Crusades · 1202-1261

1204: the crusade that sacked Constantinople

A crusade meant for Egypt ends with crusaders looting the greatest Christian city in the world. Students trace the money, the ships and the decisions that led the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople in 1204, and follow the Byzantine states that fought back.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1200 to AD 1279
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A crusade meant for Egypt ends with crusaders looting the greatest Christian city in the world. Students trace the money, the ships and the decisions that led the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople in 1204, and follow the Byzantine states that fought back.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain step by step how a crusade aimed at Egypt ended up attacking Constantinople.
  • Describe the role of Venice and its doge, Enrico Dandolo.
  • Locate the Byzantine successor states and explain how Constantinople was recovered in 1261.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1200

Venice and its sea

Open the map in 1200 and find Venice at the top of the Adriatic. Follow the coast south to Zara and on to the Aegean. Why did the crusaders need Venice?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1204

The prize

Set the year to 1204, turn on Historical Events (Religious Events) and find the sack of Constantinople. Look at the water on three sides of the city. Why had it been so hard to take before?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1279

After the sack

Move to 1279. Constantinople is Byzantine again. Find the Empire of Trebizond as well. How much of the old empire came back?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The crusaders could not pay Venice for the ships they had ordered. How did that debt shape everything that followed?
  2. The attack on Zara turned crusaders against a Christian city. Why did most of them still go along with it?
  3. Pope Innocent III had forbidden attacks on Christians but could not stop the crusade. How much power did a pope really have?
  4. Four bronze horses taken from Constantinople in 1204 ended up at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Should looted treasures be returned?
  5. In 2001 Pope John Paul II expressed sorrow for the sack of 1204. Why might words 800 years later still matter?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Saladin, whose victories set off the crusades of this era. Afterwards, discuss: in 1204 crusaders attacked fellow Christians instead of the rulers of Egypt. What does that show about the forces behind crusades?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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