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Sonderdrnckaus

BYZANTINISCHE

ZEITSCHRIFT

BEGRUNDET

VONKARLKRUMBACHER

MIT

UNTERSTUTZUNG

ZAHLREICHERFACHKOLLEGEN

INSBESONDERE

VON

HANSBELTINGUNDIHORSEVCENKO

HERAUSGEGERENVON

PETER

SCHREINER

fG

84./85.BAND

199111992 HEFT1

B.

G. TEUBNER

STUTTGART

UND

LEIPZIG


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75

. F. Madden,

The fires in

Constantinoplc,

1203-1204

but

were

sufficient to

keep localized

fires burning. Witnesses across the Thames, never

theless, still marveled at the awesome fire, especially at

night

when

it lit

up the sky.

But

those

inside the city

knew

that it

was

waning. The London fire still smoldered

and

occasionally erupted for weeks

after it

was officially extinguished.

15

Nicetas vividly described the

flames of the

second fire which

"rose

unbelievably

high above the ground" spreading everywhere. "Wbile in the

past

many

conflagrations

had

taken

place

in

the

City

... ,"

he continued,

"the

fires

ignited

at

this time proved

all the others to be but

sparks."

The shifting winds urged

the

fire first one

direction

and then another.

Like

a river it

broke

into

tributaries and then reconverged upon

itself. Columns, statues, great structures "went up in smoke like so much brushwood."

"Nothing," Nicetas lamented, "could stand before

those

flames."16

The crusaders

across

the Golden Horn also looked on the deadly blaze in awe and

sorrow.

Geoffrey

de Villehardouin

recorded

that

the barons

"were

extremely grieved

and

filled with

pity, seeing the great churches and the

rich palaces melting

and

collapsing,

and the

great streets tilled with

merchandise

burning in the flames, but they could do no

thing."

17

According to Nicetas, tile "first kindling" of the second fire was

the

mosque

of

the '" Agarenes' called

'Mitaton'

in

popular

speech."

He later

described

the

mosque

as

"situated in the

northern

section

of

the

City

sloping toward the sea next to the

church built in the

name

of Hagia Eirene." !8 This

mosque was one

of

Constantinople's

newest.

Sometime

before his deposition in 1195, Isaac II Angelus erected the worship

place

as

a gesture to

Saladin. 19

Nicetas carefully

distinguished this

mosque from others

situated

further west

in

the Moslem quarter by identifying its neighbor,

Hagia

Eirene:

Nicetas

was

not referring to

the

famous

church

of

that

name near Hagia Sophia,

as

some

have

stated,

but

rather

"Hagia

Eirene

by

the

sea,"

located on

the

shore

of the

20

Golden Horn. This church was

sometimes

identified by its district,

Perama.

The

original church was built in the fifth century, outside the city walls. In

fact,

it

stood

so close to

the water'

s edge

that

waves often washed

through the

church doors.

After it later burned down, it

was

partially rebuilt by

Manuel

Comnenus

a few

decades

before the Fourth Crusade

arrived.

The new

building

was erected on a quay to

avoid

water

damage.

21

I t

seems

to have remained unfinished

in

1203.

22

The Perama

district

lay

between modern Bahkpazar and Odunkap1. We know from a reference to the

church in

1136

that the

structure

was

in the

Pisan quarter.

23

Since Perama and

the

Pisan

quarter

overlapped only

at

the

far eastern

edge

of the

former

and western

edge

of the

latter,

Hagia

Eirene by

the

sea

must have

stood

there. The

neigboring

"Mitaton"

mosque, then, was

outside

the

city walls, either

in Perama,

the

Pis

an

quar

ter, or (more

probably) both.

It likely

stood not

far

from

modern Yeni Valide

Camii

.

IS W. G. Bell, The Great

Fire

of London in

1666 (London 1920)

162-4,175.

16

Nicetas 5534;

Magoulias (as n. 1)

303.

17 Villehardouin, sec. 203, J 20S.

18

Nicetas 553, 554.

19

R.

Janin,

Constantinople byzantine. Developpement

urbain

et repertoire topographique. (Paris

21964)

258.

20

Nicetas

206. In his commentary, Magoulias, (as n. 1)

385,

n.

554,

makes this

mistake.

See H.

Janin, La geographie ecclesiastique de l'empire byzantin

(Paris 21969)

106--7. Magoulias 117, also

glosses the church's

founder

lis the

emperor Marcian. I t was

actually St.

Marcian,

who was a con

temporary of the

cmperor.

See Janin, GE 106.

21

Janin,

GE, (as n. 20) 107.

22 Nicetas, 206.

23

Janin, GE

(as

n.

20)

107.
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76

1.

AbteiJung

There

the mosque

was plainly

visible to

the I.atins on the opposite shore,

conspicu

II

ouslylackingany

substantivedefenses.

The

temptationto

plunderit

musthavebeen

greatfor

angry

andfrustrated

crusadersanxious

to

prove

theirworthagainstMoslems.

Withone

exception,

historians'oftheFourth

Crusadewho

describeinany

detail

the

"first

kindling"of

the

secondfiremisplaceit.DonaldE.QuellerandDonaldM.

Nicol,

assume

thatthedestroyed

mosquewas

oneof

those

inConstantinople'sMoslem

quarter,situatedfurtherup

the

Golden

Horn. The error

leads

them

to transform

the

plundering

ofone

seaside

mosqueintothepillagingofanIslamicneighborhood.24

Charles Brand

simply

puts the

mosque, rather ambiguously,

"midway between

Blachernaiandthe

Bosporus,"

whichisprobablyalsoareferencetotheMoslemquar

ter.

25

AlthoughEdwinPears'reasoningwasflawed,heneverthelesscamecloser,put

ting

the structurein thePisanquarter.

