The deviation of the fourth Crusade: spontaneous act or premeditation ?

In this work, we tried to analyse the causes that
led to the starting of the fourth crusade and its deviation from the first
planned route. First we can’t say that this military campaign was a
crusade, because the religious factor had stumped itself a long time ago.
The military attack of Constantinople at the beginning of the 13-th
century shouldn’t be watched as something spontaneous but as a
number of events which lead to that conclusion. The first three
crusades had set the meeting of two diferent mentalities, two different
civilasations, two different worlds( the Byzantine and the Latin one)
which will get into conflict. The eastern Christians were regarded as
heretics and traitors. The failure of the second and third crusade
amplified the hate of Western Europe towards Byzantium, which was
considered the main guilty in sabotaging the crusades.
An antibyzantinic ideology was developed into Latin Europe, and
its main purpose was to prepare the western Christians for the
inevitable conquering of Constantinople. The Byzantine empire was
seen as the only impediment in regaining the Holy Fortress, Jerusalem.
This situation will be exploited by Venice. The republic from the Adriatic
Sea will be the main factor in dividing the two Christendoms in1204. Venice was not interested in the idea of the crusade but only in
its economical and comercial interests. The Venetians have the biggest
fault in the deviation of the fourth crusade from its main route, Egypt,
through Constantinople, via Zara. They didn’t want to endanger their
relations with Egypt, so in the contract signed with the crusaders they
set some conditions, which were impossible to be honoured by the
other part. The blackmale with the attacking of Zara fortress was well
planed. Because the crusaders couldn‘t pay the dues to Venice it was
natural that they had to conquer catholic Zara and give it to the
Venetians, because they couldn’t honour the initial pay to the fortress
from the Lagoon. After conquering Zara it was obvious that the
crusade will not return now to Egypt because the Byzantine empire was
much closer.
We need to underline another important factor in the deviation of
this military campaign : the presence of Alexios the- IV-th. in Western
Europe begging for help in front of the pope Innocent the III-rd. and at
the court of Phillip. The Byzantine prince came to ask for help because
his father was dethroned and blinded by Alexios the III-rd. The
presence of the prince heir gave the perfect and official pretext to the
crusader army in conquering and attacking the Byzantine capital, to
put things right and to reinstall Alexios the IV-th. and his father on the
throne. We must not forget the internal problems the Byzantine state
had at this moment of time. Its weaknesses was well known in the Western
world. The 12-th century anti-byzantinic ideology through the
clergy and chroniclers of Latin Europe prepared the Western
Christianity for a future attack over the eastern Christians. The
election of the count of Montferrat as a military leader of the crusade
was another reason which spoke against Byzantium. The count lost two
of his brothers during internal conflicts for the Byzantine crown so his
hate was natural and personal against the Eastern empire. We shouln’t
forget the pope Innocent the III.-rd under whose guidance and blessing
the crusade should have been deployed itself. But the pope was only a
puppet in the developing of the crusade. For Innocent the III-rd, conquering
the Byzantine empire (Constantinople) was serving his interests.
What he tried to realize through the diplomatic way, the crusaders
managed to obtain through the military way. The submission of theGreek Eastern Christian church by the Papality was the only and decisive
reason why the pope hadn’t interfered in the crusade. The excomunication
of the Venetians was only formal, because after having seen
the end of the campaign, the pope coulnd’t have been more satisfied
with the result. For the moment, Rome subdued the Byzantine church .
At his calling for the crusade few important people answered.
Foulques of Neuilly propaganda was decisive in convincing some
barons, counts and mostly knights to join the planned crusade. The
large majority of the common people didn’t join after the dissapointment
that the first crusades brought them. The religious ideology of
the crusades was also lost, so it was more like a military campaign that
only higher people of the Western society joined, accompanied by the
knights, whose purpose was to fight.
The chroniclers (Robert de Clari, Niketas, Gunther of Pairis) consider
Venice’s guilt as the main one for the deviation of the crusade.
The truth is that Venice followed its interest very skilfully. This attack
of the Western world would have come sooner or later. The past
conflicts between Byzantium and Latin Europe over the last century
would have finally brought this conclusion from 1204. The weakness of
the Eastern empire, the motive given the crusaders by Alexios the IV -
th. only prepared the inevitable. Venice, the papality, the Western Empire
were interested in eliminating their rival from Constantinople. The
clash of two different worlds at this time (the Latin and the Greek one)
came to an conclusion. The difference in their mentalities, cultures and
in their civilizations brought them into conflict and to this tragic result
marked by the fourth crusade in 1204.