Venetian financial control diverted the Fourth Crusade against Christian cities

Evidence

The Venetians, who held its purse strings, led it to capture first the Dalmatian port of Zara, then the largest city in Christendom, Constantinople. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1005

Categorization

• CANDY: A great cocktail-party fact: the ‘crusade’ ended up sacking the biggest Christian city because the Venetians financed it.