The fourth crusade and the Seljuks of Asia Minor

The article analyzes the causes and consequences of the Fourth Crusade. The author explains that the crusaders pursued two aims: to protect the Holy Sepulcher and to recover the Byzantine throne, seized by Alexios III Komnenos, to the legitimate monarch Isaac II Angelos. However, later the Crusaders seized power in Constantinople and partitioned Byzantium among themselves, renaming it into Romania. The Byzantines (Greeks) were forced to move to the Asia Minor, establishing there so called Trebizond Empire of Alexios Komnenos and Nicaea Empire of Theodor Laskaris. The author concludes that such alignment of hostile military political forces (outside the Seljuk State in Asia Minor) was beneficial for Seljuks.