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Semper Augustus
1195: Death of Adolf of Berg-Altena, Prince Archbishop and Elector of Cologne from fever in late summer.

1196: Emperor Heinrich VI (b. 1165) summons the Reichstag at Frankfurt with the aim of implementing his Erbreichsplan(1). The Emperor is easily able to gather the support of the secular princes by promising in return to confirm hereditary succession to all imperial fiefs. Further, he effectively buys the support of the ecclesiastical princes by abolishing the practice of Jus Spolii(2).
The ruling of the Reichstag is secured in the Edict of Frankfurt, which receives imperial assent in the fall of 1196; the edict vests the succession to the imperial crown in the male issue of Emperor Heinrich VI and the House of Staufer. The law also confirms the hereditary succession to imperial fiefs granted by the Emperor in the male line (though not in the female line) and guarantees the right of the Emperor’s vassals to subdivide up their own fiefs between multiple heirs.
Emperor Heinrich’s eldest son, Friedrich (b. 1194), is crowned ‘King of the Romans’ at Frankfurt in accordance with the new edict.

1197: Pope Celestine III refuses to recognize the Edict of Frankfurt, reclaiming the rights of the papacy expressed by Pope Gregory VII of ‘overlord of all temporal princes’.
Revolts by Arab subjects in Emperor Heinrich’s kingdom of Sicily are mercilessly crushed via both the Emperor’s own personal forces and reinforcements sent by his German vassals (his power still strong in the Empire, despite the objections of the Pope).

1198: Death of Pope Celestine III.
Konrad of Bavaria (b. c. 1120), Archbishop of Mainz and loyal supporter of the Emperor, is elected supreme pontiff as Pope Clement IV, mostly due to heavy imperial maneuvering and bribery at the conclave.

1199: Pope Clement IV confirms the Edict of Frankfurt via the Golden Bull of 1199, in which he also confers the right to use of the title of ‘Emperor of the Romans’ upon succession, removing the necessity of papal coronation.

1200: Death of Pope Clement IV. Cardinal Cencio (b. 1148) elected his successor as Pope Honorius III, again with heavy imperial maneuvering at the conclave, in addition to the efforts of the late Pope Clement IV to secure an imperial candidate as his successor.

1201: Pope Honorius III calls for a Fourth Crusade, wishing to improve his own prestige.

1202: Emperor Heinrich VI agrees to lead the Fourth Crusade against the Sultan Saphadin in Cairo. He will be assisted by Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice and Count Thibaut III of Champagne, who also take the cross in support of the pope’s call.

1203: The Crusaders assemble in Venice, having only mustered fewer than 12,000 men. They are forced to winter in Venice that year, unable to pay heavy sum demanded by the Venetian Doge for the services of his fleet.
Alexios Angelos, son of the deposed Emperor Isaakios II Angelos of Byzantium, now in exile at the court of Emperor Heinrich VI’s brother the Duke of Swabia, taking advantage of the crusader’s desperation offers 200,000 marks to the Crusaders, along with Byzantine troops and supplies, in return for restoring him to the throne in Constantinople.
The Venetians, already opposed to Byzantium after having been expelled from Constantinople over a decade before, with their trading privileges severely curtailed, lend their support to the plan and agree to accept less payment in return for Alexios agreeing to restore their former status, and the Crusaders to grant them a third of any spoils gained.
Pope Honorius III, eager to expand his own power and reunite the eastern and western churches, also lends his support to the plan.

1204: The Crusaders set sail for Constantinople outfitted by the Venetians.
Chalcedon is sacked by the Crusaders and the forces of Emperor Alexios III Angelos (the usurper of his nephew and namesake’s throne) are routed by the Crusaders under Emperor Heinrich and Count Thibaut soon after with only 80 knights set against nearly 500 Byzantine mercenaries.
The Crusaders cross the Bosporus and besiege Constantinople, which falls soon after. Emperor Alexios III flees and Alexios and his father, the blinded Isaakios, are installed as joint emperors by the Crusaders.

1205: Unable to pay the Crusaders and forced increase taxes, Alexios IV and his father become very unpopular with the citizens of Constantinople. Increasing hostility to the Crusaders leads to the overthrow and murder of the Angeloi emperors by the Byzantine mob, the Latins being driven from the city, and Emperor Alexios III reinstalled as emperor.
The Crusaders then besiege Constantinople once more, killing Emperor Alexios III and brutally sacking and pillaging the city.

1206: Treaty of Constantinople. The 900,000 marks looted from the city are divided between the Venetians and the Crusaders, with the former receiving their due third. The Byzantine empire is divided up between the victors, with Venice receiving Crete and the Aegean isles. Various other Crusader states are established in the Peloponnese, with much of the empire going to Emperor Heinrich VI, who is crowned ‘emperor of the east’ at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

1207: Pope Honorius III confirms Emperor Heinrich as ‘emperor of the united empire of the Romans’.
Emperor Heinrich VI returns to Germany, sending his brother Duke Philipp of Swabia to rule as his regent in Constantinople.

(1) The proposal formulated by the Holy Roman Emperor for making the imperial crown hereditary in the House of Staufer.
(2) The right of secular lords to seize the property of deceased prelates.
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