Post by Arxileas on Dec 23, 2007 10:32:47 GMT -5
This is written by writers who were with the crusaders Byzantines and Greeks were totally one people...Contrary to what the fyromians and Turks claim...
"Not since the world was made was there ever seen or won so great a treasure, or so noble or so rich, nor in the time of Alexander, nor in the time of Charlemagne, nor before, nor after, nor do I think myself that in the forty richest cities of the world had there been so much wealth as was found in Constantinople. For the Greeks say that two-thirds of the wealth of this world is in Constantinople and the other third scattered throughout the world."
--Robert of Clari, a French crusader who witnessed the pillage of the city in 1204, describing Constantinople.
www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byz_1.html
7. The sermons before the final attack on Constantinople.
Robert de Clari, ch. lxxiii-xxiii, in Hopf: Chroniques, pp. 57-58. Old French.
LXXII. When the pilgrims saw this,[TR has"a course expression in the original"] they were very angry and grieved much; they went back from the other side of the harbor to their lodgings. When the barons had returned and had gotten ashore, they assembled and were much amazed, and said that it was on account of their sins that they did not succeed in anything and could not capture the city. Meanwhile the bishops and the clergy in the army debated and decided that the war was a righteous one, and t they certainly ought to attack the Greeks. For formerly the inhabitants of the city had been obedient to the law of Rome and now the were disobedient, since they said that the law of Rome was of n account, and called all who believed in it " dogs." And the bishop said that for this reason one ought certainly to attack them, an that it was not a sin, but an act of great charity.
LXXIII. Then it was announced to all the host that all the Venetian and every one else should go and hear the sermons on Sunday morning; [Apr 11, 1204] and they did so. Then the bishops preached to the army, the bishop of Soissons, the bishop of Troyes, the bishop of Havestaist [Halberstadt] master Jean Faicette [De Noyon, chancellor of Baldwin of Flanders], and the abbot of Loos, and they showed to the pilgrims that the war was a righteous one; for the Greeks were traitors and murderers, and also disloyal, since they had murdered their rightful lord, and were worse than Jews. Moreover, the bishops said that, by the authority of God and in the name of the pope, they would absolve all who attacked the Greeks. Then the bishops commanded the pilgrims to confess their sins and receive the communion devoutly; and said that they ought not to hesitate to attack the Greeks, for the latter were enemies of God. They also commanded that all the evil women should be sought out and sent away from the army to a distant place. This was done; the evil women were all put on a vessel and were sent very far away from the army.
www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/clari1.html
Geoffrey de Villehardouin [b.c.1160-d.c.1213]:
Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople
THE FORAGERS DEFEAT THE GREEKS
During this time, a company of good and trustworthy men issued (from the camp) to guard the host, for fear it should be attacked, and the foragers searched the country. In the said company were Odo of Champlitte, of Champagne, and William his brother, and Oger of Saint-Chéron, and
34
Manasses of l'Isle, and Count Girard, a count of Lombardy, a retainer of the Marquis of Montferrat; and they had with them at least eighty knights who were good men and true.
And they espied, at the foot of a mountain, some three leagues distant from the host, certain tents belonging to the Grand Duke of the Emperor of Constantinople, who had with him at least five hundred Greek knights. When our people saw them, they formed their men into four battalions, and decided to attack. And when the Greeks saw this, they formed their battalions, and arrayed themselves in rank before their tents, and waited. And our people went forward and fell upon them right vigorously.
By the help of God our Lord, this fight lasted but a little while, and the Greeks turned their backs. They were discomfited at the first onset, and our people pursued them for a full great league. There they won plenty of horses and stallions, and palfreys, and mules, and tents and pavilions, and such spoil as is usual in such case. So they returned to the host, where they were right well received, and their spoils were divided, as was fit.
They sojourned thus for four days. On the fifth day, the whole host were armed, and the divisions advanced on horseback, each in the order appointed, along the harbour, till they came to the palace of Blachernae; and the ships drew inside the harbour till they came over against the self-same place, and this was near to the end of the harbour. And there is at that place a river that flows into the sea, and can only be passed by a bridge of stone. The Greeks had broken down the bridge, and the barons caused the host to labour all that day and all that night in repairing the bridge. Thus was the bridge repaired, and in the morning the divisions were armed, and rode one after the other in the order appointed, and came before the city. And no one came out from the city against them; and this was a great marvel, seeing that for every man that was in the host there were over two hundred men in the city.
