How long did the Latin Empire last? Empire

Building an Empire

During the Latin rule in Constantinople, the Byzantine state structure established before them did not undergo any noticeable changes. Byzantine titulature was actively used under the new government. For example, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo was given the title despot. One of the participants in the Crusade, Conon de Bethune, became a protovestiarian. Emperor Baldwin I himself accepted the signs of royal dignity: he wore the clothes of the Byzantine emperors, signed letters in red ink, and also sealed them with a seal, on one side of which the title was used: “Baldwin, despot”, and on the other: “Baldwin, most Christian emperor by the grace of God, ruler of the Romans, eternal Augustus."

The division of lands (which was not immediately established) ultimately led to the following distribution of possessions. Baldwin, in addition to part of Constantinople, received part of Thrace and the islands of Samothrace, Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Kos.

The remaining leaders of the crusaders, as vassals partly of the emperor, partly of the Thessalonian king, who himself was considered a vassal of the emperor, were given various cities and regions in the European part of the empire and in Asia Minor. Many of these lands still had to be conquered, and the crusaders only gradually established themselves in some of them, introducing feudal orders everywhere, partly distributing lands as fief to Western knights, partly retaining them as fief for their former owners, confiscating the lands of Orthodox monasteries. The Byzantine population, however, retained, in most cases, its laws and customs, the previous organization of local government and freedom of religion.

Collapse of Byzantium

In the faces of the vanquished and the victors, two completely different cultures collided, two different systems of state and church organization, and the number of newcomers was relatively small (it can be judged to some extent by the fact that the Venetians undertook to transport 33,500 crusaders on their ships) .

Baldwin I treated the Greek population with disdain. The Greek aristocracy, hoping to maintain its privileges, was pushed into the background. There were frequent disagreements among the conquerors themselves, and yet they constantly had to wage a stubborn struggle with the independent possessions that arose from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire. The Greek nobility began to actively support Greek independent state entities that appeared on the territory of the former Byzantine Empire. So, after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders, in Thrace there were the possessions of the former Byzantine emperors Alexei Murzuphlus and Alexei III Angelos. Separatism flourished on the ruins of the Roman state: Michael I Komnenos Ducas established himself in Epirus, and Leo Sgur owned the cities of Argos, Corinth and Thebes.

Two relatively large states arose in Asia Minor - the Empire of Trebizond, where the descendants of Emperor Andronikos Komnenos established themselves, and the Nicene Empire, where the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III, Theodore I Lascaris, established himself. To the north, the Latin Empire had a formidable neighbor in the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan. Both Alexei retreated before the onslaught of Baldwin, but he had to face Boniface of Montferrat, supported by the Greeks.

Unlike Baldwin, Boniface was able to win over part of the Greek population. Even during the division of Byzantium, he laid claim to the throne of Constantinople, but the Venetians opposed this. They desired control over the emperor, and distrusted the Margrave of Montferrat due to his connections with the Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Angels. In 1204, Boniface, instead of the possessions assigned to him in Asia Minor under the treaty, took possession of Thessalonica with the surrounding region and part of Thessaly. Thessalonica, according to his plans, was to become the center of an independent kingdom. But Emperor Baldwin I also laid claim to the city. Moreover, the ruler of Thessalonica was recognized by the Thracian cities, which, according to the agreement, should be under the authority of the Latin Emperor. A military confrontation was brewing between Baldwin I and Boniface.

Only through the combined efforts of Enrico Dandolo, Louis of Blois and the famous Villehardouin was it possible to reconcile the opponents, after which Boniface, together with his son Manuel, defeated Leo Sgur and took possession of Thessaly, Boeotia and Attica. The state of Thessalonica recognized the supreme power of Baldwin I. In turn, the created state of the crusaders on the territory of Athens, the Duchy of Athens, recognized itself as a vassal of Thessalonica, and the state in the Peloponnese, the Principality of Achaea, became a direct vassal of the Latin Empire.

Thus, Baldwin’s refusal to ally with the Greek aristocracy, as well as internal contradictions, made it impossible to establish the power of the crusaders throughout the territory of Byzantium.

Empire Wars

The head of the state was now - first as regent, and from 1206 as emperor - Baldwin's brother, Count Henry of Flanders, who tried by all means to reconcile the conflicting interests that collided in his state.

The leader of the Fourth Crusade, the first king of Thessalonica, Boniface I of Montferrat, was killed in a battle with the Bulgarians (September 4, 1207) in the southern Rhodopes. His head was cut off and sent to Tsar Kaloyan in Tarnovo. In Thessalonica he was succeeded by his 2-year-old son from his marriage to Mary of Hungary - Demetrius, and Montferrat was inherited by the eldest - Guglielmo.

