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Sonderdrnckaus
BYZANTINISCHE
ZEITSCHRIFT
BEGRUNDET
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UNTERSTUTZUNG
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SCHREINER
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B.
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STUTTGART
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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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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
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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.
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- 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.
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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.
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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/400,000.958/10/2019 MaddenFires Libre
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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.
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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.
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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
See discussion in text.
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.
8/10/2019 MaddenFires Libre
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
See discussion in text.
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
8/10/2019 MaddenFires Libre
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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