Then did they bethink themselves of a very good device; for they enclosed the whole camp with good lists, and good palisades, and good barriers, and were thus far stronger and much more secure. The Greeks meanwhile came on to the attack so frequently that they gave them no rest, and those of the host drove them back with great force; and every time that the Greeks issued forth they lost heavily.
One day the Burgundians were on guard, and the Greeks made an attack upon them, with part of the best forces that they had. And the Burgundians ran upon the Greeks and drove them in very fiercely, and followed so close to the gate that stones of great weight were hurled upon them. There was taken one of the best Greeks of the city, whose name was Constantine Lascaris; William of Neuilly took him all
41
mounted upon his horse. And there did William of Champlitte have his arm broken with a stone, and great pity it was, for he was very brave and very valiant.
www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/villehardouin.html
While most objects of ancient and Byzantine art were destroyed, the relics of saints were eagerly sought out. Below is a description by Gunther of the theft of relics by Abbot Martin.[12]
Accordingly, having a presentiment of some great result, he took with him one of his two chaplains and went to a church[13] which was held in great reverence because in it the mother[14 ] of the most famous emperor Manuel[15] had a noble grave, which seemed of importance to the Greeks, but ours held for naught. There a very great amount of money brought in from all the surrounding country was stored, and also precious relics which the vain hope of security had caused them to bring in from the neighboring churches and monasteries. Those whom the Greeks had driven out, had told us of this before the capture of the city. When many pilgrims broke into this church and some were eagerly engaged in stealing gold and silver, others precious stones,
While Pope Innocent III excommunicated the Crusaders after their sack of the catholic city of Zara (Zadar in Croatia), he later lifted the bull of excommunication and justified the capture of Constantinople in the letter below.[16]
To all the clergy and people in the Christian army at Constantinople.
If the Lord had granted the desires of His humble servants sooner, and had transferred, as He has now done, the empire of Constantinople from the Greeks to the Latins before the fall of the Holy Land, perhaps Christianity would not be weeping today over the desolation of the land of Jerusalem. Since, therefore, through the wonderful transference of this empire God has deigned to open to you a way to recover that land, and the detention of this may lead to the restoration of that, we advise and exhort you all, and we enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins, to remain for a year in Romania, in order to strengthen the empire in its devotion to the Apostolic See and to us, and in order to retain it in the power of the Latins; and to give wise advice and efficient aid to Baldwin, our most beloved son in Christ, the illustrious emperor of Constantinople; unless, perchance, your presence in the Holy Land should be necessary before that time, in which case you ought to hasten to guard it before the year elapses
www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/1204.html
The Byzantine emperor was murdered by his own people in a revolt. Venice took much of the coast and islands of the Empire, and the crusaders set up a “Latin Empire†with a Latin, Baldwin of Flanders as emperor. Pope Innocent II could express disapproval, but the Greeks were schismatics and heretics so their own rule was set up over the Greek Empire, which lasted 50 years. The Latin and Greek Churches were declared to be reunited, and Latin emperors ruled as conquerors in Constantinople from 1204 to 1261. This is the first time the Byzantine capital was taken, and a landmark in the history of relations between eastern and western Christians. Knights could now choose to crusade against the Greeks instead of the infidel Moslems.
Hated by the Greeks, deprived of help from home, driven out in 1261 by the Greek emperor of Nicaia, and the Byzantine Empire was restored. After this disaster it was entirely impossible to restore the Byzantine military or economic system, it became a mere shadow of its former self, now reduced to only a Balkan state. The Latin Empire of Constantinople is a complete freak of history. The Byzantine power was so shattered, it was now unable to check the Turkish sweep into Europe, and the hopes of uniting the eastern and western churches, which the possession of the Byzantine capital had inspired was blighted forever. The chief beneficiaries of this robbery were the Venetian who themselves took over the most lucrative parts of the former Empire, including Crete and the Aegean islands. Eastern Christendom has not forgotten those three appalling days of pillage. As the Byzantines watched the Crusaders tear to pieces the alter and icon screen of the Church of the Holy Wisdom, and set prostitutes on he Patriarch's throne, they must have felt that those who did such things were not Christians in the same sense as themselves.. The Crusaders did not bring peace, but a sword, and the sword was to sever Christendom to this day. Between the fall of Rome and the discovery of America the Fourth Crusade is the most important event in the history of European trade. It established the Venetian Empire.