Political history

Henry of Flanders managed to win over the Greeks of Adrianople and Didymotychos, who now suffered severely from Kaloyan and agreed to submit to Henry, with the condition of transferring their cities to the fief of Theodore Vrana, married to Agnes, the widow of Emperor Andronikos Komnenos. Then Henry, having repelled the attack of the Bulgarians, became close to Boniface, married his daughter and was going to undertake a campaign with him against Kaloyan; but in 1207 Boniface, unexpectedly stumbling upon a detachment of Bulgarians, was killed by them.

Kaloyan's death freed Henry from danger from the Bulgarians and allowed him to take care of the affairs of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, whose regent, the Lombardian Count Oberto Biandrate, disputed the crown with Boniface's son from Irene, Demetrius, and wanted to transfer it to Boniface's eldest son, William of Montferrat. Henry forced Oberto to recognize Demetrius's rights with armed force.

To give final organization to the political and church system of the new feudal empire, Henry on May 2, 1210, in the Ravenniki valley, near the city of Zeitun (Lamia), opened the “Mayfield” or “parliament”, where Frankish princes, large barons and clergy of the Greek provinces appeared , from 1204, partly with the help of Boniface, partly independently created their own possessions. In the Morea, as the Peloponnese became known after the Frankish conquest, Guillaume de Champlitte and Villehardouin greatly expanded their possessions from 1205 and, with a victory at Condura (Messenia) over the militias of the Greek nobility, founded the Frankish principality of Achaia.

In the same 1210, a compromise was approved in Rome, according to which the patriarch, as a delegate of the pope, was affirmed in all his rights, churches and monasteries were exempted from duties, Greek and Latin clergy were obliged to pay the Byzantine land tax for the land received as fief; uninitiated children of Orthodox priests were obliged to serve the barons. Henry tried, as far as possible, to settle church relations and reconcile the interests of the Orthodox population and clergy with the interests of the Latin clergy and Latin barons: the former sought to take possession of church and monastic property and tithe the Orthodox population in their favor, and the latter tried to achieve the secularization of church property and the liberation of the inhabitants subject to them empire from all church exactions. The Athos monasteries, subjected to plunder by the Thessalonian barons, were made “direct vassals” of the emperor.

In 1220, Peter's eldest son, Margrave Philip of Namur, was elected emperor, but he refused and his brother Robert, uneducated and rude, passionate and cowardly, took over the title. Relations with the Nicene court after the death of Theodore Lascaris became hostile, especially when John III Doukas Vatatzes, a bitter enemy of the Latins, became the head of the Nicene empire. The Kingdom of Thessalonica, where there were constant feuds between Demetrius and William, was captured by Theodore Comnenus Doukas in 1222, resulting in the crown of the ruler of Epirus as emperor. The Latin Empire continued to exist only thanks to the infighting between the two Greek emperors. Carried away by the daughter of knight Baldwin Neufville, whom he secretly married, Robert completely forgot the affairs of government; The barons, indignant at this, captured his wife and mother-in-law and drowned the latter, cutting off the first's nose and eyelids. Robert fled from Constantinople, returned with the help of the pope, but only reached Achaia, where he died in 1228, despised by everyone.

The new Emperor Baldwin II, Robert's brother, was only 11 years old; he was betrothed to the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen, related to the house of Courtenay, who promised to take away the lands he had conquered from Theodore Angel. The union with Bulgaria, however, was not wanted by the clergy, who decided to win John of Brienne, the former king of Jerusalem, to the side of the empire; Maria, his daughter, was to become Baldwin's bride, and he himself was to accept the title of emperor and the duties of regent.

In 1231, all vassals took an oath to John. Brilliant feats were expected of him, but in the early years he led a thrifty, careful economy. The campaign of 1233, which returned Pegi to Romania, benefited only the Rhodians and Venetians, whose trade was freed from restrictions from the Niceans; but in 1235 Vatatzes destroyed the Venetian

Territory of the Latin Empire

The Latin Empire included:

• a significant part of the Balkan Peninsula,
• northwestern lands of Asia Minor,
• islands of the Ionian and Aegean seas.

These territories were divided among themselves by the leaders of the crusaders, a number of knights, the Republic of Venice and the Venetian nobles. One-fourth of the territory of the Latin Empire (including one-fourth of Constantinople) belonged to the emperor.

