Crusades

The reason behind the Crusaders ' decision to attack Constantinople was to pay off their debts to Venice . An emerging power in maritime trade Venice was chosen to produce a fleet that would carry 20 ,000 foot soldiers , 4 ,000 knights and 9 ,000 squires to Egypt in exchange for 86 ,000 marks . During this period , Egypt was the center of Islamic power (Roman-Empire .net , n . pag . The strategy of King Richard I , therefore was to attack Egypt before moving on to capture Jerusalem (Madden , 100

But the Crusade eventually fell into heavy debt . Animosity

and distrust among the Crusaders forced many of them to travel eastward without the Venetian fleet . As the knights were supposed to pay their own fare upon their arrival at Venice , the Crusade 's leaders were unable to pay the Doge Enrico Donalo the expected sum of 86 ,000 marks . Despite attempts to raise funds , they were still 34 ,000 marks short (Roman-Empire .net , n pag

Donalo used this situation to his advantage by persuading them to invade Constantinople . Constantinople was the main obstacle to prevent Venice from rising to dominate the trade of the Mediterranean Sea (Roman-Empire .net , n . pag . Donalo was brought closer to his aforementioned goal when Alexius Angelus (Alexius IV ) promised the Crusaders that he will provide them with 200 ,000 marks and 10 ,000 men if they would help him regain the Byzantine throne from Alexius III . Thus Constantinople fell to the Crusaders on April 13 , 1204 (Roman-Empire .net , n . pag...