TakingNicetas'

reference to

Hagia Eirene

tomeanthe

church

adjacent

to HagiaSophia

rather

thanits

namesakeinPerama,

heplaced

themosque

betweenHagiaEireneandthesea,insteadofnearHagia

Eirene

by the

sea.

26

This putsthebuilding

deep

withinthe Pisan

quarterrather

than

on

itsoutskirts,

where

it

belongs.

More

recently,

John

Godfrey,

probably

using

Pears

andNicetas(his footnotes

are

inadequate),described themosque

asresting

on the

shore

ofthe

Pisanquarter. 27

While

this lacks reference

to

Perama,

it

is

essentially

correct.

The "Mitaton"

mosquemay

have

been

the

"first kindling"

of

the

blaze,

but

so

large an

infernowould require

much

more. The

fire

from themosque, fanned by

sufficientwinds,

could

have

ignited nearbyHagiaEirene,

aswellas a few landing

platformsnearby. But themosque and church

were

outside

thegreatwalls

ofthe

city.AlexiusIII

had

alreadyrazedmostofthebuildingswhich

hugged

thesea

shore,

leavingvery little tinderfor the fire

to

consume.

28

The

immense

second fire

must

havebeenset inside thewalls aswell.Nicetas suggested

this,

sayingthatthema

rauders set

the fire ina "goodlynumber"of locations.

29

The

DevastatioConstan

tinopolitanaalsodescribedalarge

number

ofLatinsoldierssettingfiresinthecity.30

EdwinPearslongagosuggestedthatthePisanswere

important

actorsinthispy

rotechnic

drama.31 The correct placement of

the

mosquemakes this case doubly

strong.Onlyvery

recently,

PisansandVenetianswereexpelledfrom theirquarters.

Many lost theirhomes, shops,

or

warehouses

to

theirGreekneighbors. ThePisans,

Nicetasnotes,

were

long timeresidents in the

dty. They

had shedblood todefend

itonly

one

monthearlier.

Now

theywerebereft

of

all.For

the

Franksin

the

marauding

party,

the

mosque

musthave

been

the primary

goal.

ForLatin

former residents,

the

Greekswerethe

purpose

of

the

venture.

I t

seemslikelythatwhileFranks

plun

dered Islam, PisanandVenetians took torches

to their

quarters, paying

their old

friends in full for

their

losses.

24 Queller,

Fourth

Crusade(as

n.12)

119;

D.

M. Nicol,

Byzantium

andVenice.A

Study

in Diplomatic

andCultural

Relations

(Cambridge1988) 139;cf.Magoulias(as

n. I)

405,

n.

1472.

25 Brand,

Byzantium

ConfrontstheWest(asn.12)247. TheMoslem

quarterwas

westof Perama.

Placing theburnedmosquc theremakes Nieetas'

claim that

the

fire spread west

to Perama

non

sensical.

26

E.

Pears,

The

Fall

ofConstantinople (NewYork1886)327.

27 J. Godfrey,1204.The UnholyCrusade(Oxford 1980) 114.

28

Queller, FourthCrusade (asn. 12)89-90.

29

Nicetas553;Magoulias(as

n.

I) 303.

0 Devastatio

89.

31 Pears,FallofConstantinople (as

n.

26) 327.

s

6
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78

I. Ahteilung

was

referring to

is

unclear. What

is certain is

that

he

did not

mean

to

include the

Milion itself, nor the

gallery

of

Makron, nor

probably the "Synods"

among the struc

tural

casualties.

The

famousByzantinemilestone

andthe

gallery

ofMakron(aportion

of

thepatriarchal

palacecomplex

borderingtheAugusteion)surviveduntilthe

Ot

toman

period.

39

Theidentificationof

the

"Synods" is more problematic.

Guilland

hassuggestedthatitwasanothernamefortheThomaites,a

largebuilding

originally

added

to

thepatriarchal

palaceby

ThomasI(607-610)and

later

rebuiltafter

it

burned

down

nearthe

end

ofthe

eighthcentury.

40

I t

probably

stood

on

the

northwestcorner

of

theAugusteion.The

patriarchal

complex

stretched

allalongthat

court

onits

north

side,adjacent to thesouth facade

of

Hagia Sophia. A significantnumberoflater

witnesses

attestthat

thepatriarchal

palace

generally,andtheThomaitesand

Makron

gallery

in

particular,

survived

thisfire.

41

What,

then,

were

"allthe

buildings"which

Nicetas

claims

were

lost?

AccordingtotheNovgorodChronicle"theporchofHagia

Sophia

wasburnt,where

allthepatriarchs

are

painted."

42

WhiletheChronicleis avery

poor

sourceformost

events,

its

dates

and

topographical

informationare

usually

reliable.The"porch"is

surely

a reference

to

Hagia

Sophia's

open

atrium

on

its

northwest

side.

43

It

is

rea

sonable to assume, although I knowof

noother

referenceto

them,

that imagesof

importantpatriarchs

may

haveappearedinthecourtyard,perhaps in the

covered

walkways.Still,

Paul

the

Silentiary'ssixth

centurydescription

of

thewestenl

atrium

mentionednosuch figures, nordid thelater

Llll1YT)(HI;;

tepi 'tfit;

AYlat;

44

Ac

cording

toanOttoman

versionofthelatter,theatrium's fountain

wascoveredby

a cupoladecoratedwith the images

of

Jesus,

the

Apostles, and

the

emperorsfrom

Constantineto

Justinian.

45

I f this isaccurate,the

author

ofthe

Novgorod

chronicle

couldeasily

have

confusedemperors,

if

notapostles,withpatriarchs.The defect in

all

of

this

is

that

Hagia

Sophia's

atrium

surviveduntil

thenineteenth

century.

Never

theless,part

of

it

may

havebeendamaged

in

1203and

later

restoredbytheLatinswho

undertookanumber

of

repairson

the

church

during

theiroccupation.

