ABSTRACT
In recent years Thomas Morosini, the future Latin patriarch of Constantinople, has been adopted by some historians as a son of Ravenna by virtue of his supposed residence there. Paolo Ramusio made notable additions to Villehardouin's original text with the aim of adding lustre to the Venetian contribution to the conquest of Constantinople. He claimed that Doge Pietro Ziani and Thomas Morosini, patriarch of Constantinople, also resigned their offices before becoming canons of S. Maria in Porto. His administrative duties and his defence of the rights of the cathedral chapter provided an excellent preparation for the tasks that faced him as patriarch of Constantinople. The main reason why historians have been so happy to accept Thomas Morosini's connection with Ravenna is that it provides a plausible explanation of the presence in the Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista of a series of panels depicting the Fourth Crusade.
