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[[File: Cuman_warrior.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Modern Reenactors of Cuman Warriors]]__NOTOC__
The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) was unlike any crusade before or after it because instead of pitting Christian crusaders against Muslim armies, it was a war between the forces of Western Christianity and Orthodox Christianity. Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church officially split in 1054, they maintained somewhat cordial relations: Pope Urban II (in power 1088-1099) even called for the First Crusade (1095-1099) partly at the behest of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenos (ruled 1081-1118), whose lands were being encroached on by the Muslim Seljuk Turks. But as the Crusades continued, Westerners began turning their eyes toward the Byzantine Empire.
The Germans, Franks, Normans, and other Western crusaders saw how wealthy the Byzantine Empire was and began coveting some of that wealth for themselves. The Republic of Venice was particularly interested in Byzantium’s wealth, as it was a merchant/trade based state with many Venetians already living in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The Catholic pope Pope of the time, Innocent III (in power 1198-1216) also saw potential in the Byzantine Empire. Although Innocent recognized Byzantium as a legitimate Christian kingdom and initially threatened any Western crusaders with excommunication ex-communication if they attacked Orthodox Christians, he hoped that at least peripheral lands in the Byzantine Empire could be peeled off for the Roman Church. Once the Western crusaders entered Byzantine territory, though, things immediately became very complicated.
The crusaders were actually invited to Constantinople by the short-lived Emperor Alexius IV (reigned 1203-1204), before he was killed by his successor, Alexius IV (ruled 1204). The death led to the Western coalition declaring war on Alexius IV, taking Constantinople, and installing their own “Latin” dynasty that lasted until 1216. As this all was taking place, Kaloyan (reigned 1170-1207), the Tsar of Bulgaria, embarked on his own campaign to conquer the Byzantine Empire. Among the backbone of Kaloyan’s army were the nomadic steppe people, the Cumans.
The Cumans had an immediate impact on the course of the Fourth Crusade. They were highly effective on the battlefield against the Western crusaders, helping Kaloyan conquer much of the Balkans. As the war endured, though, Kaloyan became cruel and used the Cumans as a cudgel against the Greeks and other people of the Balkans. The wanton destruction of the Cumans eventually pushed the Greeks to the side of the Western crusaders and when there was little left for the Cumans to loot, they simply returned to their lands north of the Danube River. In the end, the Cumans were much more harmful to Kalyon’s efforts than they were beneficial.
===The Cumans and the Crusaders===
[[File: Fourth_Crusade.png|300px|thumbnail|left|Map of the Fourth Crusade after the Crusaders Took Constantinople]]
Kaloyan wasted no time embarking on his campaign against the crusaders. At the vanguard of his army were the Cumans, whom he used to help relieve the crusader siege of Adrianople in 1205. The Greeks of Adrianople were desperate, as they had been besieged for over a month, when Kaloyan and the Cumans arrived and engaged the crusaders in battle from April 12-14, 1205. The crusaders initially had the upper hand with the advantage of their heavy arms and armor in close-quarters combat, but the Cumans eventually won the battle when they did their famous feigned retreat.
“Before long the Comans and Wallachians had overrun the land as far as the gates of Constantinople, where the regent, with as many men as he had at his command, was then residing. He was feeling very sad and extremely worried at not being able to get enough men to defend his land. Because of this the Comans were seizing all the cattle in the countryside, carrying off men, women, and children wherever they found them, destroying castles and cities as they passed, everywhere causing such ruin and desolation that no one has ever heard tell of anything to surpass it.” <ref> Joinville and Villehardouin, XVIII, p. 137</ref>
The Cumans then returned to Cumania and did not again take part in the Fourth Crusade. The Greeks of Adrianople actually went over to the crusaders due to the Cumans’ brutality, forcing Kaloyan to give up his own crusade and returned to Bulgaria. <ref> Joinville and Villehardouin, XX, p. 153</ref> The Cumans, though, would have one last bit of impact on the Fourth Crusade. Not long after he returned to Bulgaria, Kaloyan was murdered, probably by his Cuman bodyguards. <ref> Vásáry, p. 53</ref>
===Conclusion===
The enigmatic steppe people known in the West as the Cumans had a major impact on the Fourth Crusade. As the Western Roman Catholics fought the Greek Orthodox Christians for control of Constantinople, the Cumans were the “wildcard” of the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan. Although the Cumans defeated the crusaders in two major battles, they ended up doing Kaloyan’s cause more harm than good. Their brutality eventually pushed the Greeks of the Balkans over to the crusaders and even worse, Cumans assassinated Kaloyan, ending any chance he had to conquer Constantinople. In the end, the Byzantines drove the crusaders out of Constantinople in 1216, although the reestablished Byzantine Empire was a shadow of its former self.
Although the Cumans defeated the crusaders in two major battles, they ended up doing Kaloyan’s cause more harm than good. Their brutality eventually pushed the Greeks of the Balkans over to the crusaders and even worse, Cumans assassinated Kaloyan, ending any chance he had to conquer Constantinople. In the end, the Byzantines drove the crusaders out of Constantinople in 1216, although the re-established Byzantine Empire was a shadow of its former self.
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===References===
[[Category: European History]] [[Category: Medieval History]] [[Category: History of the Middle Ages]] [[Category: Eastern European History]] [[Category: Byzantine History]]
[[Category:Wikis]]
