Constantinople

:This article details the history of Constantinople before the Turkish Conquest of 1453. For details on the city since 1453, see ?stanbul.

The Comneni and Palaeologi

Following the catastrophic defeat in 1071 of the emperor Romanus IV Diogenes by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in Armenia, his successor Michael VII pleaded for assistance from the West. In due course this was to lead to the First Crusade, which assembled at Constantinople in 1096 in the reign of Alexius I Comnenus, and moved on towards Jerusalem. The Crusades were, however, to lead in time to the disastrous capture and sack of Constantinople by soldiers of the Fourth Crusade on April 12 1204. For the subsequent half-century or more, Constantinople remained the centre of the Roman Catholic crusader state, set up after the city's capture under Baldwin IX, and which became known as the Latin Kingdom. During this time, the Byzantine emperors made their capital at nearby Nicaea, which acted as the capital of the temporary, short-lived Empire of Nicaea and a refuge for refugees from the sacked city of Constantinople. From this base, Constantinople was eventually recaptured from its last Latin ruler, Baldwin II, by Byzantine forces under Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261. The Comneni founded a beautiful new imperial palace at Blachernae in the north-west of the city, the Great Palace subsequently falling into disuse.

Related Topics:
1071 - Romanus IV - Seljuk Turks - Manzikert - Armenia - Michael VII - First Crusade - 1096 - Alexius I - Jerusalem - Fourth Crusade - April 12 - 1204 - Roman Catholic - Crusader state - Baldwin IX - Latin Kingdom - Nicaea - Empire of Nicaea - Baldwin II - Byzantine - Michael VIII Palaeologus - 1261 - Blachernae

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