The period of Latin rule over Constantinopole,…

The period of Latin rule over Constantinopole, from 1204 to 1261, has been the most disastrous in the city's history.

Even the bronze statues have been melted down for coin; everything of value has been taken, including sacred relics, torn from the sanctuaries and dispatched to religious establishments in Western Europe.

Meanwhile, Lascarid supporters in Asia Minor threaten Michael VIII Palaeologus, despite his military successes, with rebellion.

He succeeds, in the eyes of many Greeks, in legitimating his rule, when Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, with the aid of the Genoese, the traditional rivals of Venice, are able to recover Constantinople, almost casually.

Whether as the result of Michael's carefully planned ruse or of accident, or both, the great city falls to his general on July 25, 1261, ending the long-shaky Latin Empire and its sadly diminished domain.

Emperor Baldwin II flees the city, and the Venetians are dispossessed of their lucrative commercial center.