46

Archaeology

providesnoevidencefor a greatcataclysm in thecourtyard,although

itswestern

most

sectionliesunderCaferiyeSokakand,therefore,

has

neverbeenexcavated.

47

39 F. Dirimtekin,I.e

local

duPatriarcat

a

Sainte

Sophie, IstanbulerMitteilungen13-14

(1963-64)

114-5.

40

R. Guilland,EtudcsdctopographiedeConstantinoplebyzantine(Amsterdam1969) II14-5.

41 Dirimtekin,Lalocal

du

Patriarcat

a

SainteSophie

113-27,

esp. 114-5;cf. R.

Janin,

Lepalais

patriarchalde Constantinople

byzantine, REB 20 (1962)

131-55;

C.

Mango, The

Brazen

House.

A

Study

of the Vestibule

ofthe

Imperial Palace ofConstantinople (Copenhagen

1959)

52-3;G.

Majeska,

Russian

Travelersto

Constantinople

in

theFourtheenthand

FifteenthCenturies(Washing

ton,D.C.

1984) 202-3.

42 R.Michell andN.Forbes(trans.),TheChronicle

of

Novgorod,

1016-1471 (London1914)45.

43

Queller,

Fourth

Crusade

(as

n.

12) 120,

identifies it as the narthex.

But

thatportion

of

the

buildingisstillquitewhole.

. . P.

Friedlander

(ed.), Johannes

von

Gaza

und

Paulus Silentiariu8 (I,eipzig/Berlin

1912) 244;

Th.

Preger (ed.),

Seriptores

originum

COllstantinopolitanarnm

(Leipzig1901) I 103.

05 F. Tauer, "1,e8 Versiollll persane;; dela legende sur laconstruction d'Aya Sofya."ByzSlav

15

(1954)14.

The

RussianAnonymous

alsodescribed thecupola,

but

omitted

any

reference

to

decora

tions.

Majeska,

Russian

Travelers

to

Constantinople

(as

n.

41) 139,201.

E.H.

Swift

"The

Latins

atHagiaSophia,"AmericanJournal

of

Archaeology39(1935)458-74.

47

The

lastexcavationsthere

wereunderthe

directionofA. M.

Schneider,DieGrabungim

Westhof

derSophienkircbezu

Istanbul,

Istanbuler

Forschungen12 (1941)

seeesp.22-8,Taf.

1.

Thebest

and

mostrecent

comprehensivediscussion

of

the

atrium

is byChristineStrube,DiewestlicheEingangsseite

der

Kirchen

vonKonstantinopelin

justinianischer

Zeit(Wiesbaden

1973)

13-71.

t

i

t

6
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I .

Ahteilung

80

On 22 December 1389, Ignatius of Smolensk

"kissed

the

holy

relics of St.

Ana

stasia ...

" Since22

Decemberwas

a

feast

dayofSt.Anastasiaof

Sirmium,

and tra

ditionally

a dayofrelic

veneration in

the

church at

the Porticoes

ofDomninoes,

Majeskaconcludes that

Ignatius

visited

the

ancient

building.

57

However, therewas

at

leastone

otherchurch

dedicated

to

thissaint,locatednearthePantocrator

Mon

astery.58I f St.

Anastasiaat

thePorticoesofDomninoes

had

beendestroyed,

it

would

be

natural

for

anotherofthesaint'schurches tocontinue thefeast and

even

claim

tohave

someof

her

relics.

The

only

other

references

to St.Anastasia

at

the

I>orticoes

ofDomninoesafter

1203

comesfrom Pierre

Gilles'

topographicstudyof1544.

At

tempting

todefinethe

seventh

region,heclaimed

tohave

discoveredsomestepsbe

longingto

the

church.

59

Gilleshimself,

however,seems

to

have

hadlittleconfidence

in

hisidentification.Inhis subsequent

discussion

ofSt.Anastasia,

he

omitted any

reference

to

the steps, offering instead a number ofpossible sites for the ancient

church.

60

There therefore,no clear

evidence

for thecontinued

existence

ofthechurchof

St.

Anastasiaafterthesecond

fire

of

1203.

Basedonthenumerous

references to

the

important

church

before

the

crusaders

arrived, the

silence

ofsubsequenttravelers'

accounts

isominous.Oneotherbit

ofevidence

provides

animportantclue

concerning

its

fate.Shortlyafter

the

conquestofthe

city, the

Latincanonswhotook over

the

nearbyMonasteryofthe

Resurrectioncomplainedto

InnocentIII aboutPatriarch

Thomas

Morosini

who,

they

charged,had

takenmarble

columns

from

their

church

and

used

them to

decorate

the altar

in

Hagia

Sophia.

In1208 Innocent absolved

Morosini

ofthecrime

against the

canons,

whom

Innocentreferred

to

asthe

"clerics

ofSt.Anastasis."

61

Thewording

here,and

inother

papaldocumentsconcerning

the

monastery,suggestssome

confusion

between"Anastasis"

and

"St.Anastasia."62But

the

purloined

marble

columnscould

not

have

comefrom

an

existing

church

inside

themonastery.

I t

is

usuallynotpossible

and

never profitable

to

removecolumns

fromanexisting

structure

withoutcausingits

collapse.

Inanyevent,

COIL"ltantinople

had an abundance of

buildings

withmarble

columns; therewas

no

reason

tosteal

from a

small, relativelynew,

and

otherwise undistinguishedmonasticchurch.

I t is

much

more

probable

that

thechurch

of

"St.

Anastasis",as Innocentcalledit,was,

infact, the

burnedruins

of

adjacentSt.Anastasia.Assumingthatthe

building

was

notcompletely

incinerated,there

wouldhavebeen

much

worth

salvagingin

the

wreck

ageofthesplendid

church,including,

nodoubt,marblecolumns.TheLatincanons'

complaintagainst

Morosini,

then,

was

that

heremoved

the

expensive

pillars

from

a ruined

church

overwhich they

claimed

ownership.Wemay,

therefore, conclude

thatthechurchof

St.Anastasia

waslost inthegreat

fire

of

1203.

