¶ … Fourth Crusade by Donald Queller and Thomas F. Madden is valuable in its reasoned, articulate description of a confusing and tumultuous time in human history. The author's clearly follow the entire period from Pope Innocent III's initial call for a holy war in 1198 to the sacking of Constantinople in 1204. Queller and Madden outline how crucial the overestimating the number of crusaders was in the misdirection of the Fourth crusade. The book is clearly written, organized, and well researched, and ultimately valuable in providing an in-depth understanding of the complexities and realities of the often confusing events of the Fourth Crusade.

Queller and Madden's book covers the periods before, during and after the Fourth Crusade, and is valuable as a thorough description of the events of the Fourth Crusade. The Fourth Crusade, which took place from 1202-1204, was originally intended to conquer Egypt, but ultimately resulted in the conquering of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire in 1204. The book's analysis of the crusades begins with an analysis of Pope Innocent III's 1198 elevation to the papacy. Queller and Madden note the pope, "acutely conscious of his responsibility as the head of Christendom, intended to reassume papal leadership of the holy war," (1) and proclaimed a new crusade in the same year. Political conditions in Europe were not conducive to the war, and the pope was quickly disappointed by the lack of money and manpower that responded to his call. The charismatic preaching of Fulk of Neuilly ultimately helped to raise a crusading army, ultimately led by the Italian count Boniface of Montferrat.

The object of the crusade was originally Egypt, but this changed with the intervention of the Venetians. Far fewer troops than expected appeared at Venice in 1201, and their small numbers ultimately led the Venetians to turn the crusaders to their purposes. The feet attacked the Hungarian port of Zara, a largely catholic city, and the attack on the city resulted in the pope's excommunication of the Venetians and crusaders.

The crusaders then turned their attentions to Orthodox Byzantines,...

Pope Innocent III's warning not to attack was suppressed by the clergy, and the crusaders attacked the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople in 1204. The fighting was unorganized and chaotic, but the crusaders eventually won and spent three days savagely sacking the city, and destroying and stealing ancient works of art.
The Fourth Crusade is valuable and worthwhile in its rich description of the Fourth Crusade within the context of Veneto-Byzantine relations and Venetian history. Queller and Madden do an excellent job of noting that the misdirection of the Fourth Crusade was due largely to a complex mixture of political, military, economic, and diplomatic reasons that ultimately resulted in the sack of Constantinople. As Haas notes, "no villain was solely responsible for the misdirection and misapplication of the Fourth Crusade." The complex mixture of reasons for the misdirection of the Fourth Crusade are rooted deeply in Venetian history and the relationship with the Byzantines. It was when the crusaders became in internal Byzantine politics with the restoration of Alexius IV to the throne that the Fourth Crusade went horribly and unalterably awry from its original purpose.

Queller and Madden do an excellent job of analyzing the reasons behind the crusade's seemingly odd and unpredictable switch from the pope's decree of a holy war to the ultimate sacking of the Christian city of Constantinople. The authors argue that the crusaders fundamental mistake was in overestimating the number of men that would fight in the Crusades. This argument is developed from the beginning of the book, as the authors note the pope's "bitter disappointment" that "the appointed time passed with no response to his summons or to his repeated demands for men and money" (2). Even after the preaching of the Fulk of Neuilly and tournament held a by Count Thibaud of Champagne manage to bolster the numbers, they still fall far short of what is needed. As a result of this, Queller and Madden argue that the crusaders failed to bring adequate numbers…