empire, with the 'Kingdom of the Germans' being how the Greeks referred to them. This for certain appears in the communications between Frederick Barbarossa and the Greek Emperor during the 3rd Crusade. 'Byzantine Empire' was an early modern invention, but it was not consistently referred to as Roman or Imperial by the West before this. I assume these things would variously change depending on relations between states and peoples at different times.

[BronzeEngraver]

another top notch stream, cant wait for the anatomy of Austria series, Bohemia will be very interesting.

[DB-suqp]

If there is a collapse, we need to get AM to a safe house ASAP.

[chofi]

Incredible stream, worth a rewatch.
Listening to that description of the sack was painful.
It's a shame the venetians and the others involved in the crusade didn't realize a weak eastern Rome would only fuel the islamic threat to the east.

[elijahfredrickson]

Im really loving these stream discussions. So fascinating. I know im a year late, but thank you for such an in depth and informative discussion

[IronDuke]

A excellent stream from AM and his guests, as always.

[Deathrune]

By far the best history channel on Youtube. God bless you, gents!

[pvc]

In my view, the darkest point in the history of The West. An utter disgrace. Thank you for covering this so skillfully gentlemen.

[vangelisskia]

"The Latin soldiery subjected the greatest city in Europe to an indescribable sack. For three days they murdered, raped, looted and destroyed on a scale which even the ancient Vandals and Goths would have found unbelievable. Constantinople had become a veritable museum of ancient and Byzantine art, an emporium of such incredible wealth that the Latins were astounded at the riches they found. Though the Venetians had an appreciation for the art which they discovered (they were themselves semi-Byzantines) and saved much of it, the French and others destroyed indiscriminately, halting to refresh themselves with wine, violation of nuns, and murder of Orthodox clerics. The Crusaders vented their hatred for the Greeks most spectacularly in the desecration of the greatest Church in Christendom. They smashed the silver iconostasis, the icons and the holy books of Hagia Sophia, and seated upon the patriarchal throne a whore who sang coarse songs as they drank wine from the Church's holy vessels. The estrangement of East and West, which had proceeded over the centuries, culminated in the horrible massacre that accompanied the conquest of Constantinople. The Greeks were convinced that even the Turks, had they taken the city, would not have been as cruel as the Latin Christians. The defeat of Byzantium, already in a state of decline, accelerated political degeneration so that the Byzantines eventually became an easy prey to the Turks. The Fourth Crusade and the crusading movement generally thus resulted, ultimately, in the victory of Islam, a result which was of course the exact opposite of its original intention." - Speros Vryonis, "Byzantium and Europe"

[jimmyjames]

I just love the Republic of Venice. There is a movement to revive it. I did not listen to this stream yet

[ninamaria]

“Do I see a mustache on this lady?” 1:19:06 has me

[mjjoseph]

Habsburgs built the first bridge to Venice, not Il Duce.

[vangelisskia]

"The Western Europeans had long felt a jealous dislike for the Greeks; and the refusal of the Greek Church to abandon all its traditions and submit to the authority of the Roman pontificate added to their dislike. The Greeks were schismatics and not to be trusted." - Sir Steven Runciman, "Greece and the later crusades*

[Vingul]

Can’t get used to «Doge» being a title.

[drarsen]

What is interesting is that city of Constantinople had population of 500.000 and yet only 15.000 defenders. If they had organized militias and conscription they would have stood much better chance. If they took only 10% of men it would be 25.000 additional troops to defend the walls. They would have outnumbered crusaders 2:1.

[paulleverton]

I love this series. It's very rare to find history shows that dare to alienate all but the most elementary students by taking a deep dive to the lesser known,
and far more complex, details. Columba can irritate me by his poorly timed interruptions - and I often wonder if he's asking basic questions for the benefit of lesser informed listeners.

CATHERINE HANLEY is my latest heroine. Her books are so much better than the likes of Dan Jones and she deserves far more recognition.

[thebeautifulones]

Do the northern crusades against pagan Lithuania

[vangelisskia]

"There never was a greater crime against humanity than the Fourth Crusade" - Sir Steven Runciman

[freethinkmafia]

Fourth Crusade was the greatest sin ever committed, I think