Further

upMese,

towardHagiaSophia,was

the

greatcircularforum,built

atthe

city's

foundationanddedicated

to

its

founder.

I t

wassurrounded

bycovered

colon

57Majeska,

RussianTravelers to Constantinople(asn.

41)289.

58 lanin,

GE

(asn. 20) 25-6.

59Gilles,

Topographia

(asn. 52) III,5158.

60

Ibid.,

III,

6, 165.

61

Innocent

III,

Epistolae,XI,76; PL,215, col.1392 (Potthast3:{85).

62

Even

adistinguished

scholar

like

Raymond

Janincouldfall

prey

to

this

confusion;

in

14es

sanc'

tuaircsdeByzancesous

la

dominationlatine(1204-1261),Etudeshyzantines2(1944)162-3,

under

the

heading

"St.Anastasis," he identifiedthechurchofSt.Anastasiaandthenattributedtoitthe

historyoftheMonasteryof

theResurrection. All other

papal

references to

the

monastery

can

be

found

in

this

article. Janincorrected

thiserrorin

his

later

work:GE (as n.20) 20-2, 24.
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11/23

81

onstantil1ople,

nades, adorned

with

ancient art,anddominatedby

the

massiveporphyrycolumn

that formerly held

the

bronze

likeness ofConstantine as Apollo.

In

Nicetas' day

a simple

cross

adornedits

summit.

63 Since

theForumof

Constantinestood

on

Mese

street

between

the

MilionandthePorticoes

of

Dominoes, itisnot

surprising

that

it

suffered

fromthe

flames.

Nicetas

provides

noadditionaldetailconcerningtheforum's

damage.Hesimply

states

that

the

areawas

"similarly

destroyed,"comparingitto

the

two covered streets and

the

Porticoes ofDomninoeswhichwere "reduced to

ashes."

64

The

Column

of

Constantine,

ofcourse, still exists.That this porphyrycolossus

survived

is not surprising since ithad and

would

continue to shrug

off

the

city's

fires, donning only the soot

of their

passing. I t thus earned its Turkish name:

the

burntcolumn.Butother,

rather

more

delicatemonumentsin

Con

stantine's

forum also survived

the

fire. Nicetas reported

further

onin his history

thata

Byzantine

mobdestroyed

an

ancientcolossalbronze

Athenawhich

stood

in

theforum,

believing

her

hand

wasposed in

a

gestureof

beckoning

the

Latins.

65

In

his

De

Signis,ashortlamentforandinventoryofartworkdestroyedbythe

crusaders

in

the sack of1204,

Nicetas also described

in the

Forum

of

Constantine a bronze

Herawhichwas

melted

into

coinby

thewesterners.

Its

head

wasso

largethat

four

yokes

of

oxen

had

difficulty

cartingit

off.

In

the same

paragraph,thesenator

men

tioned

another

bronze depicting

Paris

Alexander

offering the

apple

ofDiscord to

Aphrodite. Itwas thrown, hewrote,

on

top

of

Hera.

66

Thatbronze statuescould

survive,suggeststhatConstantine's

forumwas

not

as completely

destroyed in the

second

fire as Nicetas recorded. Probably

the

covered galleries were lost,

but

the

large

open

area

withinmayhaveactedas

afirebreak,

protecting

afew

art

treasures

inside.

"Noteven

the

Hippodromewas

spared,"

Nicetas lamented,

"butthe

whole sec

tion towards

the

demes [thewestern stands] aswell as

everything

leading down

to the[harborof] Sophiawasengulfed

in

flames ... "67 Hereagain

Nicetas'

meaning

is not clear; what is

meant

by "whole section towards

the

demes"?68

It

is often

asserted

that the entire western side of the

race

course was

lost

in the

second

fire, and, indeed,

the

absence of any further referen


12/23

82

I . Abteilung

might

suggest

a large scale destruction of the demes.

7o

Coin finds in the internal cor

ridors

ofthe

western

hippodrome further

suggest

that,while the demes were fre

quented increasingly less

often

after the

period

ofJustinian, they still saw traffic

well

after

1204.71

There

is

nodoubt thatthehippodromesuffered

badly

intheyears

oftheLatinEmpire,leavingit inruins

by

the

Palaeologan

period.Butmuchofthe

damage,thenand

later,

wasa

result

oftheinhabitants'useofthemassivestructure

as

a

stone

quarry.

There

is

littleevidence that thehippodromeendured

anysevere

damage

as

a

result

of

the

second

fire.

Perhapsby"wholesection

towards

thedemes"Nicetas

did

not

mean

to include

thedemes themselves. Intheprecedingparagraphhesimilarlydescribedthedevas

tationof"all the

huildings" lying

in the

direction

of the

Arch

oftheMilion

... ,"

while

not

meaningto includethe

Milionin

the

areaof

destruction.

72

In the

caseof

thehippodrome, then,

the section

"towardsthe demes"

may refer

to a

portion

of

theperipheralhippodromecomplex

flanking

themainstruetureonits

western

side.

Perhaps thedemes themselves

also suffered

some

limited

damage,but

it

could

not

havebeenextensive.Thegreatfirecertainlydidnotprogressintotheinterior

of

the

stadium

where

the

spina

ofthe

racecoursewas

heavilyadorned

with

ancient

hronze

artwork.

All of

those treasures

survived

to beeithermelteddown

or

borne

away

after

thecrusaderconquestthefollowing

year.

From

this catalogof

destroyed

and

spared structures, it

is clear

that from

the

GoldenHorntoMese

street

theblaze

was,

as

Nicetas

calledit, a

"river

offire."To

the

west

itstretched

from

Peramato

thePorticoes

ofDomninoes.

