The timeline of the Latin Empire is a chronological list of events of the history of the Latin Empire—the crusader state that developed on the ruins of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade in the 13thcentury.
Background
Towards the Fourth Crusade
1054 Spring. The Seljuk Sultan, Tughril, raids Byzantine territories. 16 July. East–West Schism: Pope Leo IX's legate, Humbert of Silva Candida, excommunicates Patriarch Michael I Cerularius, and the Patriarch excommunicates the Pope. 1071 August 26. Battle of Manzikert: the Seljuk Sultan, Alp Arslan, defeats and captures the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. 1071–1081 The Seljuks seize large parts of Anatolia, taking advantage of Byzantine civil wars. 1073–1074 Roussel de Bailleul, a Norman mercenary previously in Byzantine service, rules western Anatolia. The Byzantines could terminate his rule only with Seljuk support. 1080 July. Pope Gregory VII authorizes the Norman duke of Apulia and Calabria, Robert Guiscard, to invade the Byzantine Empire to reinstate the dethroned Emperor Michael VII Doukas. 1082 21 February. Robert Guiscard occupies the Byzantine town of Dyrrachium, or Durazzo, on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. He continues his military campaign towards Constantinople along the Via Egnatia. May. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos grants privileges to the Venetian merchants, including their exemption from specified taxes, in return for Venetian naval support against the Normans. 1083–1084 The Venetians and the Byzantines force the Normans to abandon the Byzantine Empire. 1090s Western European mercenaries make up the majority of the Varangian Guard. 1095 March. Emperor AlexiosI's envoys seek Pope Urban II's assistance at the Council of Piacenza in raising mercenary troops to fight against the Seljuks. 27 November. Pope UrbanI proclaims the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont for the liberation of the Eastern Christians and the Holy Land. 1096–1097 Winter. Tens of thousands of crusaders march across the Byzantine Empire towards the Holy Land. Their conflicts with the Byzantines occasionally end with skirmishes. All crusader leaders, but Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, swear fealty to AlexiosI, promising to return to the Byzantines all lands that the Seljuks conquered from the Byzantines. 1097 May–June. The Byzantines and crusaders lay siege to Nicaea. The Seljuk garrison surrender the town to the Byzantine general Manuel Boutoumites. 1098 3 June. The crusaders capture Antioch, a city that the Seljuks seized from the Byzantines in 1083. November. The crusader leaders acknowledge the right of Robert Guiscard's son, Bohemond, to rule Antioch, ignoring their oath to Emperor Alexios. 1101 August–September. The Seljuks annihilate three crusading armies in Anatolia. The survivors baselessly blame the Byzantines for the catastrophe. 1108 September. Treaty of Devol: Bohemond acknowledges AlexiosI's suzerainty over the Principality of Antioch. Bohemond's lieutenant in Antioch, Tancred, does not implement the treaty. 1111 AlexiosI grants trading privileges to the Pisans, reducing custom duties and allowing them to establish a colony in Constantinople. 1119 AlexiosI's successor, John II Komnenos, does not confirm the Venetians' trading privileges, stating that they abused them. 1122–1125 Doge Domenico Michiel personally leads the Venetian Crusade to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. While sailing towards and from the Holy Land, the Venetian fleet plunder Byzantine islands. 1126 August. Emperor JohnII restores the Venetians' trading privileges. 1137 Spring. JohnII conquers the Cilician plains from Antioch and replaces the Catholic bishops with Orthodox prelates. 1145 1 December. Pope Eugenius III proclaims the Second Crusade for the recovery of Edessa. 1147–1148 Fearing of an anti-Byzantine French–Norman coalition, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos tries to convince King Louis VII of France to avoid Constantinople during his march to the Holy Land, but LouisVII ignores him. Godefroy de la Roche Vanneau, Bishop of Langres, urges LouisVII to conquer Constantinople in retaliation for the dismissal of the Catholic bishops in Cilicia and for the Byzantine attacks against Antioch, but the King refuses. Hunger forces the French crusaders to seize food from the Greeks in western Anatolia by force, provoking their counter-attacks. The Byzantine fleet carries LouisVII and his nobles to Antioch, but the Seljuks annihilate most common soldiers who are left behind in Anatolia. The crusaders blame the Byzantines for the failure of the Second Crusade. 1155 ManuelI grants trading privileges to the Genoese. 1162 Street fights among the Genoese, Pisans and Venetians in Constantinople. ManuelI bans the Genoese and Pisans from the empire, enabling the Venetians to monopolize the foreign trade. 1170–1171 ManuelI allows the Genoese and Pisans to return to Constantinople. After the Venetians destroy the new Genoese quarter, ManuelI's orders the imprisonment of all Venetians and the confiscation of their ships and goods. The Venetian fleet plunders Aegean islands. 1180–1182 ManuelI's widow, Maria of Antioch, assumes regency for their eleven-year-old son, Alexios II Komnenos. Her favoritism towards the Genoese and Pisans alienates the Byzantines. After ManuelI's cousin, Andronikos Komnenos, rose up against her in Paphlagonia, a popular uprising broke out in Constantinople. The mob massacre Pisan and Genoese merchants and Catholic priests, including the papal legate, Cardinal John. 1183 September. Andronikos Komnenos is crowned AlexiosII's co-emperor, but he soon had AlexiosII murdered. He allows the Venetians to return to Constantinople. 1184 Emperor AndronikosI concludes an alliance with Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria. 1184 ManuelI's nephew, Isaac Komnenos rose up against AndronikosI and seizes Cyprus. Isaac Komnenos assumes the title emperor. 