latter-rain.com/ltrain/curfor.htm
The “Latin†Empire disintegrated within ten years. Greece proliferated with small feudal kingdoms, with jousting, Courts of Love, Seneschals and Grand Constables. Meanwhile the Greeks set up three separate kingdoms, each claiming inheritance of the Byzantine Empire. Theodore Laskaris’ Empire of Nikea was home to the new Patriarch and was the new centre of the Orthodox Church. The crusaders were happy to conclude a peace treaty with Laskaris leaving him in possession of all traditional Byzantine territories in Asia Minor. Under his successor, John Vatatzes, nearly the whole of Asia Minor was regained from the Turks.
In 1261 Michael Paleologos, the ruler of the Empire of Nikea, captured Constantinople,which had been left undefended while the Latin “Imperial†army was on campaign. Baldwin II, the last Latin Emperor, fled with the Latin Patriarch and Venetian settlers. the Greek patriarch returned to Haghia Sophia. Dandolo’s body was apparently dug up and thrown into the Bosphoros Strait.
www.geocities.com/egfrothos/FourthCrusade.html
Having obtained absolution for the capture of Zara, and despite the opposition of Simon of Montfort and a part of the army, on 24 May, 1203, the leaders ordered a march on Constantinople. They had concluded with Alexius, the Byzantine pretender, a treaty whereby he promised to have the Greeks return to the Roman communion, give the crusaders 200,000 marks, and participate in the Holy War.
www.crusades.ws/contstantinople.html
Bulgarian czar Kalojan, who was also called Ioannitsa (r. 1197-1207), with Kuman allies invaded Thrace, and in 1205 they defeated the Latin forces as Baldwin was captured. His brother Henry as regent made a treaty with Venice in which the Venetians promised to fight for the new Latin empire. When Paulicians offered to give Philippopolis to Kalojan, Renier of Trit burned down the Paulician quarter. Greeks helped Latins defend the city against the Bulgarians; but after a siege Kalojan's forces burned Philippopolis and massacred the Greeks. While Kalojan besieged Adrianople, Henry became Emperor of Romania in 1206 since his brother Baldwin was presumed dead. The war with the Bulgarians caused Henry in 1207 to make a two-year truce with Theodore Lascaris, who was crowned Greek emperor at Nicaea in 1208 by newly appointed Patriarch Michael Autoreianus. After Bulgarian czar Boril was defeated at Philippopolis in 1208, he made peace. Geoffrey of Villehardouin and William of Champlitte led the conquest of the Peloponnese called Morea, and the latter became prince of Achaea. In southern Epirus Greeks were led by Michael Ducas Angelus Comnenus, who had deserted Boniface. Supported by Armenians from the Troad, the Latins captured the blind Mourtzouphlus and made him jump to his death from a pillar in the forum.
san.beck.org/AB18-Crusaders.html
In 1272 Bulgarians again invaded the Byzantine empire; but this time the Tartars were on the other side and forced them to withdraw. When Charles of Anjou built a coalition of Latins, Greeks, Slavs, and Albanians, Michael Paleologus used diplomacy to offer Pope Gregory X a unified church, which was proclaimed at the Council of Lyons in 1274. Representing the Byzantine empire, Acropolites accepted the filioque clause, unleavened bread, and the supreme authority of the Pope, and Paleologus promised to support a crusade. The next year Michael Paleologus sent his brother John with an army to Thessaly; but Charles of Anjou inherited Achaea when William died in 1278. Meanwhile the Greek people were resisting the religious changes, and the imperial prisons had become crowded. When a Frank became Pope Martin IV in 1281, he supported Charles, whose allies invaded Macedonia the next year with forces led by John of Thessaly and the new Nemanyid king of Serbia, Stephen Uros II Milutin. Bulgaria's George I Terter (r. 1280-1292) also turned against the Byzantines. However, a revolution in Sicily that year removed Charles as a threat in the Balkans. By the time Michael Paleologus died in 1282 despite his clever diplomacy the pressure of the wars had increased the power of the wealthy land-owners in the Greek version of the feudal system by making the pronoia holdings hereditary. Peasant farmers and the economy were weakened by hiring mercenaries to police the revived empire.
san.beck.org/AB18-Crusaders.html
No mention of Macedonians! Because Macedonian is part of Greece as is Sparta and Athens etc; always was, hence why only Greece is mentioned.
