April –
May – The bulk of the Crusader army gathers at
Venice, although with far smaller numbers than expected: about 12,000 men (4–5,000 knights and 8,000 soldiers) instead of 33,500 men. Several contingents decide to make their own way to the
Holy Land by different routes. A Crusader fleet, sailing from
Flanders, carrying supplies for the Counts
Baldwin IX and his brother
Henry of Flanders, winters in
Marseilles, but is slowed by adverse weather. Later it sails on to the
Middle East, along with other contingents from southern
France. [1]
Summer – The Crusader army, encamped on the island of
San Niccolo di Lido, between the
Venetian Lagoon and the
Adriatic Sea, is threatened by Doge
Enrico Dandolo to keep them interned, unless full payment is made as agreed (see
1201). As the Crusaders wait on the Lido for men to arrive, they also use up food supplies that Venice has agreed to supply. Dandolo faces a financial catastrophe, who has halted its commerce for a year's time, to prepare the expedition. The Crusader lords can offer Dandolo only 51,000 silver marks.[2]
September 8 – Enrico Dandolo takes the cross and agrees to lead a Venetian force, which, in an outburst of Crusading enthusiasm, reaches some 21,000 men – the largest contingent of the
Fourth Crusade. He proclaims the debts will be wiped, if the Crusaders take the 'rebel' Dalmatian city of
Zadar, who has pledged its loyalty to
Emeric, king of
Hungary and
Croatia. The Zadar proposal causes disquiet in the Crusader ranks – but it also upset Pope
Innocent III who threatens to excommunicate those who attack Zadar.[3]
September – Prince
Alexios Angelos sends representatives from
Verona to the Crusader leaders in Venice, he promises to submit the
Greek Orthodox Church to papal obedience and to provide the Crusade with 200,000 silver marks, together with provisions for a year. Alexios also will contribute 10,000 mounted soldiers to the expedition. In return he wants the Crusade to overthrow his uncle, the Byzantine emperor
Alexios III (Angelos).[4]
November 10–
24 –
Siege of Zadar: The Crusaders under
Boniface of Montferrat besiege and conquer Zadar in
Dalmatia. Despite letters from Innocent III forbidding such an action, and threatening
excommunication. The leading citizens of Zadar hang banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic faith. Nevertheless, the Crusaders breach and sack the city, killing many.[5]
Winter – Innocent III excommunicates the Crusader army, along with the Venetians, who winter at Zadar. Many Crusaders, including some senior men, either abandon the Fourth Crusade or make their own way to the Holy Land. However, the majority remain in Zadar, where the army receives some welcomed reinforcements. During the winter, negotiations continue with Alexios Angelos.[6]
Europe
Spring – King
Philip II (Augustus) summons King
John (Lackland) to
Paris to answer his charges against the
Lusignans. On
April 28, failing to attend Philip's court, John is declared to be a 'rebel' and to have forfeited the areas of
Aquitaine,
Poitou and
Anjou. Philip tries to mediate the political problems between John and the Lusignans (who are charged with treason) but this is ignored by John. The lands are given to
Arthur of Brittany. Philip supports Arthur's claim to the English throne and betrothes his 4-year-old daughter
Marie.[7]
August 1 –
Battle of Mirebeau: Arthur of Brittany, supported by the Lusignans, lays siege to
Mirebeau Castle trapping
Eleanor of Aquitaine inside. John launches a rescue mission to free his mother, and with a mercenary army defeats the Breton-Lusignan forces. Arthur is captured by
William de Braose and is handed over to John who imprisons him in the
Château de Falaise in
Normandy. Many other important knights are captured and shipped to
England (where John treats them badly and keeps them as prisoners in dungeons).[8]
July 27 –
Battle of Basian: Seljuk forces (some 150,000 men) under
Suleiman II of Rûm advance toward the Georgian border and are met by a 65,000-strong army led by King
David Soslan, husband of Queen
Tamar of Georgia at
Basian. The Georgians assail the enemy's camp and in a pitched battle, the Seljuk forces are overwhelmed and defeated. The loss of the sultan's banner (while Suleiman himself is wounded), results in panic within the Seljuk ranks. The victory at Basian secures the Georgian preeminence in the region.[9]
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 44.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 45.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, pp. 45–46.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, pp. 46–48.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 48.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France 987–1328, p. 179. Hambledon Continuum.
^Warren, W. L. (1961). King John. University of California Press. pp. 77–78.
^Ivane Javakhishvili (1983). History of the Georgian Nation, p. 249. Tbilisi: Georgia.
^Tyerman, Christopher (2006). God's War: A New History of the Crusades, pp. 689–691. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
ISBN0-674-02387-0.
^Georg Haggren; Petri Halinen; Mika Lavento; Sami Raninen ja Anna Wessman (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Helsinki: Gaudeamus. p. 380.
