could lead Innocent III. to approve what he had at first censured. The experiment succeeded. Innocent replies to Alexis that he approves of his views as to the reünion of the Eastern Church. If he will remain faithful to his engagements, he promises him all manner of prosperity; if he should fail, he predicts that he will fall before his enemies.
Innocent then replied to the Crusaders. He feared that they had only exacted from Alexis the promise to subject the Eastern to the Roman Church, in order to excuse their own fault. "We will judge by these results," he said, "whether you have acted sincerely: if the Emperor sends us letters-patent that we may preserve as authentic proof of his oath; if the Patriarch sends us a solemn deputation to recognize the primacy of the Roman Church, and to promise obedience to us; and if he asks of us the pallium, without which he cannot legitimately exercise the Patriarchal functions."
Could the Eastern Church recognize such a doctrine as being that of the first eight centuries?
The Crusaders soon quarreled with Alexis, who, when he was Emperor, at once forgot his promises. But this young prince had alienated the Greeks by ascending the throne by means of the Latins. He was dethroned, and Constantinople fell into the power of an adventurer. The Crusaders decided that this man had no right to the crown, and that the Greeks were to be treated without much consideration, since they had withdrawn from their obedience to the Pope. They, therefore, took possession of the city, and placed one of their number, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, on the throne. Constantinople was sacked; all its churches polluted, pillaged, and laid waste.
The Latin Empire of Constantinople began in 1204 and ended in 1261. During that period of about half a century, the hatred between the Greeks and Latins as-
