Today we look at Constantinople itself. What was the physical state of the city and what was the Latin administration like? Guiding us today is Dr John Giebfried.
John completed his PhD in Medieval History at St Louis University in 2015 and has subsequently worked at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Georgia Southern University, East Georgia State College, and since 2022 has been a faculty member at the University of Vienna, where he teaches History and Digital Humanities. His academic work focuses on the Crusades, the Crusader-States, and European interactions with the Mongols.
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The History of Byzantium 
Dr. Giebfried’s observation about the constitutional nature of the Latin Empire is interesting. Is it possible that an end-of-the-century episode might contain a comparison of the offices of Baslieus and Latin Emperor?
I’ll put out a call for questions but basically this episode was it. The Latin Emperor was just a European King. He did not have the same elevated office as the Basileus
Thanks. I meant in the sense of the Republican Monarchy discussed in the episodes on the Byzantine Republic, the Roman Story, and 277 on Government. The Latins elected their emperors and… didn’t the Romans, as well?
Kaldellis’ argument is that Roman Emperors had to receive widespread support in order to be accepted as legitimate. If they failed to gain the support of the church, army and people of the capital they would struggle. So they essentially enjoyed a kind of democratic legitimacy. If they lost it people felt entitled to overthrow them to some extent.
The Latin Emperors were chosen by the leading nobles and clergy of the city in consultation with the Pope. But the people had no say in the matter.
Lol, so Britain can thank its incompetent leadership for its legacy of constitutionalism 😆