April 13: Constantinople falls into the hands of the Fourth Crusade putting temporary end to the Byzantine Empire in 1204.

Conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204

The Fourth Crusade was conducted between 1202 and 1204 whose original intention was to conquer Jerusalem, the Holy Land, which was dominated by Muslims. The invasion was planned to make it through Egypt. However changes on the road led the “Templars” to attack Constantinople and loot the wealth of Orthodox Byzantine Empire.

Capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204

This invasion is considered as the final act of separation between Christian Churches also known as the Grand Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church with its capital in Constantinople.

Partition of the Byzantine Empire into The Latin Empire, Empire of Nicaea, and Despotate of Epirus after 1204.

The Crusaders established a short-lived empire under the name of the Latin Empire, between 1204 and 1206. Among the cities that managed to resist the Crusaders and returned to rescue were Nicaea, Trebizond and Epirus who succeeded in expelling the Crusaders and recover Constantinople as the capital of the Byzantine Empire.