Theeastern

extent

ofthefire'snorthernmarchismoredifficulttoassess.Basedonthe

relatively

straight

north-to-south

progressofthefire 8 westernedge,itseemslikely

thatthe

lineonthe

easternside,

responding

tothesame

winds,would

be similar.Sinceweare

toldthat

Hagia

Sophia

narrowly

escaped

destruction, this

leads

to

the

conclusion

that

the

northeasternextentofthe firewas somewhere inmodernSirkeci.

Arguing

against

thisfirelineisthetroublesomesurvival

of

theChalkoprateiachurch(TableII),which

appearstohavebeen

directly

in the fire's path.Since

it

required somerestoration

under

thePalaeologans,

it ispossible

that

thechurchsufferedsome

limited

damage.

Butthereisnodoubt

that

itwasfunctioningduring

theLatin

occupation.

I f

Chalk

oprateiawasnearthefire'sedge,itssurvivalcouldbeattributedto theficklewind

whichNicetasdescribed.But

if

theeastern

extentof

theblaze

stretched

from

Sirkeci

to

Hagia

Sophia,Chalkoprateiawouldhaverestedsquarelyinthefire'sdestruction.

Chalkoprateia

was

notthe

only

structureverynear

thegreatchurch

which

escaped

destruction.The

Milion,

theAugusteion,

and

the

patriarchal

palace

all

survived.

To

these

canbeaddedNicetas'

secondhomewhere

he

lived

in1204.

The

senator

decribed

it

as

"convenientfrom[there]toentertheGreatChurch,

as

it

was

situated

near

the

temple

precincts."

73 Indeed,

Hagia

Sophiais

flanked

bysomanysurviving

structures

one

is

temptedto

doubt

the

reportsof

itsnarrow

escape.

But the concurringtesti

monies

ofa

Frankish

knight,a

Russian

pilgrim,anda

Byzantine

senatorcannot

be

dismissed. The

relativepositions

of

thespared

buildings strongly

suggest that

the

firedidnot

approach

IIagia

Sophiafromthe

north.

Theonly,

althoughnotaltogether

theExcavations

Carried

Outin theHippodrome

of Con

stantinople

(London1928)

3-8,trench

no.

Lb onPlan

I andPlan

II,

trenchno. IV

on

Plan11.

n A.

H.

M.

lones,

Preliminary

Report

(asn.

70)47-8,

50.

72 Nicetas554.

73

Nicetas

587;Magoulias(asn.

I)

323.


13/23

- T.F.Madden.ThefhesInConstantinople,1263-1264 8!i

satisfactory,explanationis that

the

fireextendeda thintendril

along the

northern

coveredstreet

which,

afterdestroyingthecolonnadeandadjacentshops,terminated

at

the farwesterncornerofHagia

Sophia's

atrium.

This

would

account

for

all

of

Nicetas'observationsaswellas thetestimonyoftheChronicleofNovgorod.Bythe

timethe

firereached

Hagia

Sophia

it

must

have

beenvery

small.

Winds

whichdrove

thelargerinferno

southward

did

not

drivethis

localized

blaze

into

the

hippodrome's

carcereswhere

the

four bronze

horses,

soon

to

grace

Venice's

St.

Mark's, stood.

It

maybe thatthe

damage

near

Hagia

Sophiaoccurredon

the

second daywhen the

bulk

of

the

fire raged

tothe

south,thenorthern

blaze

was

subsiding,and thewinds

were

from the

east.

Withoutdoubtthe

areasurrounding

the

ForumofConstantine, aswell as

much

ofthe forum itself,was

leveledbythe

fierce blaze.However,theopenareawithin

the

forum preservedat least a fewofits

art

treasures.

East

of

the

ForumofCon

stantine,

fire

extendedtothePorticoes

of

Domninoeswhere

it

destroyed

the

church

of

St.

Anastasia

but

sparedtheMonasteryoftheResurrectiona little

farther

north.

South

of

Mese

street,

the

fire

continued

southward,

while

shiftingslightly towards

the

southwest.To

the

east

the

blaze narrowly

missed the

church ofSt. Euphemia

andmayhavedone somedamage to thehippodrome'speriphery.I t concluded

its

progress

at

the

Port

ofSophia.Tothewestthefire'sbouudaryprobablycontinued

to

run

paralleltothe

eastern

extent.

However,at

some

point,probablyon

thesecond

day,

a strongwindurgedthefirewestward.NorthofMese,

much

of

theblaze's

fury

musthave

been

expended and,in

someareas,

had

probably

beenextinguished.To

the

south,

however,wherethe

fire

had

onlybegun

toburn,

itmovedwestward

along

theMarmarawall

untilit

reached the Port

of

Theodosius. Myrelaionchurchwas

destroyed

(Table

II),

although

this

was

probably

the

northernmost

extent

of

this

western

armofthe

inferno.

The

second

fire

wasa blow.Approximately450acres

(182

ha.)

of the

city's

most

opulent

andmostcongestedareaswere

reduced

in

two

days

to

ashes

and

rubble.Again

the

similaritywithLondon'sGreatFirearestrikingandnseful.In1666,

London

lost436acresof

itsmostpopulousregions.74LikeLondon,Constantinople'sdensestarea

was

filledwith

beautifulchurches

and

homes,aswellaspitifulsqualor.Overcrowdedtwinstorywoodenslums

setalongnarrowwindingroadsafflicted

both

capitals.

Thetwo

greatfireswerealsoofsimilar

temperament.LikeConstantinople,

fierce

windswhipsawedLondon'sblazeand

often

propelled

burning

debrisacross

the

sky,thussetting

the

fire'

8

seedelsewhere.

75

Theerratic

natureofboth

fires

made

the

relocationof

goodsadifficult

task.

