n April 12th, 1204, an army of 20,000 men, accompanied by a fleet of over 200 ships weighed down with          

             experienced Venetian sailors and warriors, launched a fierce attack on the capital of the Byzantine empire, the city

             of Constantinople. Just hours after the commencement of the invasion, the ancient wall of the great city, which had kept out the saracen invaders for hundreds of years, finally gave in. Thus mark the commencement of one of the world's most well known sacking of the greatest metropolis in the Christian world, when hundreds of thousands of Crusaders looted, robbed, terrorized and vandalized Constantinople for three days and nights. They had destroyed and stolen countless pieces of priceless artworks, sculptures and statues, as well as demolishing hundreds of libraries, monuments, even churches and sanctuaries.

       

          

     The sacking of Constantinople during the forth Crusade had shocked the ancient world, and greatly diminished people's faith and trust in the papacy. But what exactly had brought the Crusaders to attack their fellow Christians? Many references believed that the diversion of the Crusaders to Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 were a part of the Pope's plan to heal the great divide between the Eastern and Western churches caused by the Great Schism, while some evidence suggested that the attack was an attempt to gain political control of the Byzantine empire, as Constantinople was the empire's capital. However, based on the historical context and background, it is most likely that a series of unfortunate events had transformed the Fourth Crusade from a glorious holy war into a shameless fight for wealth.