In 1204 the army of the Fourth Crusade sacked the great city of Constantinople. In earlier historiography the view prevailed that these Western barons and knights temporarily destroyed the Byzantine state and replaced it with a series of feudal states of their own making. Through a comprehensive rereading of better and lesser-known sources this book offers an alternative perspective arguing that the Latin rulers did not abolish, but very consciously wanted to continue the Eastern Empire. In this, the new imperial dynasty coming from Flanders-Hainaut played a pivotal role. Despite religious and.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 483-519) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue -- The constitutional treaties of 1204-1205 : the Latin restructuring of Byzantium -- The imperial ideology -- The imperial quarter -- Imperial authority within the empire in its entirety -- The central elite -- Religion, church, and empire -- The Byzantine space -- The Latin Orient.
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