Massacre of the Latins in Constantinople

April 1, 1182

A Greek mob, whipped up against the resented Venetian and Genoese merchants of the capital, slaughtered thousands of Latin residents during Andronikos Komnenos's march on Constantinople. Italian maritime republics never forgot it, and a generation later the memory would help route the Fourth Crusade to the same walls. The massacre poisoned Byzantine-Italian relations beyond repair, ensuring that when the Venetians next came to Constantinople it would be with siege engines.