When the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 they wrote back to the Pope with excitement that they ended the schism. The Pope accepted it and replied: “Surely, this was done by the Lord and is wondrous in our eyes. This is truly a change done by the right hand of the Most High, in which the right hand of the Lord manifested power so that he might exalt the most holy Roman Church while He returns the daughter to the mother, the part to the whole and the member to the head.” Although the Papacy had discouraged an attack on Constantinople, it surely accepted the results of it when sending a letter to the new Latin Emperor Baldwin. Instead of excommunication the crusaders for abandoning their “holy” mission to go to Egypt against his wishes, and instead destroying the largest Christian city on Earth, he rewarded it with recognition and praise. Source: Byzantium and the Crusades by Jonathan Harris
“Harris's classic text chronologically surveys Byzantine history in the time of the Crusades. The book reveals the attitudes of the Byzantine ruling elites towards the Crusades and their ultimate inability to adapt to the challenges this presented.” amzn.to/48vZ3Wr
@RomeInTheEast And now Black Bart wants to put the Orthodox Church under the Pope.
@RomeInTheEast Haha those Trads never quote that! lol
@RomeInTheEast The real catastrophe was the fact that Constantinople wasn't retaken sooner when the Michael Paleologos' reconquista happened in 1261 the City was a ghost of its past Glory and never got it back until the Ottomans came
@RomeInTheEast Pretty sure that Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders & expressed fury that they had acted so disgracefully in Constantinople. He was by no means happy about the murdering & desecration of the holy sites. I'd have to do some digging, but I thought he was pretty disgusted.
@RomeInTheEast Such a black day for Christendom ...