Fourth Crusade mustering begins at Venice
1201
Knights from France and Flanders trickled into the Venetian lagoon expecting ships to Egypt. The doge Enrico Dandolo, ancient and blind, had built them a fleet they could not pay for, a debt that would steer their swords toward Christian cities instead of Muslim ones. The greatest misadventure in crusading history was already taking shape on the waters of the Adriatic.
In context
Also in 1201 (3 other events on record)
- Ghurid Sultan Muhammad raids Bengal · South Asia · War
- Sultanate of Ifat emerges in the Horn of Africa · Africa · Politics
- Amalric II consolidates Crusader Cyprus · Middle East · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Religion
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.