Timeline Tuesday 13 April 1204

Events on Tuesday 13 April 1204 5

• 1204 – 1261 Latin occupation -- the church desecrated When the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople on 13 April 1204, Hagia Sophia is desecrated. The Crusaders break into the treasury, steal the gold and silver vessels, tear the silver iconostasis apart for the metal, and reportedly install a prostitute on the Patriarch's throne. A mule is brought into the building to carry away the booty and slips on the marble floor. The Latin Empire installs a Latin Patriarch in Hagia Sophia; the Orthodox Patriarch operates from Nicaea in exile. The desecration of Hagia Sophia is remembered by the Orthodox world as the defining act of Western betrayal.
• 1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople The Fourth Crusade (1202-04), diverted by Venetian commercial interests, sacks Constantinople on 13 April 1204 -- the first time the city falls to an enemy in 874 years. The three-day sack is one of the great cultural catastrophes of the Middle Ages: libraries burned, relics stolen, the Hagia Sophia desecrated. The Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204-1261) replaces the Byzantine state. Three successor Byzantine states survive in exile: Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus.
• 1204 The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204), diverted by Venetian commercial interests and Byzantine dynastic intrigue, sacks Constantinople on 13 April 1204. The three-day sack is one of the great cultural catastrophes of the Middle Ages: the imperial treasury is looted; the great library is burned; the relics of Christendom are stolen (the horses of San Marco in Venice are from the Hippodrome); the Hagia Sophia is desecrated. The Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204-1261) is established. Pope Innocent III, who had forbidden the attack, writes: 'These defenders of Christ... have dipped their swords in Christian blood.'
• 1204 The assault -- 9 April and 13 April The first assault (9 April 1204) is repulsed. The second assault (13 April) succeeds when Crusader ships lash themselves to the sea wall towers and Crusaders fight their way from ship to tower. A group gets through a blocked gate; the troops inside flee. The city that had withstood Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, Rus and Normans falls in hours. Alexios V flees. Enrico Dandolo -- ancient and blind -- is reportedly the first to jump ashore from his ship. By evening of 13 April, Constantinople is in Crusader hands. The three-day sack begins.
• 1204 The sack -- a cultural catastrophe The three-day sack of Constantinople (13-15 April 1204) destroys a significant portion of the accumulated cultural wealth of a thousand-year civilisation. The imperial palace is looted; the Hippodrome's bronze statues are melted down; the great library (containing unique manuscripts of classical antiquity) is burned; the treasury of Hagia Sophia is stripped; relics from across the Christian world are stolen and distributed to western churches. The horses of San Marco in Venice -- four ancient bronze horses from the Hippodrome -- are among the most visible surviving trophies. Pope Innocent III writes: 'the purity of your deeds has surpassed that of the Saracens.'