^Picard, Christophe (1997). La mer et les musulmans d'Occident VIIIe-XIIIe siècle. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 17.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
April –
May – The bulk of the Crusader army gathers at
Venice, although with far smaller numbers than expected: about 12,000 men (4–5,000 knights and 8,000 soldiers) instead of 33,500 men. Several contingents decide to make their own way to the
Holy Land by different routes. A Crusader fleet, sailing from
Flanders, carrying supplies for the Counts
Baldwin IX and his brother
Henry of Flanders, winters in
Marseilles, but is slowed by adverse weather. Later it sails on to the
Middle East, along with other contingents from southern
France. [1]
Summer – The Crusader army, encamped on the island of
San Niccolo di Lido, between the
Venetian Lagoon and the
Adriatic Sea, is threatened by Doge
Enrico Dandolo to keep them interned, unless full payment is made as agreed (see
1201). As the Crusaders wait on the Lido for men to arrive, they also use up food supplies that Venice has agreed to supply. Dandolo faces a financial catastrophe, who has halted its commerce for a year's time, to prepare the expedition. The Crusader lords can offer Dandolo only 51,000 silver marks.[2]
September 8 – Enrico Dandolo takes the cross and agrees to lead a Venetian force, which, in an outburst of Crusading enthusiasm, reaches some 21,000 men – the largest contingent of the
Fourth Crusade. He proclaims the debts will be wiped, if the Crusaders take the 'rebel' Dalmatian city of
Zadar, who has pledged its loyalty to
Emeric, king of
Hungary and
Croatia. The Zadar proposal causes disquiet in the Crusader ranks – but it also upset Pope
Innocent III who threatens to excommunicate those who attack Zadar.[3]
September – Prince
Alexios Angelos sends representatives from
Verona to the Crusader leaders in Venice, he promises to submit the
Greek Orthodox Church to papal obedience and to provide the Crusade with 200,000 silver marks, together with provisions for a year. Alexios also will contribute 10,000 mounted soldiers to the expedition. In return he wants the Crusade to overthrow his uncle, the Byzantine emperor
Alexios III (Angelos).[4]
November 10–
24 –
Siege of Zadar: The Crusaders under
Boniface of Montferrat besiege and conquer Zadar in
Dalmatia. Despite letters from Innocent III forbidding such an action, and threatening
excommunication. The leading citizens of Zadar hang banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic faith. Nevertheless, the Crusaders breach and sack the city, killing many.[5]
Winter – Innocent III excommunicates the Crusader army, along with the Venetians, who winter at Zadar. Many Crusaders, including some senior men, either abandon the Fourth Crusade or make their own way to the Holy Land. However, the majority remain in Zadar, where the army receives some welcomed reinforcements. During the winter, negotiations continue with Alexios Angelos.[6]
Europe
Spring – King
Philip II (Augustus) summons King
John (Lackland) to
Paris to answer his charges against the
Lusignans. On
April 28, failing to attend Philip's court, John is declared to be a 'rebel' and to have forfeited the areas of
Aquitaine,
Poitou and
Anjou. Philip tries to mediate the political problems between John and the Lusignans (who are charged with treason) but this is ignored by John. The lands are given to
Arthur of Brittany. Philip supports Arthur's claim to the English throne and betrothes his 4-year-old daughter
Marie.[7]
August 1 –
Battle of Mirebeau: Arthur of Brittany, supported by the Lusignans, lays siege to
Mirebeau Castle trapping
Eleanor of Aquitaine inside. John launches a rescue mission to free his mother, and with a mercenary army defeats the Breton-Lusignan forces. Arthur is captured by
William de Braose and is handed over to John who imprisons him in the
Château de Falaise in
Normandy. Many other important knights are captured and shipped to
England (where John treats them badly and keeps them as prisoners in dungeons).[8]
July 27 –
Battle of Basian: Seljuk forces (some 150,000 men) under
Suleiman II of Rûm advance toward the Georgian border and are met by a 65,000-strong army led by King
David Soslan, husband of Queen
Tamar of Georgia at
Basian. The Georgians assail the enemy's camp and in a pitched battle, the Seljuk forces are overwhelmed and defeated. The loss of the sultan's banner (while Suleiman himself is wounded), results in panic within the Seljuk ranks. The victory at Basian secures the Georgian preeminence in the region.[9]
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 44.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 45.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, pp. 45–46.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, pp. 46–48.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 48.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.
^Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France 987–1328, p. 179. Hambledon Continuum.
^Warren, W. L. (1961). King John. University of California Press. pp. 77–78.
^Ivane Javakhishvili (1983). History of the Georgian Nation, p. 249. Tbilisi: Georgia.
^Tyerman, Christopher (2006). God's War: A New History of the Crusades, pp. 689–691. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
ISBN0-674-02387-0.
^Georg Haggren; Petri Halinen; Mika Lavento; Sami Raninen ja Anna Wessman (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Helsinki: Gaudeamus. p. 380.
^Picard, Christophe (1997). La mer et les musulmans d'Occident VIIIe-XIIIe siècle. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
^David Nicolle (2011). Osprey: Campaign - Nr. 237. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04. The betrayal of Byzantium, p. 17.
ISBN978-1-84908-319-5.