Note 1

By a joint commission consisting of Venetians and Franks, one of the leaders of the campaign, Count Baldwin IX of Flanders, was elected emperor.

The largest fiefs in the Latin Empire:

• Kingdom of Thessalonica,
• Principality of Achai
• Duchy of Athens.

Internal structure of the Latin Empire. Politic system

Despite the fact that the Latin Empire inherited some features of the Byzantine state structure, in general it was a feudal monarchy of the French type.

Formally, Byzantine statehood was restored, and the magnificent ceremony characteristic of Byzantine monarchs was preserved. However, in fact, the structure of the Latin Empire was based on a branched feudal hierarchy of the French model. The centralization of the empire was only superficial.

The power of the Latin emperor was limited by a council, which included the most prominent lords and Venetian podesta, as well as six advisers. Basically, these senior positions corresponded to the Western European tradition, however, a number of positions had a Greek name.

In the Latin Empire, the tax system that existed in Byzantium was preserved. The political structure of the Latin Empire was consolidated by the assizes of Romagnia.

Social structure

The small ruling class was organized according to the principle of a feudal hierarchy. The Greek feudal nobility, who partially joined its ranks, were given a special legal status and had special forms of property. Greek peasants, as a rule, were attached to the land, and new forms of duties (banalities) appeared.

The “Franks” transferred feudal relations to the territory of Greece, which were based on the widespread distribution of domain economy. There was an increase in the private dependence of the peasants on the lord, and the growth of corvée.

The leading role in trade and industry belonged to the Venetians, which caused the decline of Greek crafts.

The highest church hierarchy (these were mainly Catholic bishops) was headed by the Catholic Patriarch, while the rank-and-file clergy for the most part remained Orthodox, preserving Orthodox rituals.

Weakening and liquidation of the Latin Empire

Note 2

There were sharp contradictions between the Latin feudal lords; the local population was hostile to the crusaders due to the economic, political and religious inferiority of the Greeks, and the simultaneous preservation of severe forms of the Byzantine tax system, which weakened the Latin Empire.

The Latin knights suffered a number of military defeats:

• On April 14, 1205, the Latins were defeated by the Bulgarian army near Adrianople
• in 1225 the crusaders were defeated by the Nicaean Empire at Pimanion
• in 1224, the Kingdom of Thessaloniki fell under the blows of the Epirus despot
• in 1235-1236 The crusaders were defeated by the combined forces of the Nicaean and Bulgarian sovereigns
• in 1259, near Pelagonia, the Nicene army defeated the Achaian army, capturing the Achaian prince
• On July 25, 1261, Constantinople was captured by the Nicaean army, which met virtually no resistance.

The transfer of Constantinople from the Latins to the Niceans actually meant the liquidation of the Latin Empire; however, a number of feudal estates in Central and Southern Greece, which were previously part of it, remained in the hands of the Latins until the $15th century.

The division of lands (which was not immediately established) ultimately led to the following distribution of possessions. Baldwin, in addition to part of Constantinople, received part of Thrace and the islands of Samothrace, Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Kos.

Latin Empire and surrounding territories.

In the same 1210, a compromise was approved in Rome, according to which the patriarch, as a delegate of the pope, was affirmed in all his rights, churches and monasteries were exempted from duties, Greek and Latin clergy were obliged to pay the Byzantine land tax for the land received as fief; uninitiated children of Orthodox priests were obliged to serve the barons. Henry tried, as far as possible, to settle church relations and reconcile the interests of the Orthodox population and clergy with the interests of the Latin clergy and Latin barons: the former sought to take possession of church and monastic property and tithe the Orthodox population in their favor, and the latter tried to achieve the secularization of church property and the liberation of the inhabitants subject to them empire from all church exactions. The Athos monasteries, subjected to plunder by the Thessalonian barons, were made “direct vassals” of the emperor.

Capture of Constantinople by the Byzantines

The Venetians frequently visited Constantinople with their merchant fleets, but troops from the West did not appear to support Romagna; Vatatzes and his successors approached the capital closer and closer and transferred their troops to Europe: a decisive step was not taken only out of fear of the Mongols. Baldwin was forced to pawn his own son to Venetian merchants in order to get money; Only in 1259 was it bought by the French king.

In Epirus, the Franks, who had established themselves in Durazzo, had to yield to the Albanians and Serbs.

The counts palatine held in Cephalenia and Zante from 1429 to 1429.

The Roman despots (since 1418), the Dukes of Leucas, were conquered by the Turks in 1479. In the second half of the 16th century, the last remnants of the Latin “New France” disappeared.

