I see ‘Gina C’ got a thumbs down but she was partly right, the crusaders had hired the Venetians to build a vast navy that would transport the crusaders to Egypt. Their services were to be paid for by the crusaders themselves, unfortunately Abbot Martin and the other Crusade organizers had greatly overestimated the turn out, and there was a rather embarrassing lack of funds when they came to collect their ships.

The Venetians, after a great deal of negotiation, decided to let the crusaders off their debt if they helped them sack their old rivals, Zara and Constantinople, and divide up the booty between them.

Because Constantinople was the ‘Rome’ of the orthodox church, and yet they did not show hospitality to the crusaders when they were there on their way to palestine. The Crusaders were not allowed in the city, and were strung along with promises of ship transport. Constantinople was charging an unfair amount on unsafe ships, and there were not enough of them in any case to move an army. Negotiations dragged out until the Crusaders, who were basicly an army of independent small bands, got impatient, hungry, suffered from disease and finally sort of rioted, because they felt betrayed by the eastern church.

My dear Fu Man Chu, they didn’t. Constantinople was then the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the Turks that attacked Constantinople the 29 may 1453

must have been an easier target at the time