ABSTRACT
The Fourth Crusade, which lasted from 1202 to 1204, was a fantastic, incredible, and tragic event. It was originally designed to conquer "Saracen" Jerusalem by means of an invasion of European Christian forces through Egypt. Bonifacio del Montefrrato and the other leaders of the Fourth Crusade sent envoys to Venice, Genoa, and to other port cities to negotiate a contract for the sea transport of the Crusaders to Egypt, the object of their crusade, where they planned to attack and defeat the "Saracens" and take the Holy Land. The Fourth Crusade was to sail directly from Venice via Alexandria to "Saracen" Fatimid Cairo, which the Europeans took to be the centre of the "Saracen" world. A Byzantine nobleman, Alexius had risen to the court position of protovestarios by the time the Fourth Crusade arrived in Byzantium in 1203.
