Origins , the leader of the Fourth Crusade and Doge of Venice, inside the
Hagia Sophia After the
Sack of Constantinople, the crusaders agreed to divide up Byzantine territory. In the , signed on 1 October 1204, three eighths of the empire—including
Crete and other islands—went to the
Republic of Venice. The Latin Empire claimed the remainder and exerted control over: • areas of
Greece, divided into
vassal fiefs: • the
Kingdom of Thessalonica • the
Principality of Achaea • the
Duchy of Athens • the
Duchy of the Archipelago • the short-lived
Duchy of Philippopolis in north Thrace Further duchies were projected in
Asia Minor, at
Nicaea (for
Louis of Blois),
Nicomedia (
Thierry de Loos),
Philadelphia (
Stephen du Perche), and
Neokastra. These duchies remained theoretical, due to the establishment of the
Empire of Nicaea in the area. Nicaea itself was never occupied and Louis of Blois was
killed in 1205. Thierry de Loos was captured by the Nicaeans in 1207 and, although released, left the Latin Empire two years later. After a brief Nicaean reconquest, Nicomedia returned to Latin control, but the remained part of the Imperial domain. Philadelphia never came under actual Latin control, although the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders laid claim to the region after defeating the local strongman,
Theodore Mangaphas, in 1205. The duchy of Neokastra (
ducatus Novi Castri) on the other hand was never accorded to a single holder, but was divided among the
Knights Hospitaller (one quarter) and other feudatories. The term "duchy" in this case reflects the earlier Byzantine term
theme, usually governed by a
doux, to designate a province. The
Doge of Venice did not rank as a vassal to the Latin Empire. Still, his position in control of three-eighths of its territory and of parts of Constantinople itself ensured Venice's influence in the Empire's affairs. However, much of the former Byzantine territory remained in the hands of rival
successor states led by Byzantine Greek aristocrats, such as the
Despotate of Epirus, the
Empire of Nicaea, and the
Empire of Trebizond, each bent on reconquest from the Latins. On 9 May 1204,
Baldwin I was elected the emperor with Venetian support, and crowned on 16 May in the Hagia Sophia in a ceremony that closely followed Eastern Roman practices. Not long after the coronation, Baldwin ventured out into the Thracian countryside, posturing not as a conqueror but as a legitimate ruler, expecting to be universally acclaimed by the populace as the Emperor of the Romans. The establishment of the Latin Empire had the curious effect of creating five simultaneously existing polities claiming to be the Roman Empire: the Latin empire, the
Holy Roman Empire, and the three remnants of the
Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of Epirus, the empire of Nicaea, and the empire of Trebizond.
In Asia Minor in 1204. The initial campaigns of the crusaders in Asia Minor resulted in the capture of most of
Bithynia by 1205, with the defeat of the forces of
Theodore I Laskaris at Poemanenum and Prusa. Latin successes continued, and in 1207 a truce was signed with Theodore, newly proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea. The Latins inflicted a
further defeat on Nicaean forces at the Rhyndakos river in October 1211, and three years later the
Treaty of Nymphaeum (1214) recognized their control of most of Bithynia and
Mysia. The peace was maintained until 1222, when the resurgent power of Nicaea felt sufficiently strong to challenge the Latin Empire, by that time weakened by constant warfare in its European provinces. At the
battle of Poimanenon in 1224, the Latin army was defeated, and by the next year Emperor
Robert of Courtenay was forced to cede all his Asian possessions to Nicaea, except for
Nicomedia and the territories directly across from Constantinople. Nicaea turned also to the
Aegean, capturing the islands awarded to the empire. In 1235, finally, the last Latin possessions fell to Nicaea.
In Europe Unlike in Asia, where the Latin Empire faced only an initially weak Nicaea, in Europe it was immediately confronted with a powerful enemy: the
Bulgarian tsar
Kaloyan. When Baldwin campaigned against the Byzantine lords of
Thrace, they called upon Kaloyan for help. At the
Battle of Adrianople on 14 April 1205, the Latin heavy cavalry and knights were crushed by Kaloyan's troops and
Cuman allies, and Emperor Baldwin was captured. He was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital
Tarnovo until his death later in 1205. Kaloyan was murdered a couple of years later (1207) during a siege of
Thessalonica, and the Bulgarian threat conclusively defeated with a
victory the following year, which allowed Baldwin's successor,
Henry of Flanders, to reclaim most of the lost territories in Thrace until 1210, when peace was concluded with the marriage of Henry to
Maria of Bulgaria, tsar Kaloyan's daughter. , one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire At the same time, another Byzantine successor state, the
Despotate of Epirus, under
Michael I Komnenos Doukas, posed a threat to the empire's vassals in Thessalonica and Athens. Henry demanded his submission, which Michael provided, giving off his daughter to Henry's brother Eustace in the summer of 1209. This alliance allowed Henry to launch a campaign in
Macedonia,
Thessaly and
Central Greece against the rebellious
Lombard lords of Thessalonica. However, Michael's attack on the Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1210 forced him to return north to relieve the city and to force Michael back into submission. In 1214 however, Michael died, and was succeeded by
Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who was determined to capture Thessalonica. On 11 June 1216, while supervising repairs to the walls of Thessalonica, Henry died, and was succeeded by
Peter of Courtenay, who himself was captured and executed by Theodore the following year. Peter's widow
Yolanda of Flanders ruled alone in Constantinople until her death in 1219. Her son
Robert of Courtenay being absent in France, the regency passed first to
Conon de Béthune, and after his death shortly after, to Cardinal
Giovanni Colonna, until 1221, when Robert of Courtenay arrived in Constantinople. Distracted by the renewed war with Nicaea, and waiting in vain for assistance from
Pope Honorius III and the King of France
Philip II, the Latin Empire was unable to prevent the final fall of Thessalonica to Epirus in 1224. Epirote armies then conquered Thrace in 1225–26, appearing before Constantinople itself. The Latin Empire was saved for a time by the threat posed to Theodore by the Bulgarian tsar
Ivan II Asen, and a truce was concluded in 1228.
