ENRICO DANDOLO CONSIDERING THE CRUSADERS' PROPOSAL.
HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
ECONOMIC CONTEXT
he Fourth Crusade was unusual in so many aspects, one of which was the method of transportation which the
Crusaders decided to utilize. This decision was made in 1199, when Pope Innocent III had just announced the
commencement of the Fourth Crusade. A group of French knights, who had first taken the crusade vows, made the decision to attack Jerusalem by sea as opposed to doing so by land. Beginning in Venice, the proposed route would take the Crusaders across the Mediterranean sea to Eastern Egypt, where a short land trip would quickly bring the troops to Jerusalem. Expecting huge amounts of armies to arrive, the Crusaders made a treaty with the doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, for the construction of battle ships, as well as supplements of horses and soldiers to help them reach the mideast.
T
Villehardouin, a noble knight who had participated in the Fourth Crusade, described the enormous scale of the proposed ship construction project in Venice. His written record was considered to be more "official" because of his status:
"' My lords,' said the doge... ' We will furnish vessels having a door in the stern, which could take in horses] for carrying 4,500 horses and 9,000 esquires, and vessels for 4,500 knights and 200,000 foot-soldiers.'... The sum of these payments indicated above amounts to 85,000 marks. 'And we will do still more: we will add fifty armed galleys, for the love of God; on the condition that as long as our alliance shall last, of every conquest of land or money that we make, by sea or land, we shall have one-half and you the other. Now deliberate whether you can fulfill these conditions.'
The messengers went away, saying that they would talk it over and reply the next day. They consulted and discussed that night and then resolved to agree to it. The next day they went to the doge and said: ' Sire, we are ready to make this agreement.' The doge said that he would speak to his people and tell them the result."
(Villehardouin, Conquête de Constantinople)
Unexpectedly, by 1202, it appeared as if there were going to be much, much less Crusaders than the French knights had originally anticipated -- and that, in turn, meant less amount of funds were available for the Fourth Crusade. This was described by another knight, Robert de Clari. Interestingly, Robert was one of the poorer knights, therefore his description represented the viewpoint of the majority of the Crusaders in the Fourth Crusade:
"While the pilgrims were staying on the island of St. Nicholas the doge of Venice and the Venetians went to speak to them and demanded the pay for the navy which had been prepared... Of these 4,000 knights, there were not more than 1,000 present... And of these 200,000 foot-soldiers there were not more than 50,000 or 60,000. "Nevertheless," said the doge, " we want you to pay us the sum which you promised." When the crusaders heard this, they debated and arranged that each knight should pay four marks and four marks for each horse, and each esquire two marks... When they collected this money, they paid it to the Venetians. But 50,000 marks still remained due." (Robert de Clari, La Prise de Constantinople)
THE PROPOSED ROUTE OF ATTACK ON JERUSALEM. (ENLARGE)
It is very clear that the Crusaders were out of money before they even departed Venice. Although the doge of Venice eventually allowed them to depart, many Crusaders did not have enough money left to support a trip across to Egypt.
VILLEHARDOUIN
ENRICO DANDOLO
horty after the Crusaders' departure from Venice, winter had befallen upon
the Adriatic sea. The doge of Venice decided that sailing across the
Mediterranean sea during winter, where storms and turbulences were common occurrences, wasn't ideal. He proposed to the Crusaders that they should divert to Zara, a city that used to belong to the Venetians but was later conquered by Hungary, where they could stay until the winter passes. The Crusaders agreed and later conquered Zara during the December of 1202. Pope Innocent III, however, wasn't very pleased with their actions; Hungary was a part of the Roman Catholic Church and had contributed to the Crusades. The Pope quickly excommunicated the Crusaders and the Venecians, before sending
an order to the Crusaders, ordering them not to attack any other Christian territories, including the Byzantine empire. However, that order never reached the Crusaders in time.
As the Crusaders waited for spring to come, concerns arose over the devastating lack in provisions. Robert de Clari described the increasingly lowering morale within the army from the viewpoint of the masses:
"In the meantime the crusaders and the Venetians remained at Zara during the winter. They considered how great the expense had been and said to one another that they could not go to Babylon or Alexandria or Syria; for they had neither provisions nor money for the journey. They had already used up everything they had, either during the sojourn that they had made or in the great price that they had paid for the vessels. They said that they could not go and, even if they should go, they would accomplish nothing; they had neither provisions nor money sufficient to support them."
(Robert de Clari, Hopf: Chroniques)
Since Robert's description of the event represented the thought of the masses, it seemed as though the Fourth Crusade was going to come to an early end due to a desperate lack of provisions. Villehardouin did not make such remarks in his accounts of the events, most likely because of his greater status and wealth.
S
CRUSADERS SAILING ON A SHIP.