Rulers of the Latin Empire

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Links

• Latin Empire. East-West: The Great Confrontation. - Historical and geographical journey through the Latin Empire following Geoffroy de Villehardouin. (inaccessible link - story) Retrieved October 29, 2009.
• Bowman, Steven. The Jews of Byzantium 1204-1453. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1985.

The French founded the Latin Empire of Constantinople, 88 and a Venetian became its Catholic patriarch. At the appropriate moment, the papal excommunication was lifted from the crusaders and Byzantium. Other Western leaders became kings of Thessalonica, dukes of Athens or princes of the Morea (Peloponnese) - little more than robber states, existing at the mercy of Venice, which exploited them but could not always control them. The Venetians left for themselves Crete, which received the name “Candia,” and a chain of islands in the Aegean Sea that protected trade communications with Constantinople, which from now on completely passed into the hands of the Venetians.

Having taken and destroyed Christian Constantinople, the Catholic “Franks” relatively easily achieved what the German invaders could not achieve in the 4th–5th centuries. and what turned out to be beyond the power of the aggressors of subsequent centuries - the Persians, Arabs and Bulgarians. Innocent III began to regret too late the willfulness and disobedience of the crusaders, their terrible, but quite predictable cruelty and greed in capturing the imperial capital. Now he knew for sure that all chances for a genuine unification of the Latin and Byzantine churches, at least in the foreseeable future, had been irretrievably lost. Modern historians are able to trace the longer-term consequences of these events. The most powerful pope in the history of the Roman Church initiated a well-tested and by then traditional operation for the purely religious purpose of liberating Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher. But almost immediately this movement went out of his control and fell into the hands of people who were guided by a bizarre mixture of motives, mixed to one degree or another with a thirst for enrichment and a desire for conquest, seasoned with a bit of self-confidence characteristic of those who are convinced that God is on their side. And since all these motives were reinforced by the unsurpassed organizational abilities of the Venetians and the perfection of the military art of the French, the crusaders turned out to be irresistible. It was these abilities and skills that ensured the success of the Fourth Crusade, and they were the same in the future - from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 20th century. – the success of Europeans in subjugating or controlling much of the world. But it was no longer the popes and the church who carried out this expansion and reaped its fruits, but the states of New Europe.

Revival of Byzantium

In the 13th century it was difficult to predict future developments. Political and economic activity was not always combined with military qualifications. The new rulers of the feudal states in Greece and Thrace were at war with each other and could not protect their subjects from renewed attacks by the Bulgarians. On the other hand, in Epirus (Western Greece) and Anatolia, parts of the Byzantine Empire survived, now existing as independent states. In 1261, one of their armies suddenly captured Constantinople, and the Byzantine Empire was restored under the rule of the Palaiologan dynasty. The trade privileges of the Venetians went to their rivals, the Genoese.

Western Europe did not accept this outcome; One after another, plans arose for the return of Constantinople. The greatest danger to the Byzantines was the expedition of Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX, who defeated the heirs of Emperor Frederick II in Southern Italy and received the crown of Naples and Sicily from the hands of the pope. Charles's preparations were already in full swing when the Sicilians rebelled against the French occupation. On Easter Monday 1282, at the signal of the evening bells, they killed 2 thousand French soldiers in Palermo, and then offered the crown of Sicily to the Aragonese king Pedro III. Although Byzantine involvement has never been reliably established, it is at least as likely as the original Venetian plan to change the direction of the Fourth Crusade. However, whether the Sicilian Vespers were planned or not, it proved to be Byzantium's most effective response to the French, who were embroiled in nearly three centuries of war with the Spanish over Southern Italy. I had to say goodbye to hopes of organizing a campaign against Constantinople.

Nevertheless, Byzantium ceased to be a great Mediterranean power and, as often happens in such cases, was unable to control the forces that it itself had brought onto the scene. In 1311, several thousand Catalan and Aragonese mercenaries hired by the Byzantines captured the Duchy of Athens. The ancient classical buildings of the Acropolis - the Propylaea and the Parthenon - became, respectively, the palace of the Spanish Duke and the Church of St. Mary. Of all the "Latin" rulers of late medieval Greece, the Spaniards were probably the most greedy and, without a doubt, the most organized. The Spanish knights became large landowners and opened up new trade opportunities for merchants from Genoa and Barcelona. As if trying to emphasize its detachment from the previous spirit of the Crusades, the Duchy of Athens in 1388 entered into an alliance with the Florentine banking house of Acciaiuoli. The alliance of land-grabbing barons and capitalist merchants, which had first proven its strength in 1204, again demonstrated the highest efficiency.