
35 
THE FOURTH CRUSADE AND THE FALL 
OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 
By Rev. JAS. A. SHAW, M.A., of Newchurch. 
March 13th, 1906. 
At the end of the 12th century Innocent III. was 
engaged in exhorting the clergy and laity of Europe 
to undertake a new Crusade. To crush the Saracen power, 
and thus atone for the moral failure of previous move- 
ments, was the pet ambition of the Pope’s life. Indications 
were not lacking that the time was favourable for 
determined action. After the death of Saladin in 1193, the 
struggles of rival claimants weakened the common cause of the 
_enemy. Innocent III. must have been much chagrined to 
recognise the fact that his entreaties were unavailing and his 
threats unheeded. But for the sudden appearance of a 
crusading apostle worthy to succeed Peter the Hermit and St. 
Bernard the Pope’s efforts would have been in vain. Fulke, 
parish priest of Neuilly, began to preach a new crusade, and 
met with extraordinary success. Innocent at once saw his 
chance ; he gave Fulke a commission at large, and sent Cardinal 
Peter of Capua to publish pardons in the case of all who took 
the cross. All classes were moved and vied with each other in 
acts of self-sacrifice. From among the greater lords and counts 
of Christendom, Thibaut, count of Champagne, was elected 
leader of the crusade. An embassy, which included Geoffrey 
Villehardouin, to whom we owe a graphic chronicle of subse- 
quent events, was despatched to Venice in order to arrange 
terms of transport. The deputies reached Venice in February, 
1201, and chiefly through the good offices of the Doge, Enrico 
Dandolo, their mission was entirely successful. From the very 
outset, however, the fourth crusade was attended with misfor- 
tune and must be looked upon as an ill-starred expedition. Fulke 
himself soon died, but not before his integrity had been 
impugned, When Villehardouin and his companions returned 
