Zioneer
Banned
The Fourth Crusade is a popular topic here, so many of you know of Enrico Dandolo, the infamous blind Doge who convinced the Crusaders to sack Constantinople. He was supposed to be in his 90s when the Sack of Constantinople happened, but even for an extraordinarily healthy and long-lived man with the best of medieval healthcare, that seems kind of unlikely.
So how old was Dandolo, really? Wikipedia claims that one of its sources proves that he was in his 90s by the time of the Fourth Crusade, but without buying the book to check, I'm unsure of how to find that, especially since most sources will probably agree with the 90s argument.
I'm not completely opposed to the idea of Dandolo being a really healthy and really old guy, but I wanted to use him in a TL and didn't want to miscast his age.
Also, as a side note, in 1100s Venice, what could get someone like Dandolo and his family exiled from the most Serene Republic? And if they were exiled permanently, what neighbor of Venice would they be most likely to gravitate towards first?
So how old was Dandolo, really? Wikipedia claims that one of its sources proves that he was in his 90s by the time of the Fourth Crusade, but without buying the book to check, I'm unsure of how to find that, especially since most sources will probably agree with the 90s argument.
I'm not completely opposed to the idea of Dandolo being a really healthy and really old guy, but I wanted to use him in a TL and didn't want to miscast his age.
Also, as a side note, in 1100s Venice, what could get someone like Dandolo and his family exiled from the most Serene Republic? And if they were exiled permanently, what neighbor of Venice would they be most likely to gravitate towards first?