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1204 ( MCCIV ) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1204th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 204th year of the 2nd millennium, the 4th year of the 13th century, and the 5th year of the 1200s decade.
- Periods of Byzantine history
- Fragmentation
- Constantinople
- Empire of Nicaea
- Empire of Trebizond
- Arta and the Despotate of Epiros
- Southern Greece
- Additional Resources
Early Byzantine (including Iconoclasm) c. 330 – 843
Middle Byzantine c. 843 – 1204
The Fourth Crusade & Latin Empire 1204 – 1261
Late Byzantine 1261 – 1453
In 1204, the Fourth Crusade captured the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The Latins (as the Byzantines often referred to western Europeans during this period) looted and occupied the city until the Byzantines recaptured Constantinople in 1261.
With the fragmentation of the Byzantine state following the Fourth Crusade came a concomitant fragmentation of Byzantine architecture, which became dominated by regional developments. The period of the Latin Empire (1204 – 1261) witnessed little cultural investment in Constantinople, while new Byzantine successor states emerged: the Empire of Nicaea in northwest
; the Empire of Trebizond in northeast Anatolia; and the Despotate of Epirus in northwest Greece and Albania, whose capital was Arta.
In church architecture, the design of the
followed planning types established in the Middle Byzantine period, while architectural forms increased in complexity, both visually and in plan, with the addition of porticoes, ambulatories,
, annexed chapels, and
Hagia Sophia
Evidence of architecture in Constantinople in this period may be limited to the addition of flying buttresses and a belfry to the west façade of Hagia Sophia, c. 1230s. Both are new elements in Late Byzantine architecture; belfries and the use of bells became common thereafter (gothic-style buttressing less so).
H. Tryphonos
The lacuna created by the Latin Occupation is difficult to fill, however, although the developments in western Asia Minor during the so-called Empire of Nicaea may help to bridge the gap. While the city of Nicaea is best known from texts, the church identified as H. Tryphonos, built under the
, gives some impression of the construction of the period. Now in ruins, it had an
naos, enveloped by ambulatories, perhaps following the model of the nearby Koimesis church, which was destroyed in 1922 (read more about the atrophied Greek-cross church type).
Church E at Sardis
Church E at Sardis, a
H. Sophia, Trebizond
With the establishment of the Empire of Trebizond in northeast Anatolia, the Grand Komnenoi (the title of the emperors of Trebizond) constructed H. Sophia in the city of Trebizond, c. 1238-63, to be the mortuary church of the imperial family.
Built on a cross-in-square plan, its stone construction and detailing betray its mixed origins, exhibiting both
and
features. The origin of its distinctive lateral porches remains unclear (view plan of H. Sophia, Trebizond).
Panagia Chrysokephalos
In northwest Greece, Arta emerged as the capital of the Despotate of Epiros in this period, with numerous Byzantine churches erected or transformed under the ruling families, such as the Panagia Vlacherna (transformed c. 1225, pictured above), Kato Panagia (mid 13th c.), H. Theodora (enlarged 13th c.), and Pantanassa Philippiadas (enlarged c. 1294), now in ruins.
Church of the Paregoretissa
The most important of these is the Paregoretissa in Arta (1282-89; enlarged 1294-96), apparently begun as a cross-in-square church but transformed during construction into an
naos enveloped by a pi-shaped ambulatory surmounted by a gallery with four additional domes (read more about the octagon-domed church type).
In southern Greece, part of the Byzantine territory conquered by the Latins in the early thirteenth century, a number of large basilicas were constructed in a gothic style, to serve the needs of the new, Roman Catholic population, including a variety of mendicant orders, as at Andravida, Stymphalia, Isova, and Glarenza.
The numerous small, domed churches of the Peloponnese, constructed in a Byzantine style but exhibiting gothic detailing, however, were viewed within an Orthodox Byzantine context and thus belonging to an earlier period, but this interpretation is now in question.
Church of the Koimesis at Merbaka
The church of the Koimesis at Merbaka, a carefully constructed cross-in-square church, was lavishly decorated on the exterior with a combination of brick patterning, spolia, carved stone, and glazed
bowls. The last, in combination with some gothic details, place Merbaka into the latter part of the thirteenth century and within the context of Latin patronage.
The Panagia Katholike at Gastouni and the Blacherna at Elis
Robert G. Ousterhout, Eastern Medieval Architecture: The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neighboring Lands (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019)
By Dr. Robert G. Ousterhout
Jun 2, 2018 · History. Jun 2, 2018 Christopher Hoitash, Guest Author. The Byzantine Empire, heir to the Roman Empire, the Republic before them, and the Hellenic Kingdoms before them, fell for good in 1453. In 1204, however, the city suffered a crippling sacking that forever broke the back of the Empire.
Jul 1, 2020 · World History Encyclopedia, 01 Jul 2020. Web. 17 May 2024. Remove Ads. In our new animated historical documentary, we will describe the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. Although the First Crusade was succeeded...
Dec 30, 2020 · Print. The fascinating and exotic history of the Empire of Trebizond, which existed between the 13th and 15th centuries AD, is a great story. This empire occupied the southern coast of the Black Sea, and was formed following the sacking of Byzantine Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD.
- Dhwty
Apr 13, 2023 · The Sack of Constantinople – The Crusaders Capture the Byzantine Empire’s Capital on 13th April 1204. The Crusades, a series of religious wars fought between Christians and Muslims during the medieval period, are often associated with the Holy Land and the battles for control over Jerusalem.
