
Episode 259 - The Fourth Crusade (Part 1)
The History of Byzantium
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Is Constantinople a Destination for the Crusade?
With the Empire in a permanent state of civil war, that amount just couldn't be raised. And as for sending 10,000 soldiers overseas, I doubt if the Emperor was leading that many out into the Balkans each summer. What was going to happen when the next Bulgarian raid came over the horizon now that you'd sent all your soldiers to Cairo? The decision to make the Orthodox subservient to the Catholics was the icing on the cake of this fantasy. Even if the Empire could satisfy the other conditions of this deal, there's no way the people would accept this. Anti-Latin sentiment ran high on the streets of Constantinople and amongst the clergy. To be told that they must abandon Orthodox
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