"Not since the world was made was there ever seen or won so great a treasure, or so noble or so rich, nor in the time of Alexander, nor in the time of Charlemagne, nor before, nor after, nor do I think myself that in the forty richest cities of the world had there been so much wealth as was found in Constantinople. For the Greeks say that two-thirds of the wealth of this world is in Constantinople and the other third scattered throughout the world."
--Robert of Clari, a French crusader who witnessed the pillage of the city in 1204, describing Constantinople.
www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byz_1.html
7. The sermons before the final attack on Constantinople.
Robert de Clari, ch. lxxiii-xxiii, in Hopf: Chroniques, pp. 57-58. Old French.
LXXII. When the pilgrims saw this,[TR has"a course expression in the original"] they were very angry and grieved much; they went back from the other side of the harbor to their lodgings. When the barons had returned and had gotten ashore, they assembled and were much amazed, and said that it was on account of their sins that they did not succeed in anything and could not capture the city. Meanwhile the bishops and the clergy in the army debated and decided that the war was a righteous one, and t they certainly ought to attack the Greeks. For formerly the inhabitants of the city had been obedient to the law of Rome and now the were disobedient, since they said that the law of Rome was of n account, and called all who believed in it " dogs." And the bishop said that for this reason one ought certainly to attack them, an that it was not a sin, but an act of great charity.
LXXIII. Then it was announced to all the host that all the Venetian and every one else should go and hear the sermons on Sunday morning; [Apr 11, 1204] and they did so. Then the bishops preached to the army, the bishop of Soissons, the bishop of Troyes, the bishop of Havestaist [Halberstadt] master Jean Faicette [De Noyon, chancellor of Baldwin of Flanders], and the abbot of Loos, and they showed to the pilgrims that the war was a righteous one; for the Greeks were traitors and murderers, and also disloyal, since they had murdered their rightful lord, and were worse than Jews. Moreover, the bishops said that, by the authority of God and in the name of the pope, they would absolve all who attacked the Greeks. Then the bishops commanded the pilgrims to confess their sins and receive the communion devoutly; and said that they ought not to hesitate to attack the Greeks, for the latter were enemies of God. They also commanded that all the evil women should be sought out and sent away from the army to a distant place. This was done; the evil women were all put on a vessel and were sent very far away from the army.
www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/clari1.html
Geoffrey de Villehardouin [b.c.1160-d.c.1213]:
Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople
THE FORAGERS DEFEAT THE GREEKS
During this time, a company of good and trustworthy men issued (from the camp) to guard the host, for fear it should be attacked, and the foragers searched the country. In the said company were Odo of Champlitte, of Champagne, and William his brother, and Oger of Saint-Chéron, and
34
Manasses of l'Isle, and Count Girard, a count of Lombardy, a retainer of the Marquis of Montferrat; and they had with them at least eighty knights who were good men and true.
And they espied, at the foot of a mountain, some three leagues distant from the host, certain tents belonging to the Grand Duke of the Emperor of Constantinople, who had with him at least five hundred Greek knights. When our people saw them, they formed their men into four battalions, and decided to attack. And when the Greeks saw this, they formed their battalions, and arrayed themselves in rank before their tents, and waited. And our people went forward and fell upon them right vigorously.
By the help of God our Lord, this fight lasted but a little while, and the Greeks turned their backs. They were discomfited at the first onset, and our people pursued them for a full great league. There they won plenty of horses and stallions, and palfreys, and mules, and tents and pavilions, and such spoil as is usual in such case. So they returned to the host, where they were right well received, and their spoils were divided, as was fit.
They sojourned thus for four days. On the fifth day, the whole host were armed, and the divisions advanced on horseback, each in the order appointed, along the harbour, till they came to the palace of Blachernae; and the ships drew inside the harbour till they came over against the self-same place, and this was near to the end of the harbour. And there is at that place a river that flows into the sea, and can only be passed by a bridge of stone. The Greeks had broken down the bridge, and the barons caused the host to labour all that day and all that night in repairing the bridge. Thus was the bridge repaired, and in the morning the divisions were armed, and rode one after the other in the order appointed, and came before the city. And no one came out from the city against them; and this was a great marvel, seeing that for every man that was in the host there were over two hundred men in the city.
