Why were Venetians such absolute madmen, /his/?
You don't fuck with a serene republic
>>1078750
I D E O L O G Y
/trade roots/
/cash money moola baby/
/positioned to dick the relevant areas of the world/
The Pope should have excommunicated everyone in Venice and offered a bounty on the heads of the doge and all their families. Fucking merchants. Christianity hates merchants, and for good reason.
>At the land walls, the Crusaders propped up their ladders and attempted to force their way in. "The attack was forceful, good, and strong," according to Villehardouin, but they were well matched by the emperor's crack troops--the Varangian Guard--long-haired ax-wielding Danes and English, and the resistance was stubborn. fifteen men made it up onto the walls; there was fierce hand-to-hand fighting but the intruders could make no progress; they were hurled back off the ramparts; two men were taken prisoner and the assault juddered to a halt "with a lot of men wounded and injured; the barons were extremely disturbed." Critically, the Venetian attack also started to falter. The fragile low-lying galleys refused to follow the transports in, alarmed by the torrent of missiles being hurled down on them. The whole enterprise hung in the balance.
>It was at this moment that the doge made a critical intervention, probably the single most significant action in the whole long maritime history of the Republic. Dandolo, old and blind, was standing "in the prow of his galley, fully armed with the banner of Saint Mark set up in front of him," in the admiring words of Villehardouin. He could hear the sound of battle raging around him--the shouts and cries, the crash and fizz of arrows and missiles, whether he sensed that the Venetian were now hanging back is unclear; more likely he was told. Evidently he realized the seriousness of the situation. the doge peremptorily ordered his galley to row forward and put him ashore, "or else he would punish them severely." The vermilion galley rowed hard for the shore, into the barrage of Greek missiles; as it landed, the banner of Saint Mark was seen being carried onto dry land; the other vessels followed, shamefacedly, in its wake.
>>1078824
Gotta give these guys credit, they had brass fucking balls man.
>>1078811
>Christianity hates merchants, and for good reason.
*skims 10% of the wealth of every European*
:^)
>>1078824
what a baller
This thread deserves a most serene bump.