Nicetas,whoselosseswere

severe,

noted

howthosewhomovedvaluables

to

seeminglysafeplacessoonlearned

they

were

not

safeat

all."The fire,taking

awindingcourse

and

moving

in

zigzag

paths.

"destroyed

the

goods

thathadbeenmoved."76

In

Londonit

was

thesame.Streets

werefilled

with

people

moving

their

possessions,

many

to

the

wrongplaces.ADutch

observer

wrotethat"Many

people

transferred

their

goods

fromplacetoplacethreetimes."77

Thenumerous

parallels

between

the

greatfires of1666and 1203 facilitate anes

timate

of

the physical

damage sustained

by

Constantinople

during

itsmuchmore

poorly documented

catastrophe.

In

London

the

great

fire

claimed

87

churches,

6

74According tothe

report

issuedhy the London

Surveyors.Bell,GreatFire

ofLondon

(as

15) 174.

7S Ibid.

98.

76 Nicetas555;Magoulias (as n. I)304.

77

Bell,

Great

Fire

of

London (asn. 15)319.


14/23

84

chapels,

and

13,200 houses in

over

400

streets and

courts.

78

The

total

value of

lost

property in

the

British capital was approximately

ten

million

pounds. 79

The

number

of

houses

and churches destroyed in Constantinople must have

been

comparable. The

city

on the Bosporus,

of course,

had many more monasteries

than

its

sister

on the

Thames. But iu Constantinople

the total

value of

lost property must

have been

much

greater

than

in

London.

The Byzantine capital

was

immensely wealthy, its churches

and monasteries

were filled

with many

kings' ransoms. As for the palaces destroyed,

Nicetas

tells

us

that

they

were

"filled

with

every

delight,

abounding

in

riches,

and

envied hy all." 80 To these we

must

add Constantinople's

storehouse

of priceless art

treasures

and ancient

manuscripts, many of which

were incinerated

in

the

second

fire. London had very little to compare

with

such

losses-even John Donne's St. Paul's

had fallen on hard times hefore its fiery demise.

81

In 1666 the Restoration was only

six years old. Puritan

disdain

for opulence

was still very

active

in

London.

In

Con

stantinople,

such

a

concept

was foreign in the extreme. The

value

of lost property,

then,

was many times greater in Constantinople

in 1203

than

in

London

in 1666.

Because

of the differences in types of goods and property lost, and the currencies in

which

they

were

valued,

fixing

a

modern

monetary

equivalent

to the

destruction

in

Constantinople

would

he

very

difficult, and prohahly meaningless. Nevertheless,

it

would he a figure measured in hillions,

not

millions, of American

dollars.

The citizens of Constantinople reacted to the great fire just as Londoners would

do four

and

a

half

centuries later:

they hlamed

foreigners.

In London

the culprits

were the

French, Dutch,

and any Catholic. Despite royal attempts

to

cool

British

heads, moh rule

meted

out

harsh injustice to

memhers of those

groups unfortunate

enough

to

be

living in

London in 1666.

82

In Constantinople it

was

the Latins who

were blamed and persecuted. The difference was that Londoners were wrong: their

fire

was

an

accident;

Byzantines

were

right: Latins

had

indeed

set their city

aflame.

While the fire raged, Latins of

every

stripe

packed

their hags, gathered their families,

and

fled across the

Golden Horn to

the welcoming

arms

of

the western

knights. Ac

cording

to Villehardouin, the

refugees

numhered 15,000,

"and it

was to

he a

great

hoon to the crusaders that they crossed over." 83

Nicetas grieved

that the fury of his

countrymen unwittingly

achieved

the previously impossihle, reconciling

Pisans

with

Venetians.

81

As a result, those Pisans

who valiantly

helped

defend

Constantinople

in 1203

would

enthusiastically

help

conquer

it in

1204.

The Third Fire: 12-13

April,

1204

The

third

and last

fire

set

by the

crusaders in

Constantinople

was

ignited

on the

night of 12-13

April

1204.

That

day the

Latins

had successfully entered the city

near Petrion Gate, routed the Byzantine

defenders

there,

and

made

camp

in the

deso

78 Ihid.174,

334-5. Three

ofthe 87 churches were partially dest.royed

and, after suhstantial

repairs,

ret.urned to use. Similar huildings

in

Constantinople, like

the

Myrelaion cburch, would have to

wait

until

the

Palaeologi for their restoration.

79

Estimates, of course, vary. The

hest

informed put

it at

eitber 9.9 million or 10.8 million pounds.

This includes only immediate loss of property, not suhsequent loss of rents

and taxes,

or charitahle

outlays. Bell, Great. Fire in London (as n. 15) 223-9.

80 Nicetas 555; MagouIias (as n. 1) 304.

81 Bell, Great

Fire

of London (as n. 15) 4.

82

Ihid., passim,

esp.

]91-209.

83 Villehardouin, sec. 205, I 210.

84

Nicetas 552.


15/23


16/23

86

I . Ahteilung

ply out to 1,600,000 and 4,000,000; both

excessive.

91

Modern estimates are aU

over

the map.92 A.

Andreades calculated it to

have

been between

BOO OOO and 1,000,000.

93

Josiah

Cox Russell

asserted that no

more

than 200,000

people

lived in the medieval

city.94

Peter Charanis put

the population between 500,000

and

1,000,000. David

Jacoby figured it to be perhaps 250,000 but never more

than

400,000.

95

This

is not

the

place

for an

exhaustive analysis

of

the city's

population size

in

1203 or

the

pro

position

of

yet another

figure.

There

is a

need for

a

study

which

would take into

account

allcontemporarywitnesses,

suggestivecommercialdocuments,

demographic

factors,

comparative

data,andpreviousscholarship.

Untilthat

analysis

is

done,J

will

acceptfor

the

sakeof this

discussion

the relativelyconservative

figure

of400,000.

