Constantinople, Latin Empire of definition of Constantinople, Latin Empire of in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Constantinople, Latin Empire of, 1204–61, feudal empire established in the S Balkan Peninsula and the Greek archipelago by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades Crusades , series of wars undertaken by European Christians between the 11th and 14th cent. to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. First Crusade
Origins

In the 7th cent., Jerusalem was taken by the caliph Umar.
..... Click the link for more information. ) after they had sacked (1204) Constantinople; also known as the empire of Romania (not to be confused with the modern nation Romania). Its secular and ecclesiastic governments were carefully divided among the Crusaders and their Venetian creditors. It was on both sides of the Dardanelles; its rulers were also suzerains of the kingdom of Thessalonica, the principality of Achaia, and other fiefs. Baldwin I Baldwin I , 1171–1205, 1st Latin emperor of Constantinople (1204–5). The count of Flanders (as Baldwin IX), he was a leader in the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades).
..... Click the link for more information. , Henry of Flanders Henry of Flanders, c.1174–1216, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1206–16), brother and successor of Emperor Baldwin I. The ablest and most respected of the Latin emperors, he fought successfully against the Bulgarians and with varying success against
..... Click the link for more information. , Peter of Courtenay and his wife, Yolande, Robert of Courtenay Robert of Courtenay , d. 1228, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1218–28). His father, Peter of Courtenay, was elected by the Latin nobles to succeed Henry of Flanders as emperor, but shortly afterward he was captured (1217) by Theodore, despot of Epirus.
..... Click the link for more information. , John of Brienne John of Brienne , c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succeeded to the title under John's regency.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Baldwin II Baldwin II, 1217–73, last Latin emperor of Constantinople (1228–61), brother and successor of Robert of Courtenay. He began his personal rule only after the death (1237) of his father-in-law, John of Brienne.
..... Click the link for more information. were rulers. The empire declined immediately after its creation, being beset by the Greek emperors of Nicaea (see Nicaea, empire of Nicaea, empire of, 1204–61. In 1204 the armies of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople, but the Crusaders' influence did not extend over the entire Byzantine Empire.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and despots of Epirus (see Epirus, despotate of Epirus, despotate of. When, in 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople on the ruins of the Byzantine Empire, an independent Greek state emerged in Epirus under Michael I, a member of the Angelus family.
..... Click the link for more information. ), by the Bulgars under Ivan II Ivan II or Ivan Asen , d. 1241, czar of Bulgaria (1218–41). On the death (1207) of his father, Kaloyan, founder of the second Bulgarian empire, the throne was usurped by Ivan's cousin Boril.
..... Click the link for more information. (Ivan Asen), by the Turks, by discord among the Westerners, and by Greek resistance. In 1222, Thessalonica fell to the despot of Epirus. By 1224 the Nicaean Emperor John III John III (John Ducas Vatatzes) , d. 1254, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1222–54), successor and son-in-law of Theodore I. He extended his territory in Asia Minor and the Aegean islands but failed (1235) to take Constantinople from the Latins, although he was
..... Click the link for more information. had recovered Asia Minor. Constantinople, nearly captured by Ivan Asen in 1234, fell to Emperor Michael VIII Michael VIII (Michael Palaeologus), c.1225–1282, Byzantine emperor (1261–82), first of the Palaeologus dynasty. Following the murder of the regent for Emperor John IV of Nicaea, he was appointed (1258) regent and, soon afterward (1259), coemperor.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1261. Venice, however, retained possession of most of the Greek isles, the duchy of Athens passed under Catalan rule, and Achaia stayed in the hands of the Villehardouin Villehardouin , French noble family that ruled the Peloponnesus from 1210 to 1278.

Geoffroi I de Villehardouin, d. 1218, nephew of the historian and marshal of Champagne and Romania, set out on the conquest of Morea (as the Peloponnesus was then called)
..... Click the link for more information. family until 1278.

Bibliography

See W. Miller, The Latins in the Levant (1908, repr. 1964); D. E. Queller, ed., The Latin Conquest of Constantinople (1971).

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