1185 September. News of Norman troops advancing towards Constantinople cause panic. The mob proclaims Isaac II Angelos—Emperor AlexiosI's great-grandson—emperor. AndronikosI is tortured to death. November. The brothers Theodore and Asen stir up the Bulgarians and the Vlachs into a rebellion against the Byzantines in the Balkan Mountains. 1186 Emperor IsaacII renews the alliance with Saladin. 1186 IsaacII sends his fleet to recapture Cyprus. The Sicilian admiral Margaritus of Brindisi attacks the fleet and seizes eighty Byzantine ships (four-fifths of the imperial fleet). 1187 February. IsaacII restores the Venetians' trading privileges and pays a compensation to them in return for their promise of naval support. 4 July. Battle of Hattin: Saladin annihilates the field army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 2 October. Saladin captures Jerusalem. 29 October. Pope Gregory VIII proclaims the Third Crusade against Saladin. 1188 IsaacII's brother-in-law, Conrad of Montferrat, addresses a letter to Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, from Tyre, accusing IsaacII of conspiring against the crusaders with Saladin. 1189–1190 The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, and Emperor IsaacII distrust each other during Frederick's crusade. Frederick is suspicious about Isaac's negotiations with Saladin and Isaac fears of a German attack on Constantinople. The German crusaders temporarily capture Philippopolis and Adrianople in Thrace before the two emperors conclude a peace treaty. 1191 May. King Richard I of England conquers Cyprus during his crusade. 1192 2 September. RichardI and Saladin sign a three-year truce. The crusader states survive in the Outremer and the Christian pilgrims are allowed to visit the holy places, but Jerusalem remains under Muslim rule. 1195 Good Friday. The Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, takes the crusading oath without waiting for Pope Celestine III's appeal for a new crusade. Henry threatens the Byzantines with an invasion if they do not contribute with 5,000 pounds of gold to his crusade. 8 April. IsaacII is dethroned, blinded and imprisoned by his brother, Alexios III Angelos. 1196 HenryVI agrees to reduce the Byzantine contribution to 1,000 pounds of gold. AlexiosIII levies a special tax, the "German Tax", to cover the expenditure. 1197 28 September. HenryVI dies before departing for the crusade.
Fourth Crusade
1198 15 August. Pope Innocent III proclaims the Fourth Crusade. 1199 28 November. Theobald III, Count of Champagne, Louis I, Count of Blois, and Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders, take the crusading oath at a tournament at Asfeld. Their vassals follow their suit. 1200 Summer. The crusader leaders meet at Compiègne to make preparations for the crusade. 1200 Revolts against AlexiosIII: his illegitimate cousin, Michael Komnenos Doukas makes raids in the valley of the Maeander River in western Anatolia with Seljuk support; the Anatolian aristocrat Theodore Mangaphas seizes the Thracesian Theme; Leo Sgouros rises up in the Peloponnese. 1201 April. Doge Enrico Dandolo concludes a treaty with the crusader leaders' delegates. The Venetians contract to build a fleet to carry 4,500 knights, 9,000 squires and 20,000 footsoldiers for 85,000 marks. The crusaders and the Venetians also agree that they will divide all conquered lands equally between them. May. InnocentIII forbids the crusaders and the Venetians to invade Christian lands when confirming their treaty. Theobald of Champagne, the designated commander of the crusading army, dies. August. Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat is elected as the new commander of the crusading army. Autumn. IsaacII'son, Alexios Angelos, escapes from prison and a Pisan ship carries him to Italy. Winter. The young Alexios Angelos meets with his brother-in-law, Philip of Swabia, and Boniface of Montferrat. He seeks their support to regain his father's imperial throne from AlexiosIII. 1201/1202 AlexiosIII concludes a peace treaty with the younger brother and successor of Theodore and Asen, Kaloyan of Bulgaria, establishing the Balkan Mountains as the frontier between the two countries. 1202 Early. Alexios Angelos cannot convince InnocentIII to acknowledge his claim to the Byzantine throne. 24 June. The Venetians complete the crusaders' fleet, but the crusader leaders can only pay 60% of the agreed price, because many crusaders departed for the Holy Land from other ports. Enrico Dandolo proposes a compromise, offering to delay the payment of the missing amount in return for the crusaders' support to conquer Zadar, a Dalmatian town accepting the suzerainty of Emeric, King of Hungary. 22 July. The crusader leaders accept Dandolo's offer. They also agree to invade Egypt after wintering in Dalmatia. 1 October. InnocentIII prohibits the crusaders to besiege Christian towns, particularly Zadar. 16 November. InnocentIII urges AlexiosIII to achieve the Church union and acknowledge the papal supremacy. 24 November. The crusaders capture and sack Zadar. 15 December. InnocentIII forgives the crusaders for their attack on Zadar, but refuses to absolve the Venetians. The papal legate, Peter of Capua, departs the crusade for the Holy Land. 1203 1 January. Alexios Angelos's envoys offer 200,000 marks, 10,000 soldiers and the Church union in return for the crusaders' assistance against AlexiosIII. The crusaders (or Latins) accept the offer. April. Alexios Angelos joins the crusaders at Zadar. 6 July. Crusaders capture Galata and the Venetian fleet forces an entry to the Golden Horn. 17–18 July. The crusaders attack Constantinople and capture some towers. AlexiosIII flees the city. IsaackII is released and restored to the throne. He confirms his son's promises. 1 August. The younger Alexios is crowned his father's co-emperor as Alexios IV. He announces the Church union, but he can pay only 100,000 marks to the crusaders. He makes a new agreement with the crusaders, promising further payments to them in return for their support against AlexiosIII who still holds Thrace.