I am

inclined

to believe,andhaveelsewhereargued,

that

the

population

was

actually

twice

thatormore.Nonetheless, adopting the

less

controversial

figurewill,I

hope,

facilitate

a

moregeneralacceptanceof the

following

fatalitiesand

homeless

estimates.

I f future studiesproducea

different

population figure, the following

numbers can

be

adjusted somewhat.

Previously

we

havenotedthestrikingsimilaritiesbetweenConstantinople'ssecond

fire

in 1203 andLondon'sGreatFire of1666.

We

can now add population

size

as

anotherprobable parallel.

Londonin1665

hadapproximately

600,000

inhabitants.

A

plague

thatyear

killed

56,000, thus reducing the population

to

around 540,000

on

theeve

of

the

fire.

96

London'sconflagrationraged

for

threedays,

wanedon

the

fourth,andwaslargely

extinguishedonthe

fifth.

I t devastatedan

areaalmost

exactly

the

size

of

the

destructionin

Constantinople.

The

final

death

tol1

inLondon

is

not

exact,

but theestimatesare very

close.

Thecasualty

figure

reported to

Charles

II

of

those

killed

by

fire

or being

trampled to

deathwas

zero.

The LondonGazette

likewisereported that the

GreatFireclaimed

nolives.WhentheBills

ofMortality

were

published,sixpeopleappearedonthem.Walter

GeorgeBell

estimated

that

far

morediedofexpourein

London'srefugee

campsthanin theactual

fire.He

suggested

thatperhaps

one

hundreddieddueto secondary

causes.

97 This

may

seem

miraculous,

as it

did

to

Londoners at the

time, but

it

is, in

fact, not

unusual.Unlike

buildings

and

goods,peoplecan

move,

and

when

fireapproachestheyusuallydo.

In

Chicago's

Great

Fire

of1871 the

death

figureswere

higher, but

that

blaze

was

much

fiercer

thanthe

fires

whichhitLondonand

Constantinople.

Itraged

acrossChicago's

densest

91 Villehardouin,sec.

251,

II

54,

states thatmore

than400,000

men

lived

in the

city.

I f wcinclude

womenandchildrenthe

figure

wouldapproach

1,600,000.

Elsewhere

(sec.

163,

I

164),

he

statesthat

there

were 200 people in

the city

for

every

onc

crusader.The crusaders

numbered

approximately

20,000

(ihid.,sec.

251,

IIS4),

thus

suggesting a populatiouof

4,000,000.

Q2 An excellent compilationofmodern

estimates

canhefound in:DavidJacoby, La

population

deConstantinoplea l'epoquebyzantine:unproblemededemographie

urbainc,

Byz

31 (1961)

82-3.

and

accompauyingnotcs.

93A.Andreades,De

la

populationdeConstantinoplesouslesempereursbyzantins,Metronl(1920)

99, 101.

94 J. CoxRussell,IJateAncient

and

Medieval

Populations

(Philadelphia1958)99.

95 P.

Charanis,

A Noteon the

Populationand

Cities

of

the

ByzantineEmpire

in the

Thirteenth

Century,in:TheJoshuaStarrMemorialVolume

(New

York

1953)

137-8;

Jacoby,Lapopulationde

Constantinople

(as

n.

92)

107-9.

96 Bell,

GreatFireof

London(asn.

15)

15.

London

was

inarea

less than

half

thesize

ofConstan

tinople,hadanumberofopenareas,andusedtwinstoreystructures

as its

dominantmeans

ofhousing.

Itslargepopulation, therefore,cripples

Jacoby'sdensity

coefficient calculationsforConstantinople.

La

population

deConstantinople(asn. 92)

102-9,

esp. 105.

97

Bell,

Great

Fire

of

London(asn. ]

5) 176-7;J .

Bedford,London's

Burning

(London

et

al.1966)

186-7.
http:///reader/full/excessive.91http:///reader/full/excessive.91http:///reader/full/1,000,000.93http:///reader/full/1,000,000.93http:///reader/full/400,000.95http:///reader/full/400,000.95http:///reader/full/excessive.91http:///reader/full/1,000,000.93http:///reader/full/400,000.95


17/23


18/23


19/23

approximately 125 acres, the second 450 acres, and the third 25 acres. Altogether,

then, about 600 acres (243 ha) were

laid

waste.

Constantinople's

area within the walls

was

approximately

3,500 acres (1,416 ha). Therefore, in area,

the

fires

hurnt down

about one-sixth of

the

city.

The

percentage of

the

city's dwellings lost

was

at most

one-third, and may have been as low as one-sixth.

Constantinople suffered mightily under

the

torches of the westerners. The material

and

human costs were

vast. They

form essential

elements in

any

understanding of

the

Fourth Crusade or late medieval Constantinople.

The

immensity ofthe subsequent

capture

and sack of the city sometimes eclipses in

medieval

and modern eyes

the

terrible

blows

New Rome

sustained before she was laid low by her

western

co-relig

ionists. For

Nicetas,

who lost so much in both fire and

sack,

the

two

events were

merely

different sides

of

the

same

barbarous Latin coin. In his eloquent lament for

Constantinople,

he

addressed his city as a bride,

thus comparing the westerners

to

her new unworthy groom.

I f

these implacahle and crazed suitors neither fashioned a bridal chamber

for you,

nor

lit

a

nuptial torch

for

you, did

they

not,

however,

ignite

the

coals of destruction? ... 0 City, formerly enthroned on

high,

striding

far

and

wide,

magnificent in comeliness and more

becoming

in stature; now your

luxurious garments

and

elegant royal veils are rent

and torn;

your flashing

eye

has

grown dark, and you are like an aged furnace

woman

all covered with

soot

... 112

112 Nicetas 567-7; Magoulias (as

n.

1) 317.