Then did they bethink themselves of a very good device; for they enclosed the whole camp with good lists, and good palisades, and good barriers, and were thus far stronger and much more secure. The Greeks meanwhile came on to the attack so frequently that they gave them no rest, and those of the host drove them back with great force; and every time that the Greeks issued forth they lost heavily.
One day the Burgundians were on guard, and the Greeks made an attack upon them, with part of the best forces that they had. And the Burgundians ran upon the Greeks and drove them in very fiercely, and followed so close to the gate that stones of great weight were hurled upon them. There was taken one of the best Greeks of the city, whose name was Constantine Lascaris; William of Neuilly took him all
41
mounted upon his horse. And there did William of Champlitte have his arm broken with a stone, and great pity it was, for he was very brave and very valiant.
www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/villehardouin.html
While most objects of ancient and Byzantine art were destroyed, the relics of saints were eagerly sought out. Below is a description by Gunther of the theft of relics by Abbot Martin.[12]
Accordingly, having a presentiment of some great result, he took with him one of his two chaplains and went to a church[13] which was held in great reverence because in it the mother[14 ] of the most famous emperor Manuel[15] had a noble grave, which seemed of importance to the Greeks, but ours held for naught. There a very great amount of money brought in from all the surrounding country was stored, and also precious relics which the vain hope of security had caused them to bring in from the neighboring churches and monasteries. Those whom the Greeks had driven out, had told us of this before the capture of the city. When many pilgrims broke into this church and some were eagerly engaged in stealing gold and silver, others precious stones,
While Pope Innocent III excommunicated the Crusaders after their sack of the catholic city of Zara (Zadar in Croatia), he later lifted the bull of excommunication and justified the capture of Constantinople in the letter below.[16]
To all the clergy and people in the Christian army at Constantinople.
If the Lord had granted the desires of His humble servants sooner, and had transferred, as He has now done, the empire of Constantinople from the Greeks to the Latins before the fall of the Holy Land, perhaps Christianity would not be weeping today over the desolation of the land of Jerusalem. Since, therefore, through the wonderful transference of this empire God has deigned to open to you a way to recover that land, and the detention of this may lead to the restoration of that, we advise and exhort you all, and we enjoin upon you for the remission of your sins, to remain for a year in Romania, in order to strengthen the empire in its devotion to the Apostolic See and to us, and in order to retain it in the power of the Latins; and to give wise advice and efficient aid to Baldwin, our most beloved son in Christ, the illustrious emperor of Constantinople; unless, perchance, your presence in the Holy Land should be necessary before that time, in which case you ought to hasten to guard it before the year elapses
www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/1204.html
The Byzantine emperor was murdered by his own people in a revolt. Venice took much of the coast and islands of the Empire, and the crusaders set up a “Latin Empire†with a Latin, Baldwin of Flanders as emperor. Pope Innocent II could express disapproval, but the Greeks were schismatics and heretics so their own rule was set up over the Greek Empire, which lasted 50 years. The Latin and Greek Churches were declared to be reunited, and Latin emperors ruled as conquerors in Constantinople from 1204 to 1261. This is the first time the Byzantine capital was taken, and a landmark in the history of relations between eastern and western Christians. Knights could now choose to crusade against the Greeks instead of the infidel Moslems.
Hated by the Greeks, deprived of help from home, driven out in 1261 by the Greek emperor of Nicaia, and the Byzantine Empire was restored. After this disaster it was entirely impossible to restore the Byzantine military or economic system, it became a mere shadow of its former self, now reduced to only a Balkan state. The Latin Empire of Constantinople is a complete freak of history. The Byzantine power was so shattered, it was now unable to check the Turkish sweep into Europe, and the hopes of uniting the eastern and western churches, which the possession of the Byzantine capital had inspired was blighted forever. The chief beneficiaries of this robbery were the Venetian who themselves took over the most lucrative parts of the former Empire, including Crete and the Aegean islands. Eastern Christendom has not forgotten those three appalling days of pillage. As the Byzantines watched the Crusaders tear to pieces the alter and icon screen of the Church of the Holy Wisdom, and set prostitutes on he Patriarch's throne, they must have felt that those who did such things were not Christians in the same sense as themselves.. The Crusaders did not bring peace, but a sword, and the sword was to sever Christendom to this day. Between the fall of Rome and the discovery of America the Fourth Crusade is the most important event in the history of European trade. It established the Venetian Empire.
latter-rain.com/ltrain/curfor.htm
The “Latin†Empire disintegrated within ten years. Greece proliferated with small feudal kingdoms, with jousting, Courts of Love, Seneschals and Grand Constables. Meanwhile the Greeks set up three separate kingdoms, each claiming inheritance of the Byzantine Empire. Theodore Laskaris’ Empire of Nikea was home to the new Patriarch and was the new centre of the Orthodox Church. The crusaders were happy to conclude a peace treaty with Laskaris leaving him in possession of all traditional Byzantine territories in Asia Minor. Under his successor, John Vatatzes, nearly the whole of Asia Minor was regained from the Turks.
