The Latin Empire was a feudal crusader state . It was created during the Fourth Crusade on the land captured from the Byzantine Empire . Originally, the crusaders were told to retake the Muslim -controlled city of Jerusalem . Instead of doing that, the crusaders looted and captured Constantinople .
In 1202, Pope Innocent III called for the crusaders to retake the Holy Land from the Abbasid . Due to financial problems, the crusaders were not able to reach their original goals. Crusaders and the Venetians attacked and looted the Catholic city of Zara , Croatia . Soon after this, they were excommunicated by the pope.
Crusaders and the Venetians later decided to go to Constantinople . In 1203, the Crusaders besieged Constantinople . A year later they looted and captured the city.
In 1204, Baldwin IX of Flanders was crowned the Latin Emperor of Constantinople in Hagia Sophia . Baldwin did not reign for long. He was captured in the Battle of Adrianople while fighting the Bulgarians .