20/23

I. Ahteilung

0

Destroyed

by

First

:Fire

Location

I

J

dalar

Camii

Survived First Fire

Location

Monastery

of

Christ

Evergetes

(Giil Camii)

Aykapl

Church

r

Seyh Murad Mescidi

Kariye Camii

Monastery

of the

Virgin

Pammacaristos (Fethiye

Camii)

Monastery of St. John

the Baptist

(Prodromos)

in Pel.fa

Hlachernae

Hill

structures

Map

ID

Comments

aTI- ; : ;f fered fire damage in ca.

1203.

-

Map

ID

b

c

Comments

Mentioned

by

Nicel.as in

events

of

1204.

Probable

12th

e.

foundation.

d

Probable12th

c. foundation.

f-

Foundation:ca. 1120.

f Centralstruct.urefoundation:

11th

or12th

c.

Occupied

by

Latinclergy

after1204.

g

Palace

occupied

by

Henry

of

Flanders

in

1204.

Churchesremained

popular

pilgrimagesitesinPalaeo

logan

period.

Reference

MullerWiener,

Pl"

188-fl9

Reference

Nicetas,Pl'.568,570;

Muller Wiener,

pp. 140-2.

A.

M.

Schneider,

Ryzanz,

in

IstanbulerForschungcn 8

(1936),

pp.53-54,

Taf.8/1.

Muller.Wiener,pp.204-5.

RobertOusterhout,The

Architecture

of

Kariye

CaruiiinIstanhul

(Washington,1987),

Pl" 15-32.

MullerWiener,

pp.

132-35.

Janin,GE,

pp.422-23.

Villehardouin,scc.245,

II,

p. 48;

Janin,

Lessallc,

tuaires.pp.151-55;

Majeska,pp.333-37.


21/23

Destroyed

by Second Fire

Map

Location

ID Comments

Reference

.

-

i In Sphorakion district.

alace

of

Nicetas Choniates Nicetas, p. 587.

.. t -

See discussion in text.

uildings

near Hagia Sophia

Nicetas, p. 554; Ville

hardouin, sec. 204, I,

p. 208; Chronicle

of

Novgorod, p. 45.

Mese Street (Milion to Portio See discussion in text.

Nicelas, p. 555

coes of Domninoes)

Porticoes of

Domninoea

j

Nicetas, p. 555; Janin, CR

pp.344-45.

-

-

Forum

of

Constantine


Nicetas, p. 555; Muller

Wiener,

pp.

255.

I

Hippodrome pcriphery

See discussion in tcxt.

Nicetas, p.

Tower

of Boukinon

At

Port of

Sophia.

Nicetas, p. 555;

Janin,

CB

pp.326-27.

1

Myrelaion

Church

k

Damaged by fire ca. 1203.

Cecil L. Striker, The

Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii)

in

Istanbul

(Princcton,

1981), pp. 28-29.

Church

of

St. Anastasia

j

See discussion in tcxt.


22/23

92

I.

Abteilung

Survived Second

Fire

Map

Location

ID

Comments

r----

Hagia

Sophia and

Atrium may

have been

Patriarchal Palace

damaged. See discussion in

text.

-- -

Mentioned in connection

with

events of 12-13 April

1204. Survived until 15th c.

The Milion

Column and

equestrian

statue of Justinian survived

until 15th

c.

Numerous structuTCs

. Theodosius)

Forum Tauri (Forum of

survived. See discussion

in

text.

Four

tetrarchs

survived;

transported to Venice.

IPhil"""pM,,,

I Plundered in

1204; surviv

at

the Hippodrome

Church of St.

Euphemia

ed until

at

least 1390.

m Still

extant.

,oil

B,,,h,,

(Kiicuk Ayasofya Camii)

12th

c. foundation.

StilI

extant.

n

Kalenderhane

Camii

5th or

6th

c.

foundation.

Survived

until 1911.

0

alaban

Aga Mescidi

Plundered in 1204. Still

Chalkoprateia (Acem Aga

Church of the Virgin

p

extant.

, Mescidi)

Foundation before 1200.

rection (Anastasis)

Monastery of the ReBur

q


Reference

Nicetas, p. 554;

Villehardouin, sec. 204, I,

p. 208; Chronicle

of

Novgorod, p. 4,5.

Nicetas, p. 554, 572;

Mango,

Brazen

House,

pp.

47-48;

Miiller.Wiener,

pp. 216-18.

Clari, sec. 86,

p. 86;

Majcska,

pp.

137, 184;

Gilles, p. 105; Miiller

Wiener, pp. 248-49.

I

Muller.Wicner, pp. 258-65.

I

Muller.Wiener,

pp.

'1

Anonymous

of

Halber

stadt,

I. p. 21; Majcska,

p.113.

Muller. Wiener, pp. 177-83

153-58.

MullerWiener,

pp. 98-99.

MullerWiener,

pp.

7678.

J anin, GE, pp. 20--22; idem

Les

sanctuaires.,

pp. 162-63.

i


23/23

F. Madden,

The

fires in

Constantinople

First

Fire.

17-18July

1203

SecondFire. 19-20Aug.1203

IlIIllllll ThirdFire,

12-13

Aprll1204

Om

Sea Marmara

Map

Key

OdalarCamii

j. Porticoes

of

Domninoes/St.Anastasia

Monastery

ofChrist

Evergetes

k.

Myrelaion

Church

. AykaplChurch

I.

St.Euphemia

at

theHippodrome

SeyhMuradMescidi

m.

SS. Sergiusand

Bacchus

KariyeCamii

n.

Kalenderhane

Camii

MonasteryoftheVirginPamma

o. BalahanAgaMescidi

caristos

p. Church

of

the

Virgin

Chalkoprateia

Monasteryof

St.

JohntheBaptist

q.

Monastery

of

theResurrection

"Mitaton'"Mosque

r. Monastery

of

ChristPantocrator

Palace

ofNicetasChoniates

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