| Massacre of the Latins | |
|---|---|
 Map of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The Latin quarters are captioned in purple. | |
| Location | Constantinople, Byzantine Empire |
| Date | April 1182 |
| Target | Roman Catholics |
Attack type | Massacre |
| Perpetrators | Andronikos Komnenos, Greek Eastern Christian mob |
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The Massacre of the Latins (Italian: Massacro dei Latini; Greek: Σφαγὴ τῶν Λατίνων) was a large-scale massacre of the Roman Catholic (called "Latin") inhabitants of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, by the Eastern Orthodox population of the city in April 1182.[1][2]
The Roman Catholics of Constantinople at that time dominated the city's maritime trade and financial sector.[1] Although precise numbers are unavailable, the bulk of the Latin community, estimated at 60,000 at the time by Eustathius of Thessalonica,[1] was wiped out or forced to flee. The Genoese and Pisan communities especially were devastated, and some 4,000 survivors were sold as slaves to the (Turkish) Sultanate of Rum.[3][4]
The massacre further worsened relations and increased enmity between the Western and Eastern Christian churches,[5] and a sequence of hostilities between the two followed.
- ^ a b c Ducellier 1986, pp. 506–508.
- ^ Gregory, Timothy (2010). A History of Byzantium. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-4051-8471-7.
- ^ Nicol 1988, p. 107.
- ^ Vasiliev, Alexander A. (1964). History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453, Volume II. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-299-80926-3.
- ^ Vasiliev, Aleksandr (1958). History of the Byzantine Empire. 2, Volume 2. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-299-80926-3.