Fourth Crusade. Constantinople has fallen to the Crusaders. The Venetians realized that Alexius the Younger could not keep his promises and agreed to the establishment of a new imperial government, elected by a council of six Venetians and six barons. Boniface was confident in his election, but the Venetians, knowing that Boniface was an old ally of the Genoese, all voted for Baldwin, Count of Flanders, who was elected. The emperor retained only a quarter of the Empire, while the rest was divided between the Venetians and the barons. Venice thus took three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire, and the Doge thus became “Lord of a quarter and a half of the Roman Empire.” The Doge divided the territory into fiefdoms assigned to the families who contributed to the war effort. Venice also held three-eighths of the city of Constantinople itself, including the Arsenal and the port docks.
