The Massacre of the Latins is a large-scale massacre of the Roman Catholic (called "Latin") inhabitants of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, by the Eastern Orthodox population of the city in May 1182.
The Roman Catholics of Constantinople at this time dominate the city's maritime trade and financial sector.
Although precise numbers are unavailable, the bulk of the Latin community, estimated at over 60,000 at the time, is wiped out or forced to flee.
The Genoese and Pisan communities especially are decimated, and some 4,000 survivors are sold as slaves to the Turks.
The massacre further worsens relations and increases enmity between the Western and Eastern Christian churches, and a sequence of hostilities between the two follows.