Decline and fall After Robert of Courtenay died in 1228, a new regency under
John of Brienne was set up. After the disastrous Epirote defeat by the Bulgarians at the
Battle of Klokotnitsa, the Epirote threat to the Latin Empire was removed, only to be replaced by Nicaea, which started acquiring territories in Greece. Emperor
John III Doukas Vatatzes of Nicaea concluded an alliance with Bulgaria, which in 1235 resulted in a joint campaign against the Latin Empire, and an unsuccessful
siege of Constantinople the same year. In 1237,
Baldwin II attained majority and took over the reins of a much-diminished state. The empire's precarious situation forced him to travel often to Western Europe seeking aid, but largely without success. In order to raise funds, he was forced to resort to desperate means, from removing the lead roofs of the
Great Palace and selling them, to handing over his only son, Philip, to Venetian merchants as a guarantee for a loan. By 1247, the Nicaeans had effectively surrounded the main holdings of the Emperor in the new European land system. Following the victory at the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259 Michael VIII Palaiologos of the Nicaean empire had only one obstacle left. The Theodosian walls and the Latin Forces. He had already cut off the Latins from aid from the Latin estates of Greece or the Nicaeans rivals and also a successor state to the Byzantines the Despotate of Epirus. The first attempt to take Constantinople occurred in 1260 when a Latin knight taken prisoner in Pelagonia, whose house was in the city walls, promised to open a gate for the emperor's troops. He failed to do so, and Palaiologos launched an unsuccessful assault on Galata Instead. In preparation for another attempt, an alliance with Genoa was concluded in March 1261, and in July 1261 As the one-year truce concluded after the failed Nicaean attack was nearing its end, the general
Alexios Strategopoulos was sent with a small advance force of 800 soldiers (most of them
Cumans) to keep a watch on the
Bulgarians and spy out the defences of the Latins. When the Nicaean force reached the village of
Selymbria, some 30 miles (48 km) west of Constantinople, they learned from some independent local farmers (
thelematarioi) that the entire Latin garrison, as well as the
Venetian fleet, were absent conducting a raid against the Nicaean island of
Daphnousia. Strategopoulos initially hesitated to take advantage of the situation, since his small force might be destroyed if the Latin army returned too soon, and because he would exceed the emperor's orders, but eventually decided he could not squander such a golden opportunity to retake the city. On the night of 24/25 July 1261, Strategopoulos and his men approached the
city walls and hid at a
monastery near the Gate of the Spring. Strategopoulos sent a detachment of his men, led by some of the , to make their way to the city through a secret passage. They attacked the walls from the inside, surprised the guards and opened the gate, giving the Nicaean force entry into the city. The Latins were taken completely unaware, and after a short struggle, the Nicaeans gained control of the land walls. As news of this spread across the city, the Latin inhabitants, from Emperor
Baldwin II downwards, hurriedly rushed to the harbours of the
Golden Horn, hoping to escape by ship. At the same time, Strategopoulos' men set fire to the Venetian buildings and warehouses along the coast to prevent them from landing there. Thanks to the timely arrival of the returning Venetian fleet, many of the Latins managed to evacuate to the still Latin-held parts of Greece, but the city was lost. Nicaean general
Alexios Strategopoulos found an unguarded entrance to the city, and entered it with only 800 troops, restoring the Byzantine Empire for his master,
Michael VIII Palaiologos. The remaining Latin states ruled territories of present-day
Greece, some of them until the 18th century, and are known as
Latinokratia.
Titular claimants For about a century thereafter, the heirs of
Baldwin II continued to use the title of Emperor of Constantinople, and were seen as the overlords of the various remaining Latin states in the
Aegean. They exercised effective authority in Greece only when actually ruling as
princes of Achaea, from 1333 to 1383.
James of Baux was the last of these Latin emperors to govern any imperial territory through Achaea. His reign lasted from 1374 until his death on 7 July 1383. == Organization and society ==