Latin Empire Discussion

tuareg109

Banned
So in addition to posting an update a day in my Roman TL, I've been juggling the idea for a Latin Empire TL in my head for about...a day now :D I'm a man of action.

Anyway, I just want to open a discussion on the possibility and plausibility of a Latin Empire surviving and thriving. I have a few ideas that might help it along:

  • Emperor Baldwin, a reportedly moral man who embodied the Crusader spirit, beats Boniface of Montferrat to Thessalonica, thus preventing this powerful and unruly de jure vassal--de facto sometime-rival sometime-ally--from existing
  • Baldwin wins or completely avoids (easy due to butterflies from Thessalonica) the Battle of Adrianople in 1205. This means that Baldwin--by all accounts a decent, able, and persuasive (and he had to have been, to have been chosen Emperor)--has many more years to organize his territories and dictate policy, as well as try to put the Venetians in their place
  • Baldwin prevents the Frankish rulers from completely raping their owns lands of all gold, wealth, icons, religious relics, and resources; this means that there is much less Greek resentment toward the Latins
  • He either works hard but gently to convert the Greek populace, or forms some kind of syncretic religion and culture (this is in case of unexpected resistance, or an unfriendly Pope)

So, ah, what say you people?
 
Orthodoxy isn't really very different from Catholicism. The only real difference at the time of the schism from what I gather is the degree of the pope's leadership and the existence of the patriarch of Constantinople. Although I guess for the people who take religion really seriously (which was everyone back then) minor differences matter.
 

tuareg109

Banned
The only other issue I can see the Latins having is that Orthodoxy is a very culturally Greek religion; they'd much prefer Roman Catholicism, which of course uses Latin as a liturgical language--much close linguistically and culturally to their own French.

Maybe they claim that the Pope is not supreme, and institute a French (or maybe Greek again, to pacify the populace) Patriarch in Constantinople? They accept Greek doctrines or Constantinople's supremacy, and demand that mass be conducted in Latin?

This is thinking like 10 or 20 years ahead in the TL, though. Any thoughts on my other points?
 
Top