Enrico Dandolo (Anglicised as Henry Dandolo, and Latinised as Henricus Dandulus; c. 1107 – May/June 1205) was the doge of Venice from 1192 until his death in 1205. He is remembered for his avowed piety, remarkable longevity, and political shrewdness, particularly for his decisive role in the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, which effectively laid the foundations of the Venetian colonial empire. For his services, he was granted the Byzantine-derived title of Despot by the newly established Latin Empire. Dandolo died in 1205 in Constantinople and was buried at the Hagia Sophia.
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👉 Enrico Dandolo in the context of Battle of Adrianople (1205)
The Battle of Adrianople occurred around Adrianople on April 14, 1205, between Bulgarians, Cumans and Vlachs under the command of Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and Crusaders under Baldwin I, who only months before had been crowned Emperor of Constantinople, allied with Venetians under Doge Enrico Dandolo. The battle was won by the Bulgarian Empire after a successful ambush.
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Enrico Dandolo in the context of Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies, leading to a period known as the Frankokratia ("Rule of the Franks" in Greek).
In 1201, the Republic of Venice contracted with the Crusader leaders to build a dedicated fleet to transport their invasion force. However, the leaders greatly overestimated the number of soldiers who would embark from Venice, since many sailed from other ports, and the army that appeared could not pay the contracted price. In lieu of payment, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo proposed that the Crusaders back him in attacking the rebellious city of Zara (Zadar) on the eastern Adriatic coast. This led in November 1202 to the siege and sack of Zara, the first attack against a Catholic city by a Catholic Crusader army, despite Pope Innocent III's calls for the Crusaders not to attack fellow Christians. The city was then brought under Venetian control. When the Pope heard of this, he temporarily excommunicated the Crusader army.