15 Facts About Latin Empire

Latin Empire, referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire.

The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantine Empire as the Western-recognized Roman Empire in the east, with a Catholic emperor enthroned in place of the Eastern Orthodox Roman emperors.

The Latin Empire's authority was immediately challenged by Byzantine rump states led by the Laskaris family in Nicaea and the Komnenos family in Trebizond.

The Latin Empire failed to attain political or economic dominance over the other Latin powers that had been established in former Byzantine territories in the wake of the Fourth Crusade, especially Venice, and after a short initial period of military successes it went into a steady decline due to constant war with Bulgaria to the north and the various Byzantine claimants.

Much like the term "Byzantine", which was invented in the 16th century, "Latin Empire" was not a contemporary name used by or for the regime set up by the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople.

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The term "Latin Empire" has been used by these later historians because the crusaders were Roman Catholic and used Latin Empire as their liturgical and scholarly language.

Latin Empire successes continued, and in 1207 a truce was signed with Theodore, newly proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea.

At the battle of Poimanenon in 1224, the Latin Empire 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.

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.

Latin Empire was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo until his death later in 1205.

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.

Latin Empire was formed and administered on Western European feudal principles, incorporating some elements of the Byzantine bureaucracy.

Latin Empire exercised authority over the Venetian quarters of Constantinople and Pera and the Venetian dominions within the empire, assisted by a separate set of officials.

Latin Empire's role was more that of an ambassador and vicegerent of Venice than a vassal to the empire.

In several senses, the only significant export on which the economy of the Latin Empire had any real basis was the sale of relics back to Western Europe which had been looted from Greek churches.