In 1261 Michael Paleologos, the ruler of the Empire of Nikea, captured Constantinople,which had been left undefended while the Latin “Imperial†army was on campaign. Baldwin II, the last Latin Emperor, fled with the Latin Patriarch and Venetian settlers. the Greek patriarch returned to Haghia Sophia. Dandolo’s body was apparently dug up and thrown into the Bosphoros Strait.
www.geocities.com/egfrothos/FourthCrusade.html
Having obtained absolution for the capture of Zara, and despite the opposition of Simon of Montfort and a part of the army, on 24 May, 1203, the leaders ordered a march on Constantinople. They had concluded with Alexius, the Byzantine pretender, a treaty whereby he promised to have the Greeks return to the Roman communion, give the crusaders 200,000 marks, and participate in the Holy War.
www.crusades.ws/contstantinople.html
Bulgarian czar Kalojan, who was also called Ioannitsa (r. 1197-1207), with Kuman allies invaded Thrace, and in 1205 they defeated the Latin forces as Baldwin was captured. His brother Henry as regent made a treaty with Venice in which the Venetians promised to fight for the new Latin empire. When Paulicians offered to give Philippopolis to Kalojan, Renier of Trit burned down the Paulician quarter. Greeks helped Latins defend the city against the Bulgarians; but after a siege Kalojan's forces burned Philippopolis and massacred the Greeks. While Kalojan besieged Adrianople, Henry became Emperor of Romania in 1206 since his brother Baldwin was presumed dead. The war with the Bulgarians caused Henry in 1207 to make a two-year truce with Theodore Lascaris, who was crowned Greek emperor at Nicaea in 1208 by newly appointed Patriarch Michael Autoreianus. After Bulgarian czar Boril was defeated at Philippopolis in 1208, he made peace. Geoffrey of Villehardouin and William of Champlitte led the conquest of the Peloponnese called Morea, and the latter became prince of Achaea. In southern Epirus Greeks were led by Michael Ducas Angelus Comnenus, who had deserted Boniface. Supported by Armenians from the Troad, the Latins captured the blind Mourtzouphlus and made him jump to his death from a pillar in the forum.
san.beck.org/AB18-Crusaders.html
In 1272 Bulgarians again invaded the Byzantine empire; but this time the Tartars were on the other side and forced them to withdraw. When Charles of Anjou built a coalition of Latins, Greeks, Slavs, and Albanians, Michael Paleologus used diplomacy to offer Pope Gregory X a unified church, which was proclaimed at the Council of Lyons in 1274. Representing the Byzantine empire, Acropolites accepted the filioque clause, unleavened bread, and the supreme authority of the Pope, and Paleologus promised to support a crusade. The next year Michael Paleologus sent his brother John with an army to Thessaly; but Charles of Anjou inherited Achaea when William died in 1278. Meanwhile the Greek people were resisting the religious changes, and the imperial prisons had become crowded. When a Frank became Pope Martin IV in 1281, he supported Charles, whose allies invaded Macedonia the next year with forces led by John of Thessaly and the new Nemanyid king of Serbia, Stephen Uros II Milutin. Bulgaria's George I Terter (r. 1280-1292) also turned against the Byzantines. However, a revolution in Sicily that year removed Charles as a threat in the Balkans. By the time Michael Paleologus died in 1282 despite his clever diplomacy the pressure of the wars had increased the power of the wealthy land-owners in the Greek version of the feudal system by making the pronoia holdings hereditary. Peasant farmers and the economy were weakened by hiring mercenaries to police the revived empire.
san.beck.org/AB18-Crusaders.html
No mention of Macedonians! Because Macedonian is part of Greece as is Sparta and Athens etc; always was, hence why only Greece is mentioned.