Timeline April 1261

Events in April 1261 1

• 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.