The Conquest of Constantinople

Geoffroi de Villehardouin was born in the 1150s, the son of a nobleman of Champagne. He became Marshal of Champagne in 1185, a position whose duties included administration, overseeing defense, arbitration, arranging campaigns and, in the absence of the lord, taking command. He was honest and religious, a good statesman and a brave soldier, qualities that enabled him to play a leading role in the Fourth Crusade.

Christians made pilgrimage to the Holy City of Jerusalem, freely practicing their religion there until 1076, when the Turks assumed control, killing and imprisoning the Christians, and desecrating their holy places.

The First Crusade was undertaken to avenge these evils. An army led by Western European noblemen joined forces with the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople and entered Asia Minor. They defeated the Turks and took Jerusalem in 1099. The Holy City was again threatened by the Turks in 1144, inspiring the Second Crusade. Jerusalem remained in Christian hands until falling to the Moslem Empire in 1187. The Third Crusade immediately followed, but ultimately failed to recapture the Holy City.

The Fourth Crusade, launched at the dawn of the 13th-century, degenerated into a war against fellow Christians—Frank against Greek, Roman Catholic against Orthodox. Villehardouin provides this first-hand account of that famous campaign.